Changing world of work: FUTURE OF WORK:

Introduction

The future of work is rapidly developing. Technology and digital transformation are disrupting the way workforces are traditionally organized as well as the needs of workers. This paper intends to answer the question of “how can we prepare both young workers as well as regulators to embrace the new gig economy and flexibility needs while at the same time ensuring that the necessary safety nets exist?”  We also look at the key drivers of “changing world of work” and the global challenges that we are facing as we are on the early stages of the 4th industrial revolution. Furthermore we look at both negative and positive impact of changing world of work, also look at the current trends of work. It will conclude by looking at the ways we need to adapt for us to service and excel during this change in work that is currently going through 

Future of work

Today, we are at the beginning of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing and biotechnology, to name just a few, are all building on and amplifying one another. This will lay the foundation for a revolution more comprehensive and all-encompassing than anything we have ever seen (Shwab, 2018). Smart systems—homes, factories, farms, grids or cities— will help handle issues going from store network the board to environmental change.

The rise of the sharing economy will allow people to monetize everything from their empty house to their car. New attitudes to work by younger generations are evolving so that work lives are about self-fulfillment, meaningful work and working in networks instead of hierarchy (Shwab, 2018). The present workforce never again work one desk area based employment for their whole working lives, individuals need change, adaptability and portability to coordinate their work-life balance.

While the approaching change holds extraordinary guarantee, the examples of utilization, generation and business made by it likewise present real difficulties requiring proactive adjustment by companies, governments and people (World Economic Forum, 2018). Simultaneous to the innovative upheaval are a lot of more extensive financial, geopolitical and statistic drivers of progress, each communicating in different headings and heightening each other. As whole businesses modify, most occupations are experiencing an essential change.

While a few occupations are compromised by excess and others develop quickly, existing employments are likewise experiencing an adjustment in the ranges of abilities required to do them. The debate on these transformations is frequently energized between the individuals who predict boundless new chances and those that anticipate enormous disengagement of occupations (Accenture, 2015). In fact, the reality is highly specific to the industry, region and occupation in question as well as the ability of various stakeholders to manage change.

Key drivers of change

 Disruptive changes to business models will have a profound impact on the employment landscape over the coming years (Accenture research, 2018). Many of the major drivers of transformation currently affecting global industries are expected to have a significant impact on jobs, ranging from significant job creation to job displacement, and from heightened labour productivity to widening skills gaps.

In many industries and countries, the most in-demand occupations or specialties did not exist 10 or even five years ago, and the pace of change is set to accelerate (Shwab, 2018). By one popular estimate, 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist (Glover, 2015).1 In such a rapidly evolving employment landscape, the ability to anticipate and prepare for future skills requirements, job content and the aggregate effect on employment is increasingly critical for businesses, governments and individuals in order to fully seize the opportunities presented by these trends—and to mitigate undesirable outcome.

There are micro forces of change in the world of work and there are key forces. Emerging market are reshaping the global economy, widening the gap between the haves and the have not’s (Glover, 2015). According to Daso et al (2015) talent is the new ‘it’ releasing human potential turns into the significant operator of monetary development. Quick mechanical development is making straightforwardness and bringing down exchange costs.

Technology

Many factors are driving change, but none is more important than the rise of Internet 5 technologies (Friedman, 2005). The Internet, as it keeps on creating, has absolutely changed the manners in which that individuals live and work. We as a whole need to be on the correct side of the 4th industrial revolution as innovation is changing quicker and quicker. It impacts the eventual fate of assembling just as specialist co-ops.

Technology will impact the span of the total populace and future and will impact our working lives in other more profound and progressively aberrant ways — the manner in which we draw in with others, our perspectives on ethical quality and our very own human instinct (Ford, 2015). You don't need to be a supporter of technological determinism to perceive that technology capacity (through its mind boggling cooperations with people, foundations, societies and condition) is a key determinant of the standard procedures inside which the rounds of human progress get played out

Globalization

The combination of technology and globalization will have a profound impact on the way we work in the future (Ford, 2015). Indeed, even today globalization and innovation have begun to change the fate of work, for instance Uber is an American company but it is now global and it has taken metred taxi industry with just a use of an App. Globalization will bring opportunities for talented and energetic people to become part of the world economy wherever they are born (Shwab, 2018). It will likewise expand the rejection of the individuals who are not part of the worldwide market, either on the grounds that they don't approach broadband or in light of the fact that they have neither the ability nor the vitality to contend.

Demographic Changes.

The new demography will reshape our understanding and expectations of work (Shwab, 2018). From multiple points of view, the coming decades will be characterized by the biggest statistic bunch the world has ever observed the Baby Boomers. This will in a general sense bring into inquiry our present suspicions about retirement, about the work of the over-65s and about the arrangement of annuities.

Challenges and opportunities

According to Accenture research (2015) the future workplace will create both challenges and opportunities. Taking these opportunities will be crucial. A portion of these progressions are inescapable (for instance, adaptable working), so the attention is on making them fill in as quickly as time permits. Different activities will be precarious and will require the formation of new practices in the manner that organizations are building abilities around virtual group working.

