The is an initial new view of the future of work based on insights gained from several workshops undertaken around the world in 2015. It builds on the initial perspective and adds in new thoughts from the US, UK, Singapore and South Africa. It is being used as input stimulus in a final workshop in Mumbai on 9 October and will be updated after that. Please feel free to share, add comments and provide additional thoughts so we can make the final version as inclusive as possible and useful for all.

1. The
Future
of
Work
|
The
Emerging
View
Insights
from
Mul0ple
Expert
Discussions
Around
the
World

2. Future
Agenda
The
Future
Agenda
is
the
world’s
largest
open
foresight
program
that
accesses
mul0ple
views
of
the
next
decade
so
all
can
be
beAer
informed
and
s0mulate
innova0on.

3. Looking
Forwards
Organisa0ons
increasingly
want
to
iden0fy
and
understand
both
the
an0cipated
and
unexpected
changes
so
that
they
can
be
beAer
prepared
for
the
future.

4. Future
Agenda
1.0
Top
Insights
for
2020
From
the
2010
program,
52
key
insights
on
the
next
decade
were
shared
widely
and
have
been
extensively
used
by
organisa0ons
around
the
world.
Privacy
was
a
key
issue
to
emerge
in
2010
and
has
grown
since.

5. Future
Agenda
in
Numbers
The
first
Future
Agenda
programme
engaged
a
wide
range
of
views
in
25
countries.
Future
Agenda
2.0
has
doubled
the
face-­‐to-­‐face
interac0on
and
significantly
raised
online
sharing,
debate
and
discussion.
Future
Agenda
1.0
1
HOST
16
TOPICS
25
COUNTRIES
50
WORKSHOPS
1500
ORGANISATIONS
Future
Agenda
2.0
50
HOSTS
25
TOPICS
40
COUNTRIES
100+
WORKSHOPS
4500
ORGANISATIONS

6. Future
Agenda
2.0
Topics
The
second
version
of
the
Future
Agenda
program
is
taking
place
during
2015
and
has
been
addressing
20+
topics
via
100
events
in
50
ci0es
in
40
countries
in
partnership
with
around
50
core
hosts.
Ageing
CiOes
Company
ConnecOvity
Data
EducaOon
Energy
Food
Government
Health
Learning
Loyalty
Payments
Privacy
Resources
Transport
Travel
Water
Wealth
Work

7. Global
Partnerships
Discussions
on
the
future
of
work
were
undertaken
in
partnership
with
several
hosts.
Events
in
the
US,
UK,
South
Africa,
Budapest
etc.
plus
insights
from
the
future
of
data,
trade
and
the
company
have
added
more
views
to
the
mix.
Ini0al
Perspec0ves
Q4
2014
Global
Discussions
Q1/2
2015
Insight
Synthesis
Q3
2015
Sharing
Output
Q4
2015

8. The
Future
of
Work
|
The
Emerging
View
This
document
provides
an
overview
of
what
we
heard
from
mul0ple
expert
voices
around
the
world
–
on
the
future
of
work,
how
it
is
changing,
what
is
driving
this
change
and
how
it
may
evolve
over
the
next
decade.

9. The
Global
Challenge
The
global
challenge
of
work
is
two-­‐fold.
First,
will
automa0on,
in
its
various
forms,
destroy
jobs?
And
second,
even
if
not,
will
workers
be
paid
enough
to
sustain
the
global
economic
system?

10. Seven
Key
Themes
Across
the
mul0ple
discussions,
issues
related
to
the
future
of
work
seem
to
be
touching
upon
and
connec0ng
with
seven
underlying,
and
interwoven,
themes
with
different
emphasis
in
different
countries.
Future
Workplace
Future
Workforce
Impact
of
Technology
Future
of
Learning
Future
of
Trade
Future
of
the
Company
Future
Collabora0on

11. The
Future
Workplace

12. 21st
Century
OrganisaOons
The
emerging
organisa0on
feels
very
different
from
c20th
companies
-­‐
collabora0ve,
crowd-­‐funded,
flaAer,
human-­‐focused,
hyper-­‐specialised,
informal,
localised,
out-­‐sourced,
project-­‐based,
purpose-­‐led
and
virtual.

