Web 3.0 and HR of Future

Web 3.0 will change the ‘Work’ like Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 did. It is inevitable !

If you had been keeping a tab on what is going on this front and cared to look beyond the crazy headlines around Cryptocurrency then I am sure you have noticed the big leap to Metaverse through technologies like Blockchain in pretty much all spheres of life and here I am not just talking about Facebook rechristening itself. Blockchain is shaping Web 3.0 in such a fundamental way that future is suddenly looking more inclusive and ‘doable’. Melodramatic it may sound but as many have argued that the most defining characteristic of Web 3.0 is it's egalitarian promise of giving the ownership of cyber -verse from large corporations back to you. And this singular empowering characteristic of future web will change everything about work as we know of it today. Read on !

If terms like Metaverse, Blockchain, Web 3.0, Defi,Quadratic funding , DAO, NFTs, Smart Contracts and Cryptography make you dizzy then you are not alone. As much as the future is all about such technologies, unfortunatley , the institutions of the present are not doing enough to pave the way and hence its fallen on some intrepid adventurous minds to not only blaze the trail but also raise awareness of the potential that such technologies hold. After taking an Udemy course on Blockchain, investing in Bitcoins and Ether, exploring Opensea, Rarible and the fascinating world of NFTs , doing a few blockchain transactions and reading 100s of Twitter threads , I was blown away by the potential impact that all of this will have on the Future of Work ( I even watched Ready Player One) -

Here is how I think the Work will be impacted ?in 4 critical ways which in turn will shape the HR in future -

1.?It will be a Freelancer's world ?: Web 2 enabled Gig economy and Web 3 will make it main stream. The average future worker will be the one who would have smart contract with a corporation to solve a particular problem and will compete with many other meat-workers such as herself. ?These workers will get paid instantly in Cryptocurrencies when they deliver the goods. They will interact with each other in metaverse by using technologies such as ‘Immersed’ and may even form a ‘DAO(Decentralized Autonomous Organisation) to collaborate and reap the rewards together. Web 2.0 already gave us aggregators like ‘Fiverr’ that has given freelancers global access to market and now Web 3.0 has the potential to give an exponential growth to freelancing where companies can hire en-masse and treat them like regular employees of today.

Further, The technology of managing a traditional Crowdsourcing is already mature however large organizations and esp. the ones operating in old-economy space have shied away from using crowdsourcing due to concerns around data integrity and non-repudiation. These are exactly the kind of problems that Blockchain promises to solve. Imagine, putting a reward for solving supply chain bottlenecks on a crowdfunding site such as Openideo.com, hiring the freelancer, collaborating in a metaverse site like Immersed ( Immersed.com) and paying Ether through the Ethereum blockchain’s smart contract – all seamless transactions using the power of composability of Web 3.

2.?HR Process Maps will be re-written : Imagine finding meta-workers in the market place! Finally, the AI Bots will play the role that the Talent Acquisition function had been hoping them to play for over 30 years. HR has struggled with the limitations of AI algorithm of TA tools that are mostly built like traditional search engines with no capabilities of claims’ verification. Talent Acquisition has become incredibly hard over the years as the technology has enabled candidates to ‘fake’ or ‘mis-represent’ their experience with literally no way for TA/HR professionals to verify.

Blockchain will enable a data base which is based on verifiable resumes / skills. There are already talks of going ‘resume-free’ and there are companies that have started building such decentralized, autonomous platforms where corporations and employees could come together and create mutually beneficial contract.

Then there will be impact on ‘pay, rewards and recognition’. Aside from the most obvious impact on Payroll function due to Crypto being the new token of pay, there will be impact on how companies view ‘total rewards’ and how ‘recognition policies’ will be shaped up. The future will be built on intrinsic ‘composability’ of new metaverse and a meta-worker will demand pay in tokens available in that world and instantly. It could be a ‘digital certificate’ of ‘proof of work’ to be instantly uploaded in the ‘blockchain’ of ‘digital resume data base’ or it could be a tradable coupon that the worker could use to buy a coveted art NFT in or to those still believing in the comfort of old-world in stablecoins. With the base technology behind Ethereum Blockchain, meatworkers of future will negotiate ESOPS that could be vested automatically at a particular amount versus waiting for 3 years and dealing with uncertainties of the market.

If you have seen the movie ‘Ready player one’ , bought an Oculus or have interacted with the world of ‘Immersed’ (https://immersed.com/) then you probably understand the power of meta-recognition ( sorry – cant help but coin these meta-words) which could be instant , in real time and at a scale which is not possible today ( imagine a big ‘Thank You – Alok ‘ blazing the screens of 10,000 Avatars of employees working for the company).

In short – every single HR process map will be re-written and HR will have to revamp itself to find newer ways to effectively engage future worker.

3.?Intellectual Property Rights will belong to the Creator : Most employees working in the formal economy today have limited or almost zero rights over the content that they create. Its all owned by the corporation that they serve. The meta-worker will have none of it and the technology will help her having a fair share of her labor.

This will be partly due to the economic constraints of the new talent market where corporations will have lesser power to negotiate due to reduced risk of betting on a particular expertise which will be verifiable?and also due to easy enforceability of immutable , non-corruptible contracts that would ensure that the content created in service of the organisation will not be used to its own detriment in future.

4. Diversity and Inclusion will go Digital : This one will probably be the most intriguing aspect to watch out for. With work shifting to the metaverse, digital identities will matter more than physical ones. Virtual meetings will reshape ‘collaboration’ in a way where one wont have to worry about her actual appearance as the tech will let her avatar move in sync with her actual self ( this tech already exists and no, its not Roblox check this).

While this will solve the new age problem of ‘video fatigue’ , it will also help minority and vulnerable groups to bring their best selves to work without worrying about those unconscious / conscious biases that exist around physical appearances. Web 3.0 by design is more inclusive and it has the potential to make workplaces much more inclusive and diverse by increasing the equity of diverse groups.

Summary

While the term Web 3.0 appeared for the first time only in 2006, the underlying technologies had been in the making for many years before. The Bitcoin blockchain was created in 2009 but Cryptography as a mathematical concept was proposed in 1991, which in turn was made possible by the groundbreaking concepts proposed on Hash function way back in 1976. Some of the most fascinating tech-developments today are happening around Metaverse and Blockchain technologies and future is being built one block at a time. The world of today was an impossible place to imagine in early 90s but it surely arrived and for most part did so by riding stealthily and slowly on the back of Web 2.0. So will the future on Web 3.0 !

If I was a betting man, I would bet that in a few years ,commerce will be unrecognizable from that of today and the future worker will need different tools to be engaged, rewarded, and managed. Don’t believe me ? Read this and be blown !