Work 2035 – How people and technology will pioneer new ways of working

Nowhere is our future more in flux than the future of work. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many organisations to revolutionise their ways of working almost overnight and brought the future of work to the present. Remote work has become the “new normal,” and companies are making it part of their long-term strategies to ensure business continuity. Work will never be the same again. Yet it remains central to what it means to be human. Work gives us meaning and for centuries labour, driven by both humans and technology, has enabled remarkable advances in human life expectancy, prosperity and achievement. How will this relationship between the workforce, work models and work environment evolve? And how can we as business leaders, policymakers and individuals see further into the forces that will shape our future and bring about the future we want? We asked some of the world’s most respected academics, business leaders and employees across the US and Europe to join us in imagining what the future of work might look like in 2035, the opportunities and threats it might hold, and how people and technology may work together to generate value. This exercise raised the fundamental questions that must be faced by every business and government organisation in their long-term strategic planning. How will workers be organised to deliver value? How will people partner with technology and will we see the emergence of human-machine teaming? What new opportunities will workers be afforded and what novel pitfalls will they face? How might governments and supranational entities respond with regulation to support workers and ensure competition in the new world of work?