Work
Companies have two big questions about the future of work: What will the implications be for their workforce and what will those effects mean for their customers? For the workforce, will new models — accelerated by the pandemic — emerge? Or will they revert to the old ways? Either way, the changes to how we live, shop, dine, and play could be profound.
Work issue
The central question of the What the Future: Work issue is how will changes to how we work impact how we live. This issue is less about human resources topics like upskilling or labor shortage, or about how artificial intelligence will automate us all out of our jobs. It’s more about what all those topics mean for us as consumers, commuters and brands trying to create a consistent experience.
The future of work itself is an important starting point. We’re seeing some experiments in the future of work that would play into new ways of structuring our lives and how we pay for them. Many nations and employers are experimenting with four-day workweeks and universal basic income. There’s key tension between the desire to emerge from the pandemic, and as some say, build back better, but also a strong desire to “return to normal.”
For more foresight content, subscribe to the What the Future newsletter for new topics each month. Be sure to register for the Nov. 15 What the Future: Work issue companion webinar as we lead you through the latest data, panels and insights. Read on as experts from cloud computing services, restaurants, urban design, and innovation and diversity explore how the ways people work in the future will influence how and where people live, eat and shop.
- Jon Izenstark, head, worldwide business development & solutions, HR & workforce transformation, Amazon Web Services — How the future of work could look like the present
- Ali Charri, senior vice president, strategy and insights, Darden Restaurants — Why empathy is the answer to shifting customer expectations
- Andre Brumfield, principal, global leader, cities + urban design, Gensler — How the future of work will shape where we live
- Rohit Bhargava, entrepreneur, co-author, “Beyond Diversity” — Why diversity makes companies stronger
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