THE WORKING FUTURE

A lot of things have happened in our world within the past few years, most notably the global COVID-19 pandemic that led companies to suspend and even shut down their operations. This event affected our health, finances, and even our day-to-day living. The business market in the Philippines and many other countries went down during the last couple of years, as a lot of companies were unable to operate and gain revenue due to lockdowns.

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Because of the economic slowdown, companies shifted to a work-from-home setup to move forward. Big adjustments were made by companies and their employees—from providing equipment, onboarding employees virtually, and adapting to the complexities of working from home. While many employees viewed working from home as convenient, a lot of people, especially in the Philippines, have encountered challenges due to location, equipment and tools, and internet connectivity issues. But as time went by, and now that we are on our third year of battling this virus, it seems like the country has already adopted and now sees working from home as the new normal.

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The recent American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) of the Philippines webinar, entitled “The Working Future: More Human, Not Less”, talked about how to manage the blood of the business, despite having challenges. The guest speaker, Mr. Gino Dizon, is currently working with a consulting firm involved in a rigorous global research program on workers of 12 countries (USA, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Australia, Canada, China, Brazil, India, Nigeria, and Indonesia).

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He mentioned that there are five themes shaping the working future—first is the reason why we work. Many of us probably work because of family, future, and dreams. While our answers to this must constantly change, I believe that this is a great way to motivate ourselves to keep going. Second is the belief that ours is a good job. This is one of the key factors why employees stay in one company—they have a good job that allows them to live peacefully and comfortably. Third, automation helps to re-humanize work. In recent years, a lot of technologies have emerged to help humans do their tasks easier. While automation helped make our work easier, some employers laid off their employees to start investing in machines and gadgets. We should never forget that humans are still way better than machines because of the passion and talent we have. Fourth, technology is loosening the boundaries of the firm. This was a realization for most companies during the start of the pandemic. It seemed like a breakthrough for most because it was something we perceived as impossible in the past. Because of COVID, everyone involved in a business must be resourceful and flexible enough to adapt to change. So, with the help of technology, companies were able to adopt the work-from-home setup and were also able to constantly communicate wherever they may be. The main point here is that as long as you have a stable and reliable internet connection, a laptop, or a desktop work station, you can work where you’re comfortable. Lastly, younger generations are increasingly overwhelmed. Younger generations now feel pressured to fit in and succeed in life—there’s pressure at work, pressure outside work such as family responsibilities, and personal pressure to make their lives better and commit to their dreams following the timeline they set for themselves. Aside from these, because younger generations frequently use social media, they often see the success of other people. This affects their work focus, leads them to compare themselves to others, and eventually gets them overwhelmed. Based on the study, younger workers, aged 35 and below, feel more stressed than older workers.

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What do workers really want? According to the research conducted by Mr. Dizon’s team, good compensation is the top priority of workers. Various factors such as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine have constantly increased the prices of basic commodities. So, everyone must be agile to look for better compensation to survive the current global inflation. Next in line is flexible/good working hours, followed by job security. The good thing here is that the difference in their percentages is not that far, not even from the rest. The factor that got the least percentage is prestige. Well, if you work in a prestigious company, they could probably give you the best experience in the market, as well as their name, but the rest will most probably be the same as others.

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We cannot erase the fact that employers expect a lot from their employees, regardless of their job level. In terms of expecting hard work from employees, among the 12 participating countries, the U.S. got 66%, Japan got 15%, while the others are in median. For employee loyalty, Germany got 56% and Brazil got the lowest percentage of 32%. The research revealed that leadership is the least factor that employers expect from workers—the country with the highest percentage is the U.S., while Indonesia got the lowest.

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The good news is that many jobs of the future will demand uniquely human skills. This gives us hope of reducing the unemployment rate here in the Philippines. Even though machines can do physical labor and information processing, humans are still needed for problem-solving, creative thinking, and most importantly, interpersonal interactions. The comparative advantage of each must be still present in the process to expedite work and come up with better ideas to take the business to the next level.

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Due to the pandemic, work-life balance became the top priority of employees. Because of working at home, most employees forgot their other priorities as humans. As a result, a lot of employees suffered from stress, which tremendously affected their mental health. Based on the research, Indonesia topped the survey as a country that prioritizes work-life balance; Germany got the lowest percentage. A change in work environment could ease the stress level of employees as they get the chance to meet other people face-to-face, see other things aside from the four corners of their house, and get some chance to relax and unwind away from home.

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Our current working situation is truly a breakthrough. The pandemic may have taken us by surprise, and we had limited time to prepare, but we were still able to conquer and drive the change. Now, for companies to be cost-effective and efficient, they should invest more in re-skilling their talents, reduce their spending on recruitment, and maximize the human resources available within the organization. Loyal employees, good company culture, widely available opportunities, and sense of belongingness can help companies retain good talents and reduce attrition rate. However, this will only be successful if everyone in the team works together towards achieving the mission and vision of the company.?