12 predictions about work in 2040

In the beginning of the pandemic many of us found ourselves working from home. We resisted at first. We hated our desk and chair, and suffered horrible back pains from it. We felt imprisoned in our own homes. But then we adapted, we got a standing desk, we bought healthier snacks and we learnt to cook ourselves lunch. And many started loving it, and dreading a return to the office.

The exit from the pandemic sparked the debate on what the future of work would look like. The Empire of Returning to the Office battled the Rebellion of Remote Work in galactic executive meetings, many of which carried on for hours at a time. Many are still ongoing.

But is there a 3rd way? Can technology come to our rescue?

I believe so, and in June 2020 I wrote the 12 predictions below about how the future of work would look like. At the time Meta was still called Facebook, and Virtual Reality sets were (and still are to be honest) an underutilized gadget for gaming.

With these predictions I hope to paint a metaverse before the metaverse, where the goal is not to make wonky investments in pixelated “real” estate and NFTs, but to bring the best of remote and office work together.

So here are my 12 predictions about work in 2040:

1. The workplace will exist in a virtual reality space. We will wear our VR headset in the morning and enter a digital world where we’ll meet our colleagues
2. All virtual reality worlds will be part of the same universe. Much like Facebook today is a shared platform in which everyone can have their private profiles, conversations and groups, all our workplaces will coexist into a global platform and be interconnected. [Note: this was written before it became Meta]?
3. This virtual world will have app stores and apps opened to 3rd party developers and retailers. These stores may look like physical world stores but exist only digitally, and will enable us to improve our usage of the digital world (e.g,, purchase new virtual rooms, language translating capabilities etc.) and also purchase physical world goods in a digital shop (e.g., suppliers of our businesses). The commercial model of our businesses will evolve to distribute goods through these new digital media.
4. A private company will control the platform, and it will be the highest valued company in the world. Much like Apple controlling its iPhone ecosystem and Facebook controlling its social media world, the company that will control this ecosystem will be able to monetize all activities happening in this virtual world and charge commissions on 3rd party services. [Note: this was written before it became Meta]?
5. We will be able to look however we want. You can wear your pijiama and look at your best self. You can also decide the color of your hair, eyes and skin, and even your gender.
6. Our personalities will be different. Very much like people behave differently on social media, or during a summer vacation, the virtual world will free us up of our normal insecurities driven by how we look or some types of social anxieties. On the other hand, other new problems and fears will appear.
7. We will finally overcome discrimination driven by race, gender, sexual orientation or religion in the workplace. In a world where everyone looks whatever they like, it will be impossible to apply direct discrimination, although systemic discrimination issues that contribute to a huge part of the problem will not be addressed. Dare I dream?
8. Languages won’t matter anymore. We will be able to speak in whatever language we prefer and give a speech to an international audience, and each listener will understand what we say in their language of preference.
9. We will become super smart. Each and every interaction we will have will be supported by apps that we choose to enhance our abilities. Our sentences will be auto-corrected for grammar. Math will be supported by calculators. We will see augmented data about the avatars we are interacting with, reminding us their name, their preferences and what we are talking about.
10. Slides presentations will disappear. Slides are a result of 2D communication limited by our computer screen or projectors. In a virtual world we can conduct each meeting in a virtual environment that best supports our point. Are you discussing a new commercial approach? The meeting will move you next to a salesperson having a conversation with a customer.
11. Incredibly specific ads will target you in real time when you need something. Running a meeting on a new procurement software to buy? The room will listen to your meeting and will suggest you what software works best for your needs. This will create privacy concerns, but also make easier purchase decisions.
12. Some professional services jobs will be replaced by AI. Currently automation focuses on repetitive tasks, partially due to limit on collecting and analyzing data on what makes great professionals such as consultants, lawyers, creative professions etc. Conducting meetings in a virtual environment will allow for data collection on all aspects of very complex jobs, and ultimately lead to their automation

Some of these predictions seem more obvious than ever in 2022. Others will be met with resistance. What do you think the workplace will look like in 2040? Let me know your thoughts!