Thinkers360 2022 Predictions are member-sourced from our opt-in B2B thought leader and influencer community with 100M+ followers on social media combined. The 2022 Predictions are part of a series to provide actionable insights for business and technology executives.
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We asked a selection of our Thinkers360 global thought leaders and influencers about their predictions for the Future of Work in 2022. Here’s what they told us…
What are your predictions for the Future of Work in 2022?
If before the pandemic we were busy imagining a Future of Work full of digital technologies and automation, today we should instill a deeper sense of humanity in imagining this paradigm. Something that considers how we have changed over the past couple of years and embraces our deepest aspirations as human beings in a hybrid job guise.
– Antonio Grasso, Founder & CEO at Digital Business Innovation Srl
In 2022, I see three mega trends significantly impacting the shifting nature of the future of work: More flexible and distributed work: The number of employees who want a hybrid experience will probably be more common. Each organization is going to have to figure out that balance and determine which technologies they are going to be able to utilize to maximize the performance potential of their employees given these new hybrid arrangements. With the increasing use of virtual distributed teams across the globe, there are so many opportunities for employees to even be a digital nomad; certainly organizations are not geographically bound and their employees shouldn’t be either. That opportunity today is much greater than it was 10 years ago, and I think in the next 5-10 years it will almost become ubiquitous. More segmented and contingent work: The gig economy is on the rise. The commitment between employee and employer has changed dramatically. The employer wants more flexibility, for an employee to be more agile and adapt to the workplace, and they don’t want to be stuck with high labor costs. Employees don’t want to be locked in and feel tied to a job. A serious look at legislation regarding contract and contingent work: We are going to see these kinds of issues pop up from a legal and legislative standpoint, and companies will have to look at their business model and determine what contingent work and benefits will look like.
– Jonathan H. Westover, PhD, Managing Partner and Principal at Human Capital Innovations, LLC
AI is rapidly talking over so that by the end of 2022 even “new age” jobs like social media management, content creation, online marketing etc. (not even to mention old fashion jobs) will be replaced by web platforms, applications and algorithms. I will take this a step further and say that even programming will start disappearing and only custom-made core platforms will require old fashion coding development, everything else will just be drag and drop subscription based. Companies must invest in soft skills like communication, mindset, creativity, innovation etc or they will lose their place on the market while web oriented, e-learning platforms will rapidly grow and coaching/consulting industry will evolve to the next level.
– Catherine B. Roy, CEO and Founder at LHM International
In 1999, I described acute labor shortages at that time as The Perfect Labor Storm, a convergence of socio-economic and technologic events that was transforming and disrupting labor markets, jobs, and the world of work. Twenty-two years later, there is an epic fail between the way that companies recruit and workers see jobs and work. Talent is a precious commodity and the talent supply chain is imploding. The transformation is palpably and painfully visible to every employer … and disruptions are more frequent and accelerating. Welcome to 2022, a Perfect Labor Shift, a seismic change in how, when, and where people work. With most economic forecasts predicting continued economic recovery and growth, the demand for labor will increase, competition for workers will intensify, skill gaps will widen, wages will continue to rise, and access to talent (or lack of it) will determine the fate of many businesses. Automation will replace some jobs but also raise the stakes for more skilled workers to install, monitor, maintain, and repair the new technologies. Concurrently, the demand for workers with uniquely human skills will increase exponentially.
– Ira Wolfe, Chief Googlization Officer, President at Poised for the Future Company DBA Success Performance Solutions
No more hiding in dark corners. Once we start questioning everything, the veil of reality is slowly revealed. We will no longer accept the status quo and move to the edges of what’s possible by making conscious choices around what matters most. I can share from firsthand experience that this new world that will emerge by 2027 is being co-created right now. This is an exciting time when we realize that we are not here to change, fix or make our current broken world better. 2022 allows us to become aware that we have a choice: continue fighting for our lives or become powerful creators of our lives?
– Ayelet Baron, Forbes Top 50 Global Female Futurist at CreatingIs
The continued failure of top down Agile Transformations has not dulled the desire to waste money on grand schemes. Until transformations becomes grassroots led the future of work remains in the past by moving the chairs in Titanic enterprises. If companies would listen they would be surprised at how simple customer and workers requests are, “listen I have an idea” “engage I want to help” “reduce pointless bureaucratic activities” “less management more conversation/colleagues” “engage with/pay me for my work and the value I add, not my headcount” are the common threads. The true future of work belongs to organisations that want to succeed through strategy, Agile, DevOps, AI, Blockchain may help but only if your people are engaged more.
