9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2024

Disruption is set to persist, and we must prepare for what lies ahead. According to Gartner research, nine trends will shape the future of work in the coming year. Organizations that take a proactive approach to develop business and talent strategies that address these trends can gain a competitive edge in achieving strategic goals and enhancing talent outcomes.

1-Organizations will offer creative benefits to address the costs of work

Organizations need to address the financial, time, and energy costs that employees bear when working in the office. Research shows that employees feel that going to the office requires more effort, is more expensive, and prioritizes leaders' wants over employees' needs. As location of work does not significantly impact employee performance, organizations should focus on reducing the total costs of work, rather than finding the perfect hybrid strategy, to attract and retain talent.

Leading organizations are implementing targeted benefits to support their employees, including:

• Housing subsidies
• Caregiver benefits such as onsite childcare and eldercare support
• Financial well-being programs to help with personal financial planning and education
• Student loan repayment programs to alleviate one of the biggest financial stressors.
• 2- AI to Increase Workforce Opportunities, Not Diminish ThemAccording to a recent Gartner survey, 22% of employees believe AI will replace their jobs in five years. However, GenAI is more likely to redesign jobs than replace them, leading to new responsibilities, including interacting with GenAI tools. By 2025, GenAI is predicted to be involved in 70% of text- and data-heavy tasks. Business leaders should work with HR to evaluate how GenAI investments can transform team roles and workflows, and assess its impact on hiring processes.
• 3- Four-day workweeks will move from radical to routine.A four-day workweek has become popular among workers and was rated as a top new and innovative benefit in a survey. Recent pilots have suggested benefits for productivity and employee well-being. In 2024, organizations will use four-day workweeks to improve talent outcomes and business outcomes, requiring a rethinking of work cadence and a more explicit scheduling approach. This approach helps reduce the burden on managers and employees and facilitates a four-day workweek.
• 4- Managers will need to master the art of conflict resolution between employees, it's a survival skill!

Conflict between employees at all levels pulls down both individual and team performance; for many, work is not a safe space.57% of managers say they are fully responsible for managing and resolving team conflicts. Managers who can effectively navigate and manage interpersonal conflict among employees will have an outsize positive impact on their organizations — the question is how many really feel trained and prepared to do so? Organizations should upskill managers and managerial candidates in conflict resolution through dedicated training and shadowing or coaching opportunities for new managers Leading employers are also finding ways to recognize and reward effective conflict resolution at all levels of the organization, including considering conflict-management skills during performance review cycles and promotion decisions.

5- GenAI experiments will yield hard lessons and painful costs.

Executives are pushing for the implementation of GenAI due to enthusiasm, hype, and fear of missing out. However, the Gartner 2023 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies predicts that GenAI has already reached its peak and will enter a period of disillusionment where it won't meet overinflated expectations. This doesn't mean that GenAI won't provide significant benefits, but companies will need to manage expectations and risks associated with implementation.

The deployment of GenAI tools in organizations promises increased productivity, but access and file classification policies have been neglected in many organizations, resulting in risks associated with personnel information being disclosed. Moreover, the output of GenAI is not always accurate, necessitating quality control and employee training to develop good judgment.

6- Skills requirements will overtake degree requirements as the “paper ceiling” crumbles.

Employers can now explore new ways of finding or developing the talent they require. In-house universities or business schools are becoming more popular among leading organizations such as Target, Amazon and EY. They offer tailored credential programs and apprenticeships that equip talent with the specific skills they need to progress.

7- Climate change protection becomes a new employee benefit.

In 2024 and beyond, organizations will begin to highlight and promote direct climate change protections as a key part of their benefit offerings. These could include:

• Explicit commitments to physical safety: Organizations may develop proactive plans to offer shelter, energy, and provisions when natural disasters arrive and actively communicate their response capabilities to their workforce.
• Compensation to impacted employees: Organizations may offer designated PTO or monetary benefits to those who experience hardship due to a climate-related event. Subsidies for short-term housing, relocation assistance, disaster-related leave, or stipends for specialized safety equipment could become more explicit components of organizations’ benefits packages.
• Mental health support: Many organizations have already expanded emotional well-being offerings over the past few years, but some may begin to offer access to grief counselors to help their employees globally cope with the impacts of these events.

8- DEI won’t disappear; it will become more embedded in the way we work.

companies will begin to pivot to embedding DEI throughout the organization. This approach will change how business leaders interact with DEI, positioning it not as “what” they do, but “how” they achieve high performance in their key objectives. Ultimately, this new model will see DEI shift to a shared way of working as organizations fully integrate DEI values into business objectives, daily operations, and culture.

9- Traditional stereotypes of career paths will collapse in face of workforce change.

As non-traditional career paths become more common, traditional talent management strategies that rely on stereotypes will hinder talent acquisition and retention. Organizations need to adapt in three ways: make it easier for employees to leave and return, utilize expertise regardless of tenure, and prepare for the retirement of experienced workers. This can be achieved through job sharing, gig work, mid-career leave programs, returnships, internal rotation programs, and shadowing opportunities. Companies like United Technologies, Goldman Sachs, and Johnson & Johnson have already implemented such programs.

The following trends will significantly impact the future of work beyond 2024. Business leaders must assess which of these trends to prioritize and pilot, considering the following criteria:

• Which trends will affect your organization the most?
• Which trends could give your organization a significant advantage in the labor market if acted upon?
• Which trends could jeopardize your strategic goals if not acted upon?

While it's unrealistic to expect organizations to embrace all of these trends, those who fail to prioritize and act on a few will likely fall behind. This could negatively affect talent retention and attraction, as well as the ability to attain strategic goals.

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