Most discussions around the work of the future revolve around people coming back to offices after the pandemic and integrating “the new normal” into the post-COVID future.
The truth is, a lot more changes are shaping the new way of working. For example, in the future, we will live longer, with roughly half the population hitting the 100-year-old mark.
The way we interact is changing as well: by 2030, the metaverse is expected to be worth $13 trillion.
Technology, climate change, and scientific discoveries are reshaping the world and will affect jobs, workplaces, and corporate culture.
What we are going to work on: jobs of the future
During the pandemic, digital transformation picked up steam. The industries that barely had a digital presence were forced to build one in months.
Team leaders in retail, education, healthcare, finance, entertainment, and other fields can now work and connect with clients remotely. Such a shift created the need for new, digital-first skills.
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In a list of top 10 jobs for 2030, the World Economic Forum lists WFH (work from home) facilitators, XR immersion counsellors, workplace environment auditors, data detectives, and even human-machine teaming managers.
These professionals will help connect remote and in-person processes and synchronise the work of humans with the fruits of automation.
How we are going to work: teams of the future
One of the biggest achievements of a higher quality of life is that future generations will live a lot longer. Hitting the 100-year mark will become the new reality. It also means people will work more: up to 60 years in their lifetimes.
The idea of being stuck in an office for so long does not sound too inspiring for most of us. If we want to make this concept a reality, the way we work needs to change.
We could do so by encouraging people to distribute their working intensity across their life: working harder in their 20s, less in their 30s (and taking better care of families instead), and pick up in their 40s and 50s, once they have more free time.
Another idea is to rethink retirement. Instead of an all-or-nothing system where you either work full-time or not at all, the middle-aged employees of the future should slowly reduce their workloads.
Where we are going to work: the workplace of the future
Together with pandemic-induced restrictions, the development of the metaverse will (and already does) impact work tremendously.
At the moment, most companies don’t see themselves shutting offices down for good: 62% of employees in the US and EMEA see more potential in hybrid workplaces instead.
Besides, while offices as physical buildings are seen as outdated and restricting, the idea of an office as the centre of corporate culture and teamwork is still embedded in teams’ minds. That is why rather than offices going obsolete, we will see new definitions of what an office means.
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In fact, the frontrunners of the virtual office market are already rethinking the concept of office work. They move the benefits of an office (spontaneous interactions, teamwork, sense of unity) into digital, creating immersive spaces that bring global teams together and help employees stay connected.
oVice, a leading virtual office provider in the APAC region, proves how well virtual offices connect teams, foster collaboration, and overcome physical communication barriers such as distance and time zone differences.
The company hosts virtual offices for some of the world’s largest corporations: Yamaha, Toyota, Panasonic, and others. These global teams would struggle to stay connected and synchronised using only standard remote collaboration tools. However, a virtual office helps executives oversee processes, while employees get a new platform for connecting with teammates from their and other departments.
With oVice, teams can communicate seamlessly. Its spatial audio feature mimics the way people talk in real life. The sound has a limited reach and is only heard by people who are close to each other, allowing teammates to chat in groups.
Also read: The work of the future is hybrid. The office of the future is virtual
Virtual office providers like oVice give global companies a new way to interact with each other, bringing headquarters from different regions to a single virtual office building. On top of that, there are no creative limits in a virtual office — teams can change the layout of their space and work on an island, in space, or other different locations.
While the pandemic has played a part in transforming work, it is not the only factor fueling the change. Increasing longevity, automation, and technological advancements are all pieces of the Future of Work puzzle.
If you want to be ahead of the trend, integrate these changes into your organisation from Day 1. Moving your operations to a virtual office is a good place to start preparing for the wave of change.
Give oVice, a virtual office space provider, a try: set up and use your space for free with a 14-day free trial.
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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by oVice
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