Its 2021 - It's the War of the Worlds in the New World of Work.

Man versus Machine - Who will prevail

“No-one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No-one could have dreamed that we were being scrutinized, as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us…”

Richard Burton - H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds"

Da Da Daa...Da Da Daa

Humans still matter, for now.

In early 2020, No-one would have believed just how much would change in the world of work and we had no idea what ‘PPE’, ‘WFH’ or the ‘New Normal’ meant.

At current estimates, over 173 million people have been forced to leap or have lost their jobs the past 3 months. This could rise to over 200 million by 2021. To put that into perspective, that is over 50% of the population of the US, a market 3 times the size of the UK; or 25% of all people on LinkedIn have lost jobs already!

The ‘New Normal’ is starting to emerge for many, whether it be job losses, redundancy, the return to work and the short term collapse of many industries like Travel, Aviation and Retail. The new world of work will definitely not be ‘Normal’, or something we have seen before. There is no going back to where we all were 6 months ago.

WFH - A hybrid approach (What office? What Boss?)

There is hope however! Work from home (WFH) has been forced on so many people and has led companies to consider how much time, money and resources are wasted in commuting and travelling to see each other and clients. The drop in air travel has meant online conversations and relationships have had to be built to keep businesses and teams alive. People have become ‘human’ as they reveal their home lives for others to see whilst trying to balance work/life commitments. Many have had to work even longer hours and find new and innovative technology solutions. However, there is less congestion and air pollution in major cities around the world as a result. The downside we will see is possibly the post pandemic, pandemic in mental health issues.

A bit like the automotive industry, we have had the combustion engine since the culture has been to work in offices, but new technology in electric and autonomous vehicles is the future, we just need the infrastructure to catch up to make it mass-viable. The same goes for working from home. If you have a long commute, then a preferable option may be to WFH if you have a spare bedroom, high speed internet and do not have screaming kids that can open doors! However, if you live in a studio apartment, can walk to work in 15 mins and need the change of scenery, WFH may not work for you. You may not need to relocate to the country where the best opportunities are, you can live in the cheapest, best location with the fastest Wifi and 5G network.

Productivity - hacked

The early research would suggest that productivity at an individual level has been largely unaffected and, if anything, has gone up. People working from home, means less commuting, less breaks, no lunch hour, no travel to client meetings. The downside seems to be the impact on collective creativity, human relationships and mental health.

For organisations it is easy to see the dilemma here. If people are in the office we know where they are and what they are doing, plus we build a company culture and managers and leaders have an obvious role. With people working from home and remotely, they have no commute, are possibly more productive, but we cannot watch them or control them. We can also reduce cost in office space and have more fluid working arrangements. Post pandemic, the early statistics show that up to 83% of people would like to continue working from home. The reality is that we cannot go back to how it was and we cannot sustain everyone working from home for ever, so there must be a hybrid. For leaders, they have had to navigate leading remotely over Zoom, not something they teach you at MBA school or on a leadership development course!

The Robots are coming - Actually they are already here.

The fear was that AI and robots would mean over 50 million jobs would be lost by 2050. Well that has already happened. It is unlikely that we will arrive at a ‘one size fits all’ solution in the near term, however, what we must address is our relationship with the factor that currently creates most company value - Human Capital. We have managed to talk a good game on how companies live the values or create a family culture and embrace diversity, but when the chips are down, the biggest and easiest thing to do to reduce cost again is to take out the very people companies depend on.

We are heading for a quantum shift in computing power and in human behaviour and value. The gig economy side hustle had already started. The lack of current and future talent mobility, coupled with improvements in technology, communications and collaboration, means that people will not need to work at a company, or for a company, but rather with a company in a much more fluid and remote way. We were warned that AI and robots would replace us all and now people have had time to consider what that may mean. It is unlikely that AI and robots will have the emotional intelligence to lead people and be creative enough to have interpersonal relationships with clients, but if you have less people, you need fewer leaders.

2025 and beyond - Its the the War of the Worlds - Man v Machine

Fast forward 5 years to 2025: Many millions will never return to work and AI will do the work of many educated, skilled, white collar workers just because it is much more efficient to do so. They work 24/7, do not commute or take up space, do not get sick, do not require healthcare or a pension. There are then 500 million people out of work globally trying to make a living online. You-tubers are the new CEO's with huge followers and remote employees earning millions of dollars. Social media consumes itself and blows up 5G.

The ‘New Normal’ and World of 'No work'

It will be common place for everyone to have or need dual or multiple incomes as they insure themselves against future lay-offs and redundancies to ensure they are not dependent on one employer. A few clients, a side gig and hustle are minimum requirements for many to survive. In a similar way, employers may feel the same and could prefer a small core workforce supplemented by a freelance workforce in cheaper, high skilled and educated cities that are more cost effective and productive. Employers and employees now have more choices than ever before. Employees will vote with their feet and employers will have to accept that they do not ‘own’ people, rather they just ‘rent’ them for a few hours a day to do the unproductive things that technology can not yet do.

Leaders have a choice - Lead or Leave the planet

Adapting and being agile as a human will be just the start of the news leadership skills required. Seeking out expertise and standing out with 500 million unemployed and 1 billion on LinkedIn will be essential. Everyone will be looking for work or new income streams and competing with the latest AI and technology.

The War of the Worlds and the New Normal for Talent is well and truly here but who will win, Man or Machine?

Navigating the ‘New Normal’ is going to be fascinating and challenging for all parties concerned and I for one, look forward to what this means for us all this decade. That is why I have created N3 Executive to help individuals and companies in Navigating the New Normal. Find out more at www.n3ec.com or contact me to discuss the challenges you are anticipating around Global Talent, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching.

About the Author:

Matthew Lewis is a Certified Executive Career, Leadership and Health Coach, Talent and Leadership Expert and Trusted Board Advisor in emerging markets.

"25 years of assessing, hiring and developing people across multiple countries, companies and cultures, has given me the acute ability to 'join the dots' and see what others do not see about themselves or their business. Having extensively studied human and corporate performance and culture, I often ask the tough questions which others will not ask, or say the things that others may be afraid to say. That insight has allowed me to see patterns of behaviour and connections that have hugely impacted individuals and businesses. It is both an 'art' and a 'science' and therefore allows me to be comfortable with ambiguity and navigate others towards a new norm".