What’s Shaping the Future of Work?

What’s Shaping the Future of Work?

Last week we attended Spaceful’s event at the Museum of Contemporary Art; Unlimited: an Exploration of Future Workplace Innovation. It was a great event from every perspective, the venue, the vibe of the space, the hosts, the Exhibition Centre for exhibitors, the guest speaker, the excellent panel and the guests.

The guest speaker, Michael McQueen highlighted 3 major trends; AI, work itself, and generational trends, in particular Gen Z.

AI is here to stay and its impacts on work and the CRE industry are being felt everywhere. The telling comment was, it’s not necessarily AI itself that may replace you, but someone who knows how to use AI.

In relation to work itself, this is an ongoing issue and no shoe fits all.

As for Gen Z? It is the largest group to enter the workforce since the baby boomers. They have their own characteristics and ways of doing things. This is no different to other generations except for its sheer size and therefore future influence.

The most interesting part was the use of emoji’s. Lesson learnt; do not use emoji’s that you do not understand the meaning of. Thanks for the heads up.

On a more serious note, Edelman’s employee experience chairman, Cydney Roach noted recently that Gen Z exerts a “gravitational pull” on the workforce. Everyone else will adapt to Gen Z rather than the other way round, she says: old norms have to be retired. This transformation is already underway in so many facets of work and life but will take time.

The noticeable difference from the past will be the speed of change. Covid was a major catalyst for so much change and this group had the chance to watch and learn. As they fill the workforce, they can take the tiller and push and influence the best bits they have learnt. Digitisation will become even more normal as will work from anywhere.

Amongst all of the other changes occurring in work and CRE, we still think Gen Z’s contribution shall lead to the next 5-7 years being the most fascinating we have seen for a very long time.