It will be advantageous to have in-demand talents in the future job market. In its Future of work trends 2023 report, the World Economic Forum anticipated these likely skill sets and how the need for them may increase.
Firms anticipate that 44% of workers’ basic abilities will be disrupted between now and 2027 due to technology moving more quickly than firms can develop and expand their training programs.
For individuals and businesses looking to stay ahead of the change curve, here are five future of work trends.
Future Skills Will Become Increasingly Important
According to corporations, the importance of analytical thinking will increase for workers by 72% over the next five years, placing it high on the list of abilities. They argue that, with only 26% of tasks being automated, reasoning and decision-making are now the least mechanized ones in the workplace.
Businesses for the report predict that demand for creative thinking will increase 73% faster than demand for analytical thinking over the next five years. Technology literacy is the third fastest increasing core talent, followed by motivation and self-awareness, resilience, flexibility, agility, curiosity, and lifelong learning.
How Are Employees Altering Their Work Practices?
With hybrid working models firmly placing employees in control of when and where they work, the future workplace will be increasingly more employee-centric. In a poll of employees in Canada, Ireland, the US, and the UK, it was discovered that nearly three-quarters of workers planned to work on new workplace trends due to the pandemic. Many of these workers planned new daily routines, including relocating their workplaces and modifying their working hours.
What Major Developments are Influencing the Future of Work Trends?
The following major workforce trends are already influencing how the workplace will develop:
1. Hybrid technology
Hybrid working is one of the new ways of working and the most important trend to come out of the epidemic. Employees can work wholly in the office, partially remotely, or in a flexible combination.
2. Automation
Automation will impact virtually all professions, and as a result, almost every industry’s business practices will change. The rapid development of robot technologies and AI has already reduced the need for repetitive operations, increased operational effectiveness and productivity, and reduced costs.
3. The Metaverse
Technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and holograms are expected to revolutionize mentoring and training. Moreover, it is also changing how we work by enabling areas where frontline, remote, on-site, and hybrid workers may collaborate.
4. Pay attention to employee experience
The promise of a great employee experience is at the core of an organization’s success as more workplaces become employee-centric. It must be delivered through an integrated approach comprising leaders and managers, IT, HR, and the workplace.
5. Role and procedure flexibility
Workers increasingly cite flexibility as a major determinant of whether they would accept or reject job offers. While remote work or hybrid working is the most well-known way to do this, there are other ways to be flexible as well:
- Determined by the employee working hours
- Varying hours for arrival and departure
- Chances for long vacations, such as sabbaticals or career breaks
- Additional paid time off options
Final Words
It’s impossible to anticipate with any degree of accuracy how shifting economic and commercial trends would affect workplace objectives and the future of work trends in 2023 as the world of work continues to change. But it’s evident that the pandemic, among other factors, has sped up workforce transformation, and employers now more than ever need to keep up with skills development.