13. Post
Modern
Workplaces
We
are
on
the
cusp
of
a
transi0on
to
a
world
where,
half
of
the
popula0ons
of
Europe
and
the
United
States
subscribe
to
post-­‐modern
values
of
autonomy
and
diversity.
The
workplace
will
not
escape
this
trend.

14. Good
Jobs
Companies
out-­‐perform
through
a
combina0on
of
beAer
wages,
investment
in
training,
and
appropriate
technological
investment
to
support
staff…
High
value
work
benefits
individuals,
businesses,
as
well
as
society
as
a
whole.

15. Living
Wage
Un0l
very
recently,
the
idea
of
a
basic
income,
a
minimum
sum
paid
to
all
people
regardless
of
their
work
status,
was
right
at
the
fringe
of
poli0cal
discourse.
But
it
has
been
moving
rapidly
towards
the
mainstream.

16. Smart
Mindfulness
We
take
more
care
of
our
smartphones
than
we
do
of
ourselves.
Many
corpora0ons
adopt
new
technology
to
help
workers
manage
stress
and
remain
both
physically
and
mentally
fit
and
produc0ve.

17. The
Fun
Factor
As
aArac0on
and
reten0on
for
jobs
becomes
more
compe00ve
in
a
freelance
world,
companies
aim
to
“elevate”
the
workplace
experience
-­‐
reducing
rou0ne
drudgery
and
emphasizing
self-­‐actualising,
fun
experiences.

18. Cyber
ReputaOons
Personal
and
corporate
cyber
reputa0ons
move
with
the
individual,
enabling
transparency
and
accountability
about
performance
of
services
and
interac0ons.

19. The
Future
Workforce

20. Skill
ConcentraOons
The
growth
of
the
nomadic
global
elite
ci0zenship
accelerates
the
concentra0on
of
the
high-­‐skill
/
high-­‐reward
opportuni0es
within
a
select
group
of
globally-­‐connected
ci0zens,
who
move
ahead
of
the
urban
pack.

21. PosiOve
ImmigraOon
Economists
agree
that
immigra0on
is
good
for
economies.
Migrants
tend
to
be
younger,
more
enterprising,
and
economically
ac0ve,
and
their
effect
on
wages,
economic
growth
and
tax
contribu0ons
is
almost
completely
posi0ve.

22. External
Drivers
Much
of
the
labor
market
woes
of
the
past
decade
are
down
to
the
financial
crisis,
reduced
investment
and
the
impact
of
globalisa0on.
Many
middle-­‐skill
jobs
will
prove
more
resistant
to
unbundling
than
adver0sed.

23. The
Talent
Challenge
As
the
global
workforce
becomes
more
mobile,
how
will
organisa0ons
aAract
and
retain
top
talent
and
how
will
governments
ensure
they
provide
them
with
the
relevant
educa0on
that
will
allow
economies
to
thrive?

24. Wi-­‐fi
Global
Nomads
For
some
in
the
knowledge
economy
the
poten0al
for
con0nuous
travel,
blended
with
part-­‐0me
work,
is
focused
on
‘wi-­‐fi
hopping’for
regular
access
to
high-­‐speed
connec0vity
-­‐
no
maAer
where
in
the
world
they
are.

25. Feminine
Spirit
Leading
organisa0ons,
in
par0cular
those
in
the
West,
promote
and
invest
in
women,
beAer
represen0ng
the
popula0ons
that
they
serve.
Many
benefit
from
doing
so.

26. Working
Longer
For
those
who
have
inadequate
re0rement
savings,
the
most
obvious
solu0on
is
to
work
longer.
One
major
poten0al
barrier,
however,
is
that
employers
remain
ambivalent
about
older
workers.

27. Infeasible
ReOrement
For
many,
re0rement
at
age
65
is
economically
infeasible.
The
reality
is
that
few
workers
can
fund
a
30
year
re0rement
with
a
40
year
career.
Neither
can
socie0es.

28. Wisdom
Workers
Focus
is
on
enabling
reinven0on
stemming
from
opportuni0es
created
by
non-­‐linear
career
paths
and
innova0on
networks,
giving
rise
to
the
‘wisdom
worker’
-­‐
where
experience
is
the
cri0cal
addi0on
to
skills
and
intelligence.

