[oc_spacer height=”15″]Digitalisation, globalisation and demographic change will lead to drastic changes to working in 2030 and beyond. In our article “Workspace of the Future“ we described which three steps need to be observed when introducing a modern workspace. In this article we look at how employees will form the future.
Work-life-balance and a blurring between leisure time and work, a change of heart and the search for happiness, joy and self-determination – this characterises the next generation of employees. Here you can read why these demands have such an immense influence on what Working 2030 will look like.
Working 2030: The Hunt for Creative Heads
The driving factor for designing the workspace of the future will be the war for talent according to the “Fast Forward 2030“ study of real estate service provider CBRE and Genesis. Hidden behind this is the competition between companies for the best skilled staff. The shortage of such talents will bring employees‘ requirements to the foreground. And companies will have to cater for these requirements as best as they can in order to be particularly successful recruiters.
The labour market will further be revolutionised through advancing digitalisation and automation. Repetitive jobs can be carried out by machines and algorithms take over administration as well as analysis of collected data. However, what is more in demand than ever before are creative geniuses, who can improve business processes with exceptional visions and deliver new ideas. The reason for this is that machines do not programme themselves independently and up to now artificial intelligence can neither think or act creatively nor socially and emotionally.
Besides the growing requirements to the pioneering work of such talents, there are simply less employees available due to demographic reasons. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, the number of people in work will reduce from 61% to 52% by 2050. This means that due to the pension wave of baby boomers, the German economy will lose up to 15 million workers. Companies will have difficulty retaining outstanding graduates as there will be more competition than today. As these creative heads have more or less free choice of a large number of employers, the latter need to work hard to present themselves in the best light.
Working 2030: Purpose instead of Money
According to a study of the US market researcher Gallup, general employee motivation has reached a new all-time low. It states that only 13% of employees are motivated, whereas 63% have lost any commitment. If one believes the forecast of the “Fast Forward 2030“ study then employees in 2030 will not let it come to this point. The next generation of employees is characterised by a changed view of performance. Already today young employees find being happy at work more important than the monthly income. In future, traditional career aspirations and salary become less important in contrast to self-determination, happiness, new challenges as well as sufficient time and space for life besides work.
The publishers of the study describe working as a type of “customer experience“. Employees search for jobs and projects, which appeal to them, suit them and are enjoyable. For many, the added value of work and its purpose will be on the very top of their priority list. Instead of self-enrichment, many will work to be part of the “next big thing“.
Working 2030: Work-Life Integration is a Must
On one hand work is meant to be fun, but on the other hand there should be enough freedom to also fully enjoy leisure time. In order to balance work and life ideally, employees want flexibility and independence in the creation of their working hours. Instead of work-life balance in future the so-called work-life-integration will be the focus, i.e. the meshing of work and leisure time. This togetherness of free time and work is enabled by technical possibilities of location- and time-independent working, for example with the unified workspaces from oneclick™. For Working 2030 it should be normal, for example, to sit down at the laptop late in the afternoon at a lake to meet a deadline, or to help colleagues with solving a problem via smartphone while travelling. On one hand, employees need the technical prerequisites for location-independent working and on the other hand, these innovative work models demand a relationship of trust between employers and staff. Companies may find this particularly difficult as many employees in 2030 only want to be bound to an employer on a project-by-project basis.
Conclusion
Working 2030: Flexibility, self-determination, enjoyable work and sufficient leisure time. Employee requirements can no longer be managed with traditional structures and processes. In order to sustainably design work and the economy, a new orientation is needed for which the impulses of the new generation of employee is crucial.
Sources:
- https://www.cio.de/a/wie-wir-im-jahr-2030-arbeiten,3103921
- https://arbeits-abc.de/arbeitsmarktprognose-2030/
- https://www.cbre.com/-/media/images/research%20reports/apac/2015/cbre_genesis_fast_forward_workplace_2030_full_report_e.pdf
- https://www.rolandberger.com/de/Point-of-View/Die-Zukunft-der-Arbeit.html
- https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/artikel/das-arbeits-mindset-der-zukunft/
- https://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/blick-ins-jahr-2030-arbeiten-mit-sinn-aber-ohne-zwang/11253960.html
- https://newworkblog.de/2016/10/18/digital-workplace-als-wegbereiter-fuer-die-digitale-transformation/
Image Credits:
- Image 1: Kaboompics @ pixabay.com
- Image 2: Clem Onojeghuo @ pexels.com
- Image 3: Mentatdgt @ pexels.com
