Digitally Curious

CHAPTER 19THE FUTURE OF WORK

For much of the pandemic, I was presenting virtually from my home studio in London, and the most requested talk at that time was about the future of work.¹ In the 2020–2022 timeframe, the focus for companies was how they could get their employees back in the office on a more regular basis.

Now that we are through this period, the focus has shifted to the impact of GenAI on a range of jobs. When I survey my audience on the number of people who have tried ChatGPT as an example versus those who use it every day, the result is regularly less than 5%. While we may feel the threat from GenAI, we are still some way off on the real impacts.

In this chapter, I will look at the issues around remote and distributed work, the different generations and how they approach work, and the likely impacts from AI on the workplace. I’ll also discuss what you can do now to prepare for this new world, and become resilient.

Post-pandemic discussions continue around the right balance of in-office and remote working. Some companies are now demanding employees come back to the office 5 days per week, and they are being met with resistance. Employees got used to the freedom of working from home and the savings in transport fees.

Companies have tried 4-day working weeks, with mixed success. Magyar Telekom in Hungary is returning to a standard work schedule after a 4-day working week didn’t meet expectations in a pilot project.² Regular operations will return after an 18-month ...