It’s been three years since Nayanika Sharma graduated. She has already dabbled with four different careers trying to find her foothold in all. Or none, as the day might be. For the 25-year-old, career isn’t about climbing the proverbial corporate ladder or earning a hefty pay packet. It’s all about “figuring out what appeals to the heart,” says the Gurgaon resident who has a BTech in Biotechnology from a private university in Himachal Pradesh.
So far, she has worked as a content marketing specialist for a pet brand, worked with the administration of a healthcare vertical, has been a brand strategist for a PR agency, and is currently on a freelance gig as a backend operations person with Chalchitra Talks, a digital pop-culture platform.
Then there is Abhinav (he uses only his first name) who, at 27, is working with a political consultancy for the “thrill of it”. After graduating from the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, Abhinav worked with a litigation firm for four years, specialising in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) before leaving it all in June 2022 to work for an organisation handling a major political party in the country. “Being from Bihar, it was difficult to stay away from politics. I may not be contesting elections, but I am involved with strategy and party positioning,” he says. Ask him about long-term plans and Abhinav has no qualms in admitting that he has none at the moment. “The pandemic taught me not to think long-term,” he says in defence.
Abhinav and Nayanika may look like a generation recovering from post-pandemic anxieties, living in an uncertain world where workplaces are still oscillating between hybrid, remote and ‘no work-from-home’ policies. When entrepreneur and TikToker Marisa Jo Mayes popularised the term ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’ earlier last year, what she meant was to do the bare minimum amount of work at the start of the week to avoid burnout for the rest of the week. Something which many could now be using for the way they approach their careers. “Burnout is real. I felt it in just four years of IPR practice,” says Abhinav.
To begin with, 2023 was a year of historic workplace transitions. When Infosys founder Narayan Murthy urged the young generation to put in a 70-hour work week to succeed and climb up the ladder, he would have gauged the way the wind is blowing, and made the remark. The world of work is changing fast with no absolutes driving it anymore. And, never before has the work world shifted with this alacrity as now where both employee and the employer are redefining conventional norms.
Workforce futurists called 2023 the year of ‘quiet ambition’ where traditional ideals of job success were replaced with individual wellbeing and fulfilment, whether within careers or more personal matters. Even though much of business began trickling back to normal by the middle of 2022, concepts like moonlighting, slash careers, quiet quitting and the great resignation dominated workplaces.
In 2024, experts predict to see further development in many of the trends that have reshaped our working lives in the last three years.
So what is the future of work? To many, it’s a competitive talent landscape with an exhausted workforce, where corporate honchos normalise both 70-hour and three-day work weeks in the same breath. It’s also a place where mass layoffs no longer make headlines, and cost-cutting has become the norm. It’s also readying itself for the rise and rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.
So is it the death of the office as we knew it?
“By and large, yes,” says Ram Nidumolu, Clinical Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Indian School of Business (ISB). Nidumolu has written extensively about ‘beingfulness at work’ and even expanded this model of leadership with an Indian perspective as part of the curriculum at ISB. “Career and climbing the ladder as a way of life that governed professional work will largely be a thing of the past. Following your passions, finding meaning at work, creating and reinventing your purpose, collaborating a lot more with others, following the examples of others in social media, etc. will become bigger drivers,” he explains.
Adaptive Work Cultures
“The biggest change at the workplace in the next 10 years, won’t be pace, place or people. It will be about deriving meaning from the kind of work you do, and the way it is done,” says SV Nathan, author of The Heart of Work published by HarperCollins in 2022, a book that captures pivotal moments in the way we work. “A purposeful organisation is the future of work,” emphasises Nathan, who is also the Chief Talent Officer of Deloitte India, and serves on the Talent Executive Leadership of Deloitte Asia Pacific.
Nathan would know. The preface of his book reads: “... At the core, one’s work is influenced not so much by the mind but by what beats between the third and the seventh ribs on the left—the heart”.