Maybe those reactions requiring the best center are those I call the 'challenged' parts of things to come, working environment procedures and strategies that have not been completely tried, for example, the requirement for increasingly law based procedures and an emphasis on encounters as opposed to on way of life. Such better approaches for working are going to request a dimension of experimentation in the working environment that will demonstrate testing to laborers and supervisors alike. However, in tomorrow's valiant modern lifestyle of work, a sound portion of valor and positive thinking will go far. The fate of work will change for people as well as for the associations of which they are individuals

Employment challenge

The least demanding to anticipate, and most generally talked about effect of the 4th industrial revolution, is its capability to expand joblessness. Past industrial revolution crushed employments, yet in addition made new occupations and industries. With the fourth, while occupations are being obliterated, there is as of now proof that the set up divisions are not making enough employments to fill the hole. While all transformations are naturally troublesome, the fourth holds the ability to make entirely different ventures or areas while absolutely decimating others (Shwab, 2018).

Equity

According to Institute for Public Policy Research (2015) work changes will have knock-on effects (positive and negative), as we will see not only an increase in the class divide but also experience effects in gender balance. Many sectors that require manual labour or repetitive administrative tasks are prone to robotic automation – whether in its mechanical or software form or a combination of both. This will spike unemployment particularly under males (in the manual labour sector) but also in female-dominated industries like call-centres, retail and administration. Ironically, the increased roll-out and adoption of Artificial Intelligent driven self-service technologies what's more, bots may make an expanded interest for specific "human to human" client administration channels and communications.

When it comes to more senior positions, automation looks to accelerate the levelling of the playing field. Many women often have to choose between career and family, but if automation can ease the burden of household work or caregiving, and with the growth of the digitally connected “virtual office” this might not have to be a choice for much longer (Accenture, 2015). 

Africa – South Africa

South Africa is no more interesting to this schizophrenic association with the products of past upsets and innovation specifically. We regularly intentionally dismiss items or creations that are viewed as negative to work. Consider the way that self-service fuel pumps (an innovation made possible through a combination of the second and third revolutions) have yet to make an appearance in South Africa. All South Africans intuitively understand what impact the roll-out of this technology will have on already unacceptably high unemployment numbers.

 The question, therefore, is not if and when the fourth revolution will come to Africa (it is already here in full force) but rather how we will deal with it? With Africa's driving industries being work concentrated, there is a high danger of automation that will leave countless individuals jobless. In South Africa alone, almost 500 000 jobs are created through mining, an industry highly prone to automation. Similarly, back office, skilled administrative workers may also be at risk through the increasing adoption of robotic process automation and artificial intelligent. While labour intensive, union driven, emerging economies may be tempted to simply oppose the adoption of technologies born out of the 4th revolution, competition, globalization and the ever increasing efficiencies in production and services from established economies will simply result in less foreign investment, slower economic growth and increased unemployment. The appropriate response consequently needs to lie in a forceful yet key reception of technology while guaranteeing that the present and future workforce is enough arranged for the requests of this quickly changing environment.

Conclusion

It is the beginning of a Fourth Industrial Revolution. Developments in genetics, artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology, to name just a few, are all building on and amplifying one another (Glover, 2015). This will establish the framework for an upset more complete and widely inclusive than anything we have ever observed. Smart systems—homes, factories, farms, grids or cities—will help tackle problems ranging from supply chain management to climate change. The ascent of the sharing economy will enable individuals to adapt everything from their vacant house to their vehicle (Ford, 2015). While the looming change holds extraordinary guarantee, the patterns of consumption, production and employment created by it also pose major challenges requiring proactive adaptation by corporations, governments and individuals.

Concurrent to the technological revolution are a set of broader socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic drivers of change, each interacting in multiple directions and intensifying one another. As entire industries adjust, most occupations are undergoing a fundamental transformation. While some jobs are threatened by redundancy and others grow rapidly, existing jobs are also going through a change in the skill sets required to do them.

For countries especially , South Africa to fully benefit from the opportunities and challenges presented by the fourth revolution it is vital that public and private education align as a matter of urgency around the real skill demands presented to not only transition the existing workforce but to equip today and tomorrow’s learners to take their rightful place in the workforce. Lifelong learning will be paramount to sustain the ongoing rapid technological advances which will impact the workforce of the fourth revolution.

References

1.     Accenture, (2015) “Being digital: Embrace the future of work and your people will embrace it with you” Accenture Strategy.

2.     Accenture Research (2018), “Future Workforce CXOs Survey”, forthcoming.

3.     Dass, M., Goodwin, A., Wood, M., Luanaigh, A. (2015) Sector insights: Skills challenges in the digital and creative sector, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, Evidence Report 92.

4.     Friedman, T. L. (2005). The world is flat. NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

5.     Ford, M. (2015). The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of Mass Unemployment, Oneworld Publications.

6.     Glover, P. and Hope, H. (2015) Preparing for Tomorrow’s World of Work, in Institute for Public Policy Research (2015) Technology, Globalisation and the Future of Work in Europe.

7.     Institute for Public Policy Research (2015) Technology, Globalisation and the Future of Work in Europe.

8.     Schwab, K (2018), Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum.

9.     World Economic Forum, (2018) “The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the factories of the future”, World Economic Forum Agenda, 10 August 2018, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/3-lessons-from-the-lighthouses-beaming-theway-for-the-4ir/.

10. World Economic Forum, (2018) Towards a Reskilling Revolution: A Future of Jobs for All, Insight Report.