What will work look like in 2030 — how will longer human lifespans affect work? Will artificial intelligence replace people's jobs? How will globalisation drive, or hinder, economic development? According to research carried out in 2020 by the Institute for the Future at the University of Phoenix in the United States, our working environment will keep transforming over the coming decades. Here are the six major shifts in the future of work that the report points to:
1. Longer human lifespans
Scientists predict that, before 2025, the population aged 60 will grow by seventy per cent — meaning that retirement will no longer fall at 60 to 65. At the same time, people will need to rethink their lives, adjusting the weight they give to study, career and family across a lifetime. As lifespans lengthen, the idea of "lifelong learning" will also take off. Knowing that their lives will stretch further, people would rather learn more across different fields and enrich their lives than waste the time.
2. The rise of smart systems
As science advances by the day, artificial intelligence systems are gradually being woven into the workplace. At that point, people will need to think: just what advantage do humans hold over machines? As humans and machines coexist, what role will we play? Undeniably, some jobs will be fully replaced by artificial intelligence systems — clerical work, transport, the service industry and so on. Yet this also means people will have more time to do the work they love, or the work that matters more.
3. A data-driven world
The objects we see every day, every interaction, every piece of information will all be turned into data. As we quantify the various things in this world one by one, people will be able to use that data to improve the environment, predict behaviour and more. On social media, for instance, computer systems already analyse every one of our behaviours and serve up "tailor-made" information in turn. Some see this as thoughtful; others feel it is starting to turn strange.
4. The new ecosystem of online media
Traditional media is steadily being supplanted by new technology — the digitisation of information, the rise of augmented reality and virtual reality, and so on. These emerging media are gradually shaping a new internet ecosystem. Whether it be the products, the jargon or the ways of communicating that spring from them, they all profoundly influence our ingrained culture and habits. While people are actively taking in new information, can they still think critically?
5. Breaking past the limits
Innovation turns many an "impossible" into "possible". A great deal of work will no longer be confined within yesterday's frameworks. The sharing of knowledge lets people learn to shoot photographs, build websites and more on all kinds of online platforms; ever-changing technology means teaching and recruitment are no longer limited to a face-to-face format. In this new era, people can challenge themselves far more easily.
6. Global connectivity
Even though notions like "global integration" and "economic globalisation" have come up again and again over the past decade, it seems that, in the future, every country worldwide will find it harder still to go it alone. Under integration, the challenges businesses face are more unprecedented than ever. Whether in finance or in talent management, people will live through more competition and more change. For example, those vying for the same job will no longer just be local rivals, but jobseekers from neighbouring regions too; and the teams we work alongside will no longer be of a single culture or ethnicity. Even though this is a report researching the future, these changes have in fact been with us all along. In the face of sterner challenges, how can we change and add value to ourselves to be ready for what's ahead?
This content is provided by Expivotal Work Matters | Workplace Psychology – to learn more about workplace psychology, please follow the link.
Edited, compiled and published by TreeholeHK – an all-round psychology training company.
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