After what feels like a brief pause (in the UK at least), the world continues to change – and so does the way we work.
Technology advancements, globalisation, and changing workforce demands have all led to shifts in the way people do their jobs. Here are 3 of the biggest trends shaping this new world…
✅ Organisational Shapeshifting
Companies are restructuring more skilfully to survive and become more efficient. This is often done through creative mergers and acquisitions, where two or more companies come together to create a larger, more powerful entity. There are numerous flavours of M&A, particularly in the SME space, which can be highly effective in the right circumstances: beneficial for the companies’ health and survival, but also for the workforce. If done properly, it can boost revenue and margin, reduce costs and improve innovation.
✅ Skills focus
As more sector job categories move from generalist towards more specialist skills requirements, the impact on the workforce will become more profound, not least in terms of education and training. What’s also interesting is that more roles are becoming capable of being remote (including offshoring). The acceptability of remote working has been accelerated by Covid but is underpinned by technological advances and the evolving skills base globally. In the last 6 months, I’ve observed a new wave of sophisticated jobs (engineering, legal, finance, design) being outsourced to what might once have been regarded as obscure parts of the world. Much of this latest push is being driven by rising inflation and a high level of unfilled vacancies, mixed in with what’s been commonly described as quiet quitting.
✅ Digitisation
The pace at which automation and technology (not just artificial intelligence) are changing the jobs market, is rapidly speeding up. There will be few sectors left untouched, meaning exciting opportunities for those keen to embrace change that is already well underway. The flip side is that those who remain unprepared for the next phase of economic transformation will be left behind as existing job categories begin to quickly vanish.