Trends Affecting Future of Work

A young futurist named Jacob Morgan has identified 5 trends that are, and will be, affecting the workplace and work styles of the future. I will start with the demographic component first - the millennials - and then move through the rest. At one time it was the baby boomers (I am an early one) that affected everything around us. Now it appears that our affect is on retirement trends and health care. The millennials, sought after by cities, are shaping work, technology, transportation, volunteerism and much more. However, the values held deeply by millennials are, in many ways, shared by the boomers.

Now, on to the 5. I would like to add the demographic issue of Diversity to the mix. This is diversity by race/ethnicity (the U.S. will have no majority group by 2043 at the latest) and gender identity. Businesses that embrace diversity and have diverse staffs are shown to be better places to work with better results. Let me know if you have others to add to the list.

• Millennials/demography- millennials will make up 50% of the workforce by 2020 and 75% by 2025, older generations are retiring later and many are becoming freelancers after they retire.
• Globalization - operating in a world where boundaries don’t exist
• Mobility- “connect to work” as long as you have access to the web you can get your job done
• New behaviors- living a public life, real-time feedback, collaboration, sharing
• Technology- big data, collaboration platforms, internet of things, robots and automation, wearables, and more.