If there’s anything that has come to characterise the attitude of a certain type of a bored office worker, then it’s the increased risk of appetite-meets-pursuit-of-passion. Concepts such as the nine-to-five office or one-career-for-life are relics of the past. “Today organisations have adapted to the post-pandemic world. The only way not to go obsolete is identify talent early, give them responsibility early, and learn to trust and support. If you don’t recognise how the pandemic has changed the way we work, then talent will move out,” says Nathan.
According to global consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the future of work revolves around “talent”. BCG released the second part of the ‘Future of Work–Global Employer Survey’ sometime in the second half of 2023 and it states: “… talent issues even trump concerns about competitiveness. To address talent issues, organisations are offering more flexibility in where and when people can work, compared with what they have offered in the past”. Reiterating similar workplace sentiment, management consultancy firm Gartner, in its latest report on work, reveals that there’s a 40 per cent increase in high performers when offered flexibility over “where”, “when” and “how” they work.
“The pandemic definitely made employees and employers alike stop to rethink their choices,” says Monika Jain, Chief Human Resource Officer, ABC Consultants, an executive search and talent advisory firm. The onus lies as much with the employer as with the employee in readying a workplace that is a conducive place catering to wellbeing, and not just pay cheques. “In the next five years, we believe employer adaptability is key to acquisition and retention of talent. It is critical for organisations to take into account industry norms, the changing nature of talent, their evolving needs, talent sources, competition, and to keep a pulse on employee satisfaction to remain at the top of the talent game,” she explains.
Not surprising that employers are keeping employee satisfaction as a core criteria when designing office spaces. “The expectations of the occupiers have significantly evolved. Today, they seek more than just a desk and chair. They desire spaces that foster collaboration and innovation such as ideation zones, lounges, creative spaces, etc. We are catering to evolving aspirations of office goers with sports facilities, salons, gymnasiums, crèche, VR rooms, to name some changes,” says Harsh Binani, Co-founder, Smartworks, one of the largest managed workspace providers in the country.
The Generational Work-Culture Shift
Behavioural change between generations is nothing new and the debate of how one generation is different from another has been around for ages. What is starkly evident, however, in the current youngest working generation, or Gen Z, is not just the way they work, but also how they are dictating changes at the workspace. “Gen Zs, or Zoomers, have an even more experiential and non-careerist view of work than the millennials. They have seen the challenges their parents (boomers or Gen Xers) faced because of their obsession with work, often at the cost of family life, and are even less thrilled than the millennials with the notion of slowly building a career in a defined area,” says Nidumolu.
There are significant reasons for this generation to be the way they are. For one, they are more digitally native than the millennials and even more influenced by social media. They have seen their parents struggle and save, and have also seen how a pandemic can change things in a moment. “They want a greater range of experiences, even more driven in wanting to make an impact, and are even less patient in doing so,” adds Nidumolu. He further points out how all these factors will lead to less loyalty to companies or a particular kind of work, more explorations, new kinds of human-AI relationships, and hence, more disruptions to the typical workspace.
The Age of Anti-ambition
“The purpose of life is not just to do jobs,” declared philanthropist Bill Gates in Trevor Noah’s What Now? podcast in November last year.
Much as ‘Great Resignation’ (record number of employees voluntarily quit their jobs) and ‘Quiet Quitting’ (employees put in minimum effort at work to keep their jobs) hit the headlines in 2022, what has also emerged as a popular phrase for the work force is ‘anti-ambition’. So, while the Microsoft founder may have given his statement in terms of how AI will enhance productivity and offer leisure time to employees, what is notable is how he had added, “If you eventually get a society where you only have to work three days a week or something, that's probably OK.”
Throw these terms at Anup Sharma, a communications professional from Delhi, and he laughs aloud. He had chosen the path of anti-ambition long before it became a workplace moniker. “Back when I quit my PR firm at the peak of my career, it was difficult to make people understand why I have consciously chosen to go slow. I used to joke around ‘how much is too much’ when people used to ask me why I would seek putting a halt to my career trajectory. I feel vindicated now when I see more people going this way,” he says. In his words, he has never been happier with several “micro-careers”. Working in political war rooms to organising literary festivals, charting advocacy proposals for development organisations to upskilling himself with a storytelling certification, conducting media workshops to teaching students, there’s never dearth of work. “If I look at my peers, they have fancy designations and offices. But is filling 10 hours a day, five days of the week, for years something to be celebrated?” he asks.
