2032 - How we will work in the future
Futurologist
Tristan Horx
in an interview
Looking at today’s world of work, two major trends can be observed that will have a major impact on our workplaces, team structures and the way we work. On the one hand, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and progressive automation are becoming increasingly important. On the other hand, companies will increasingly rely on working from home and external labour in the future. The working world of today will no longer exist tomorrow.
2032 - how will the world of work develop over the next ten years?
TRISTAN HORX: In the German-speaking cultural area, the classic eight-hour working day still corresponds to the generation-defined standard that has developed from the industrial age. As one of the oldest demands of the labour movement, the implementation of this standardised working day represented an enormous achievement and an extreme improvement in living conditions at the time. From today’s perspective, such a standardised working day is increasingly disappearing. First came the term work-life balance – a state in which work and private life are harmonised. I inevitably ask myself: don’t you live while you work? I prefer to speak of work-life blending. COVID has rapidly accelerated the transition to working from home. This allows you to organise your time more individually and ultimately make the best use of it in your own interests. However, the system will only really work if performance is no longer measured exclusively in terms of working hours, but rather in terms of the completion of certain tasks. Increasing automation supports this process and will finally lead to an improvement in society – regardless of the current view of “work”. Roughly speaking, individuality will win in all areas. The next step could then be workation or co-workation. In these models, work and travelling can be combined – the ultimate global network, so to speak. Overall, we are facing a huge learning process. With regard to certain areas, these concepts will not work at all levels. However, this is definitely a megatrend that is emerging.
What are the requirements for the employers of tomorrow?
TRISTAN HORX: In addition to meaningful and fulfilling work, today’s young professionals want maximum flexibility, personal responsibility and working time models that are individually adapted to their current life situation. I also see fair pay as a major issue: unpaid internships and precarious employment relationships lead to an erosion of the system in the long term. In the future, if companies want to retain their best employees, or even attract them in the first place, they will have to move away from hierarchical, rigid structures – or live with the fact that the best will seek their fortune in self-employment.
So how will we deal with the shortage of skilled labour?
TRISTAN HORX: The lack of qualified personnel is due to demographic developments as well as the fact that we are always lagging behind in terms of training. Today’s graduates were trained yesterday, so to speak – a problem with our sluggish training system. The fact is that the labour market is clearly developing far faster than we can keep up with the provision of skilled workers. This is not a problem in and of itself if we consider that our learning should continue throughout our lives anyway. With this in mind, a certain culture of trust must first and foremost be established within companies.
Questions for
Tristan Horx
TRISTAN HORX: I would say no, instead generational thinking is gradually disappearing. Experience is becoming increasingly important and also represents a certain value. Of course, this is due to the fact that physical labour is becoming less and less important in the course of technologisation. Today, physical fitness is no longer a decisive criterion for whether a job can be done satisfactorily. However, this will not lead to the extinction of manual labour. Rather, automation will take over the simple, repetitive work steps. However, people are needed again to refine them. As a result, craftsmanship is being upgraded to the status of art.
TRISTAN HORX: In my eyes and in relation to the working world of tomorrow, sustainability means sustainable economic activity, i.e. a general stabilisation of our financial system, which has gone off the rails and in which reality and the financial market have long since ceased to have anything in common. However, sustainability also stands for the careful use of our resources – the increasing climate catastrophes are ultimately really expensive for society (apart from all the devastating effects on people and nature). Every single company can play its part in this. In this context, I am pleased to see that sustainably designed degree programmes are experiencing an enormous uptake – so rescue may be in sight.
TRISTAN HORX: In contrast to Switzerland and Germany, which have an urbanisation rate of just under 85% and 78% respectively, the figure for Austria is just under 59%. While 34% of respondents wanted to live in Vienna before the shutdown, this figure fell to just 25% afterwards. 32% of 16 to 34-year-olds would consider changing their place of residence if they were able to work from home permanently. Why all these figures? We have been observing the phenomenon of rural exodus for some time. Corona has intensified this desire for a better quality of life thanks to tranquillity, proximity to nature, a healthy living environment and affordable rents. In the best-case scenario, this could counteract urban sprawl and vacancies in the countryside. Villages could become real creative hubs, equipped with hyper-speed Wi-Fi, their own co-working spaces, hip cafés and self-managed cultural facilities. Again, this only works depending on the respective settlement area – compare the Inn Valley and East Tyrol! This also has an impact on our mobility. While public transport, cycle paths or e-mobility and car sharing are commonplace in urban areas, home offices and remote workplaces may be the more ecological solution for rural areas. The working world of the future will – and must – clearly be far more individualised than we know it today.