29. Over-­‐Ored
and
Over-­‐worked
Our
defini0on
of
success
and
the
adop0on
of
an
always-­‐connected
work-­‐life
have
made
the
millennial
genera0on
more
stressed
and
over-­‐0red
than
any
other.
The
high-­‐achievers
will
con0nue
to
pay
a
high
price
for
success.

30. Skills
Flight
vs.
Social
IsolaOon
Economic
migrants
to
move
to
regional
economic
centres
of
excellence.
More
fragmented,
imbalanced
socie0es
are
lei
behind,
with
surplus
low-­‐skilled
labour,
falling
wages
and
a
rise
in
poli0cal
isola0on
and
aggression.

31. The
Impact
of
Technology

32. Technology
Takeover
There
is
a
widespread
fear
that
the
rise
of
robots
-­‐
or
more
exactly,
a
combina0on
of
compu0ng
power,
algorithms
and
robo0cs
-­‐
will
destroy
the
labour
market,
even,
possibly,
the
very
idea
of
labour
value.

33. Less
is
Not
More
Increased
automa0on
allows
us
to
produce
more
with
less,
decoupling
the
link
between
wages
and
produc0vity.
Many
na0onal
policies
have
to
address
an
increasingly
under
employed
workforce.

34. The
Rise
of
Machines
The
growth
in
the
intelligence
and
capabili0es
of
machines
presents
both
a
threat
and
an
opportunity:
Greater
AI
and
automa0on
free
up
0me,
but
also
threaten
jobs
-­‐
both
low
skilled
and
managerial
/
administra0ve
roles.

35. A
Data
Marketplace
Data
is
a
currency,
it
has
a
value
and
a
price,
and
therefore
requires
a
market
place.
An
ecosystem
for
trading
data
is
emerging
and
anything
that
is
informa0on
is
represented
in
a
new
data
marketplace.

36. Future
of
Learning

37. ConOnuous
Learning
to
Enable
Employment
As
the
pace
of
change
accelerates,
the
knowledge
economy
grows
and
the
value
of
accredita0on
declines.
This
leads
to
a
shii
from
"educa0on
then
work"
to
a
world
of
"con0nuous
learning”
needed
to
keep
us
all
employable.

38. Streaming
Learning
Learning
content
will
emulate
the
model
of
music/media
streaming:
A
learner
will
be
able
to
engage
with
valuable
content
as
and
when
they
need
to
without
needing
to
subscribe
to
full
courses
or
a
full
set
of
materials.

39. The
Hybrid
Experience
Learning
increasingly
takes
place
via
a
combina0on
of
physical
spaces
and
digital
classrooms
–
and
flows
seamlessly
across
both.
Students
use
different
parts
of
their
brain
as
learning
becomes
much
more
experien0al.

40. Skilling
Rather
Than
Teaching
As
most
informa0on
is
available
on
the
net,
the
need
to
prepare
us
for
the
increasingly
unstructured
nature
of
work
drives
schools
to
become
places
for
developing
core
skills
–
emo0onal
intelligence
/
leadership
/
cri0cal
thinking.

41. The
Data
Learning
Gap
Different
talent
gaps
emerge
as
educa0on
con0nues
to
struggle
to
keep
up
with
changing
data
skills
requirements.
Commercial
companies
increasingly
invest
in
their
own
people’s
data
management
skills
to
be
in
the
pack.

42. The
Future
of
Trade

43. Peak
GlobalisaOon
Globalisa0on
is
reaching
its
limits.
Wages
in
export
sectors
in
both
China
and
India
are
now
rela0vely
high
and
companies
are
moving
their
produc0on
closer
to
their
markets,
wan0ng
to
be
able
to
respond
more
flexibly
to
demand.

44. Supply
Webs
Not
Chains
The
shii
from
centralised
produc0on
to
decentralised
manufacturing
drives
many
to
take
a
‘smaller
and
distributed’
approach:
Global
supply
chains
are
replaced
by
more
regional,
consumer-­‐orientated
supply
webs
and
networks.

45. Last
Mile
Efficiency
The
benefits
to
be
gained
from
bringing
the
same
level
of
efficiency
to
the
last
mile
as
there
is
to
the
first
thousand
is
aArac0ng
aAen0on:
There
will
be
more
focus
on
reducing
inefficiencies
around
the
final
part
of
delivery.

