I wouldn’t say that the world is changing because it’s not new. The world is starting to take on its new shape faster than we thought. Jack Ma, Elon Musk, Bill Gates,… so many people predicted a few years ago that tomorrow will not be the same and man must be ready for the challenge. It was believed that this would not happen so soon, perhaps around 2050 or closer in 2030. However, recent times have shown that things have changed and that the world is getting out of its pupa to take its new form.
Savvy bosses have understood that this is an opportunity to change their management model to reduce costs and maximize profits and that a company no longer needs a large tower and a huge building to accommodate its employees with everything that goes with it, to guarantee optimal working conditions: catering, cafeteria, relaxation area, not to mention insurance, control of arrival and departure times … What counts for a business is the performance of its employees and their productivity measured by the duration of accomplishment of their tasks rather than by their hours of presence in the office. Therefore, an employee who can perform better from home is more profitable economically for the company than an employee who arrives stressed by transport conditions and traffic jams with the additional risks involved.
Companies are increasingly aware of the importance of the dematerialization of the workforce. Thanks to ICT, they can have access to highly qualified skills in any corner of the world with a very competitive salary. The company will no longer have an interest in bringing in a skill or justifying its immigration to recruit it. Indeed, some companies, notably from Silicon Valley, had announced that they would be interested in recruiting people around the world according to their skills and not their level of qualifications.
Working hours, as Jack Ma predicted, will be reduced, and instead of working 48 hours and five days a week, employees will only have to complete 3 days of weekly activity. This may provide more employment opportunities for more people. This could mainly apply to support trades, service activities, and some industries that are almost robotized. Some activities may even become occasional and will be negotiated on the job as a freelance.
What about labor, social, and employee rights?
On behalf of performance and competitiveness, the status of work and social regimes will certainly change. The laws will be adapted to new situations and change will be difficult but it will take place. Indeed, in the beginning, with the industrial revolution and the Taylor scientific organization of work, things were not easy. This has given rise to union movements as they are today. This did not prevent the change from taking place and compromises were reached between bosses and employees.
Today with the technological revolution, social change is taking place. Besides, careers have disappeared, others are changing and new trades are being created. The needs of the labor market are changing and skills are changing.
Phew!… No more stress at work
Having experienced remote work and working from home during the confinement period due to the coronavirus pandemic, certain people took pleasure in their new situations. Thus, employees prefer to work from home to enjoy their family lives and/or to be able to combine several jobs at the same time. For employees, it is the ideal solution to ensure a better balance between private and professional life. As for businesses, the whole society will find its account in this sense since there would be less commuting to work and therefore less pollution, less congestion, fewer accidents, … People would even leave large cities to reside in small towns and villages and will contribute to bringing them back to life.
Change comes at a price
Man* has always distrusted the machine and has always considered it a threat since the industrial revolution. Today this is still the case and the change will still take place and as before man will have to learn to tame technology instead of being at its mercy. Jobs of today and tomorrow are different from those of yesterday. The majority of trades and skills are based on ICT. New entrants to the job market will need to hone their skills and update their CVs to match business demand.
The question for the job of tomorrow will no longer be to assess your ability to work in a team or to adapt and integrate, but if you can provide deliverables with high quality on time. For the place and the framework of work, it will be your exclusive responsibility and not that of the company. Also, those who will not be able to follow this change and adapt to the new situation will see their living conditions severely impacted.
*The term man is used for both sexes.