Undoubtedly, the desire for corporate progression has taken a backseat. According to a LinkedIn survey, 61 per cent of American employees considered handing in their resignations in 2023. Headhunters maintain that globally more people are switching careers, voicing their desires for greater flexibility within their jobs and enforcing stricter work-life balance. “The version of people who have centred their entire life on their careers might be over,” says Nathan. Being productive or ambitious isn’t at the risk of health or happiness anymore. “The pandemic taught people the value of living in the present and also about taking risks. So organisations have realised that if they don’t value employees, then talent will move out,” he adds.
Changing times also means that there will be a lot more contradictions at work. “It would mean wanting to be unique and different, but also conform to your social group and be influenced by others; wanting passion and purpose at work, but also wanting to make a lot of money and achieve work success quickly,” says Nidumolu. Not surprising that American recruitment firm Paychex survey in 2023 came up with the term the ‘Great Regret’, which was 80 per cent of those who quit in ‘Great Resignation’ regretting their decision. “It’s about wanting to make a difference to the world through your work but also becoming cynical of work and the model of capitalism underlying it; driving and shaping digital technologies, but also being very worried about it; worried about the impact of work on the environment, inequality, etc., but feeling unable to do anything about it; wanting to deal with all these changes, but struggling to find the mental resilience and wellbeing to be effective in doing so, etc. As a result, their life will be a lot more psychologically difficult, even if material needs are less of an issue,” Nidumolu adds.
This is perhaps why ‘moonlighting’ was another trend that reared its controversial head at workplaces in 2022. While some did it for extra cash, others simply to try their luck in different careers. “Moonlighting became quite a trend after the pandemic with work-from-home model becoming a norm, especially in the IT industry. Since there were no legal frameworks around moonlighting by employees of IT companies, professionals got away with it for long. But, now companies are being more rigid about their policies,” says Prashanth Kaddi, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte India.
The age of anti-ambition has an ally in ‘YOLO’—you only live once—where the risk-takers are not just young people, but also seasoned professionals. Burned out or flush with savings, keen to learn or chase passion, the modern worker has embraced professional fearlessness. And, not all of them are Gen Z or millennial.
Meet Biju Pattath, the co-founder of a tax consultancy in Trichur, Kerala. In a bold move, he made the decision in 2019 to pause his successful practice and embark on a new journey of studying law. This was the pre-pandemic year and Pattath was ready to place his bets on another career option. “I knew litigation was a promising sector unlike my tax practise, which was getting more complicated by the day,” says Pattath, who enrolled for LLB (hons) at the age of 45. In 2023, he graduated, and has no qualms working as an intern with an advocate almost his age at the Madras High Court. “I don’t mind leaving behind my partner position to run around as an intern. I haven’t been this excited towards work for a long time,” he says.
Calling of Bots
Bots are here, and they are calling the shots. It’s not just Gates who has called upon a shorter workweek due to AI. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, has also expressed the possibility of a 3.5-day workweek due to AI highlighting the growing consensus that technology will reshape our work.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023 says that two-fifths of the core skills workers have today will be disrupted by technological change by 2027. Half of all workers’ core skills will need to be updated every five years, the report adds. In a world where robots have long replaced manufacturing jobs, AI is now making its way into higher-level roles. “In fact, given the very rapid growth in generative AI capabilities, and its increasing adoption in business, the disruption is likely to be even greater,” says Nidumolu. Evidently, accountants, software programmers, human resource specialists, writers and lawyers are all facing the AI onslaught.
“Even though 2020 brought in a big change at workplaces, yet, I would say 2023 was the year of disruption at workplace, largely due to AI,” says Shudeep Majumdar, Co-founder and CEO, Zefmo Media, an influencer marketing firm. At Zefmo, AI has already changed the way they work with their client base of around 20,000 influencers. “A creative writer in our organisation is no longer a resource. The work has been allocated as additional responsibility to other teams who use the help of AI, sans plagiarism, to write basic daily content. If we don’t innovate, we will perish,” Majumdar says.