46. New
Trading
Routes
The
next
decade
will
see
the
post-­‐war
routes
eclipsed
by
the
power
of
the
Indian
Ocean
region
with
new
port
construc0on
plus
proposed
railways
from
coast-­‐to-­‐coast
across
South
America
showing
the
shape
of
things
to
come.

47. Free-­‐trade
Zones
“In-­‐a-­‐Box”
Free-­‐trade
zones
rise
in
popularity
and
are
replicated
globally.
As
they
help
to
enable
economic
growth
and
security,
even
in
challenging
environments,
commercial
success
comes
as
they
expand
and
merge.

48. The
Future
of
the
Company

49. A
New
Social
Contract
Defini0ons
of
success
become
more
personally
meaningful
to
each
individual
and
are
supported
by
employers,
re-­‐purposed
unions
and
the
power
of
the
sharing
economy
network.

50. Being
Part
of
Society
Is
the
purpose
of
the
corpora0on
just
about
pursuing
profits,
or
does
it
have
a
broader
responsibility
to
produce
socially
beneficial
outcomes
and
be
a
part
of
society
rather
than
apart
from
it?

51. Measuring
and
ReporOng
on
Impacts
Wider
stakeholder
representa0on
in
decision-­‐making,
the
requirement
to
report
against
a
wider
set
of
measures
and
risks
and
the
development
of
benchmarks
and
labelling
to
all
industries
are
all
being
discussed.

52. Regional
vs.
Global
Standards
Performance
measures
become
increasingly
more
regional
and
country
specific
and
local
values
are
priori0sed.
But,
as
many
Asian
organisa0ons
become
regional
global
players
they
also
play
down
na0onal
creden0als.

53. Business
SoluOons
to
Societal
Problems
Re-­‐visioning
the
role
of
business
in
society
may
lead
to
a
reduc0on
in
inequality,
less
par0san
poli0cs
and
greater
ac0on
as
businesses
take
the
lead
rather
than
wai0ng
for
Government
to
lead
them.

54. Two-­‐Way
Trust
An
increase
in
trust
between
employees
and
employers
builds
greater
alignment
and
enables
democra0sa0on
of
the
workplace,
more
flexible
ways
of
working
and
more
effec0ve
organisa0ons.

55. Lower
Growth
Economy
Lower
expecta0ons
for
economic
growth
in
many
regions
will
see
greater
use
of
robots
to
increase
produc0vity,
changing
spending
paAerns
and
a
rise
in
the
sharing
economy.

56. Inequality
Dilemma
The
inequality
dichotomy
in
developing
countries
con0nues
to
expand,
beyond
just
wealth
and
opportunity:
Gender,
race
and
skills
gaps
all
increase
and,
even
as
some
of
the
poorest
see
improvements,
the
wealthy
pull
further
away.

57. The
Future
of
CollaboraOon

58. Joining
the
Dots
Increasing
collabora0on
drives
companies
to
re-­‐organise
based
on
social
networks.
The
shared
economy
changes
the
shape
of
many
organisa0ons,
but
a
shii
in
the
role
of
the
company
from
employer
to
facilitator
challenges
many.

59. CollaboraOon
Time
as
a
Social
Currency
Time
spent
working
on
collabora0ve
projects
addressing
real
issues
is
a
metric
that
drives
reputa0on
and
social
status.
Individuals
seek
to
give
up
their
free-­‐0me
to
help
solve
emerging
problems
to
beAer
support
society.

60. CollaboraOve
Business
Models
Partnerships
shiis
to
become
more
dynamic,
agile,
long-­‐term,
democra0sed
and
mul0-­‐party
collabora0ons.
Big
challenges
are
addressed
by
global
groups
of
diverse
stakeholders
built
around
new,
non-­‐financial
incen0ves.

61. Unified
CollaboraOon
Pla_orms
Public
and
private
communi0es
of
interest
partner
to
create
comprehensive,
unified
digital
plamorms
that
support
mul0ple
players
working
together
to
take
major
innova0ons
through
to
proof
of
concept
and
beyond.

62. CollaboraOon
Standards
As
we
move
to
a
world
of
IP-­‐free,
mass-­‐collabora0on
to
help
address
the
big
challenges
ahead,
compe0tor
alliances
and
wider
public
par0cipa0on
drive
regulators
to
create
new
legal
frameworks
for
open,
empathe0c
collabora0on.

63. Future
Agenda
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