– Karl A L Smith, CEO and Founder at Agile World
The future of work leans on mobile, digital, and virtual more than ever. This is no longer an augmented approach but this is embedded into operations, worker communications and collaboration, and customer experiences. As we continue to adjust and correct across industries due to the pandemic, businesses will rely more on collaborative robots working with humans, automation solutions, remote operations, and data analytics with the support of edge computing, sensor networks, intelligent software systems, and other technologies. Businesses will readjust priorities and projects but lead with workforce tools, security, managed offerings, turnkey solutions, and sustainability.
– Stephanie Atkinson, CEO and Founder at Compass Intelligence, LLC
Automation disrupts almost every industry and so many jobs will be automated on the horizon. Many professionals do not have the right skills for emerging jobs. Self-employment, part-time and temporary work are on the rise worldwide. Managers will need to be more collaborative and transparent. Cultural intelligence will be a key to effective leadership and collaboration. Enterprises will embrace experimentation and calculated risk instead of refining standard processes and products. It goes without saying, working will be about designing small and flexible teams. Future of work will need more new ideas, new strategies, and new attitudes. We will need to discover new ways to generate value. AI will continue to change where and how we work. New technologies will mean that we will accomplish more. Our performances will depend on our mission, our purpose, and our passion. Future workers will be increasingly mobile which means we will need more versatile tools.
– Vladimer Botsvadze, CEO at Botsvadze Marketing Solutions
Companies that pro-actively support mental health initiatives will gain momentum
Organizations who partner with their employees to promote mental health and flexible working will be more sustainable and more successful.
– Ruth Pearce, CEO & Co-founder at ALLE LLC (Project Motivator)/In It Together Coaching
We really are rethinking the whole work experience, from how we measure performance to how we recruit, onboard, develop, retain, and offboard talent, from what we expect our workplaces to provide to how we care for our employees across their entire life. The pandemic has provided a really nice reset point to force us to make work better. In many ways, the pandemic has been a blessing as it has provided organizations with a huge amount of learning in a very short space of time regarding just what it takes to make a great employee experience. 2022 is going to be the time to really integrate that learning and not revert to pre-pandemic norms. Central to the employee experience will be a sense of purpose for employers and employees alike. Work is no longer a distinct aspect of our lives but a central part of it, and employees want to work for employers that match their values and complement their lives.
– Adi Gaskell, Innovation thinker, writer and consultant.
The future of work will be about creating a connected company where people, processes and technology work in sync, always aware of their impact on the external environment. A good relationship between leaders and employees will be crucial because it is the people who can minimise the undesired consequences of imperfect strategies if they are inspired and motivated to do so. As for the improvement, their collective feedback will be indispensable as will be the support of technology.
– Jasenka Rapajic, Founder at Astute Aviation
The future of work is Self-Leadership
The self-leaders are the ones who can have a unique way of being and are emotionally intelligent. The inquisitive leaders about their team’s ideas and respect them will ignite their team’s engagement and performance. The team’s well-being and psychological safety will soar up. The team will achieve fulfillment and high energy and achieve stellar business outcomes.
– Ahmed Aref, CEO at CorpoCure
The two most important things in any company do not appear in its balance sheet: its reputation, and its people. Henry Ford had probably got it right in saying that, especially when it came to the people. It is time. While societal pressure is rising in our societies, Corporate Responsability have emerged as a necessary condition to protect firms’ reputations and are still generally treated as a necessary expense because anything more is seen by many as an embezzlement on the backs of the shareholders. Let’s hope for a new era where the value creation of companies would be that of their positive impacts in the society in which they live. Its humanity. This is the most important thing about a company’s balance sheet. It is not about what some may call social responsibility, sustainable development, or companies with purpose. It is not about philanthropy either. It is about going beyond. It is about changing our conception of what a “business model” should be. The economic value of a business should only be worth the value it creates for society. This has to pave the way towards the Future of Work.
– Hamilton Mann, Group Director, Digital Marketing and Digital Transformation at Thales
While we all recognize that work has rapidly expanded into the virtual realm, many have a fantasy of returning to an unrealistic “normal”. As Facebook moves to invest $10M into creating their Metaverse vision, business need to visualize and execute on building their own virtual environment business ecosystem. In 2022, this will focus on fortifying data protection and privacy links to employee home offices and other non-traditional worksites. The employee work from home experience will also be top of mind as it’s importance starts to rival the customer experience challenge.
– Kevin L. Jackson, CEO at GC GlobalNet
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