According to the recently unveiled India Skills Report 2024 by Wheebox, a leading firm in remote proctored assessments and consulting services, the substantial growth potential of the Indian AI industry, is projected to reach $28.8 billion by 2025, with a notable compounded annual growth rate of 45 per cent. This surge is propelled by the widespread adoption of AI across diverse sectors such as healthcare, finance, retail agriculture and manufacturing.
Industry is gearing up for the changes. “We believe that AI will augment the human in doing work more efficiently. We call it ‘Age of with’,” says Kaddi. Deloitte’s AI Academy has started offering learning programmes to employees looking to upskill. It offers critical data engineering skills, and first-hand exposure to use cases specific to each industry and how AI can be implemented. Recently, it has also built a tailored Generative AI curriculum in collaboration with leading universities and technology institutions from across the globe and aims at training up to 10,000 professionals across the US and India with this initiative.
“We see learning and upskilling becoming a crucial part of the workforce. In this fast-evolving-technology world, employees need to be constantly upgraded on the recent AI advancements and related skills,” says Kaddi. AI can seem to be overwhelming, but it could also be the key to a much more productive workplace, maintains industry. “For instance, human creativity is still required for complicated tasks. While analysis of volumes of data will be done by AI, coming up with a strategy or action plan and executing it will need human intervention,” he adds.
Future of Work
So is the conventional office dying?
According to Binani, the future of work and workplace will likely be characterised by increased remote and hybrid work models, advanced technology integration, emphasis on employee wellbeing and a continued focus on adaptable work environments.
Clearly, from climate change to AI, economic factors to political upheavals, a range of external factors will be creating an additional wave of disruptions at the workplace. It is unclear whether the future of work would mean working less or placing less value to work, what is evident, however, is work’s domination on life may wane as purpose finds more takers.
In high school, Sharma wanted to be a doctor, even undergoing rigorous coaching for the same in Kota (in Rajasthan), the coaching capital of India. But, did she become a doctor, even less pursue a career in Science? “No, it doesn’t matter. In the past, we believed what we studied is what we pursued as a career. But, who’s bothered about a single career anymore?” she asks.
Work, as we knew it, no longer, sits at the heart of humanity’s growth.
Workforce futurists called 2023 as the year of ‘quiet ambition’ where traditional ideals of job success were replaced with individual wellbeing and fulfilment, whether within careers or more personal matters
In 2024, experts predict further development in many of the trends that have reshaped our working lives in the last three years
Where It’s Going
● Real wages are declining as a result of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and changing worker expectations and concerns about the quality of work are becoming more prominent issues globally
● Technology adoption will remain a key driver of business transformation in the next five years. Within this, big data, cloud computing and AI feature highly on likelihood of adoption.
● Employers anticipate a structural labour market churn of 23 per cent of jobs in the next five years. A higher-than-average churn can be expected in the supply chain and transportation and media, entertainment and sports industries, and lower-than-average churn in manufacturing as well as retail and wholesale of consumer goods.
● Employers estimate that 44 per cent of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years. Cognitive skills are reported to be growing in importance most quickly, reflecting the increasing importance of complex problem-solving in the workplace.
● Investing in learning and on-the-job training and automating processes are the most common workforce strategies which will be adopted to deliver their organisations’ business goals
(The Future of Jobs 2023-World Economic Forum)
Last Year’s Learnings
● 40% of organizations surveyed have increased the flexibility they offer frontline workers; another 28% plan to do so in the coming year
● Over 25% of global employees poised for job change
● About 56% of employees revealed that dissatisfaction with managers doubled attrition risk
● Factors such as feeling fairly treated, respected, job security and enjoying the work took precedence
(Boston Consulting Group’s Future of Work–Global Employer Survey, 2023)
The future of work
● A competitive talent landscape with an exhausted workforce, where both 70-hour and three-day work weeks are normal
● A place where mass lay-offs no longer make headlines and cost-cutting is the norm
● A place that is preparing itself for the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation
