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What is the future of work? Five tips for a smooth transition
What does work look like in the metaverse? Is hybrid working here to stay? While you can never be 100% certain about what lies ahead, you can at least ready your organisation for the future.
The last couple of years has changed the world of work forever. The pandemic has taught us that how we work is much more important than where we work.
Hybrid and remote working has become the norm for many organisations, and they’re opening up a wealth of opportunities for the modern workplace.
Technological advancements like the metaverse, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence are also driving changes to jobs, tasks and skills. The digital revolution is having a significant impact on every industry, from telemedicine in the healthcare sector to e-commerce in the retail industry.
Whatever the future holds, the key to success is bringing together the best of the physical, hybrid and virtual environments to unlock the full potential of your workforce.
What does the future of work look like?
Accelerated by the pandemic, changes that were steadily creeping into workplaces have been fast-tracked by the urgent need to keep people safe and well.
Even without a crystal ball, it’s possible to predict that remote and hybrid working is here to stay. Employers and employees alike have woken up to the benefits of less commuting, flexible work schedules and improved wellbeing that remote working can bring. This trend is set to continue.
But, over the coming years, organisations will need to refine their approach to remote teamwork to replicate the social connections, friendships and collaboration that, until now, people could only achieve on-site and in-person. Otherwise, feelings of isolation, boredom and low morale could escalate.
This is where the metaverse – an Internet you can step inside – could really shake things up. It will open up the possibility of new forms of work in what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls the “infinite office”.
In other words, workers using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) will be able to create and share collaborative online worlds where they can socialise, play games or work together on projects from wherever they are. Although online tools make this possible now, it will become a much more immersive experience, blurring the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds.
Automation will also shape the future of work in a big way. Although this automation could potentially displace millions of jobs and tasks, history tells us that fears of machines taking over are unfounded. The same concerns existed at the time of the Industrial Revolution. But labour markets tend to adjust to technological advances, and lost jobs are likely to be offset by creating new ones.