The future of work trends and how to prepare for them

People are demanding a different type of work experience.

First, people today are looking for companies which offer flexibility. This is by far the most pressing demand by employees. It is the new currency. Salary has become a hygiene factor, not a differentiator.

Secondly, they crave for inclusiveness, trust, and a strong focus on wellbeing. Ethics embedded in company values are an important, but overall wellbeing is top of mind. Work isn’t something separate from life but must fit their approach to life. People see the workplace as a place to connect and collaborate, both physically and digitally. Social meeting spaces are as important as quiet rooms, collaborative spaces are as important as home offices.

Thirdly, people are looking for purpose and meaning. Work needs to have a deeper purpose and needs to lead to a deeper level of happiness.

Fourthly, leaders need to be diverse, insightful, and emotionally intelligent. They need to care, inspire, empower, and create environments that are fun, energising and motivating. Organisations will have to “walk the talk”, not just be the best in the world but be the best for the world. Bringing measurable, societal benefits is as important as bringing financial results. Their culture, locations and practices will have to be human centric and digitally enabled.

Finally, continuous learning and development are vital to keep the people engaged.

Probably half of the jobs in demand do not yet exist today or will have evolved beyond recognition.

How about a "data sense-maker” or a "cultural guardian”? It is very clear that the future will be human-led, and technology-driven.

Every job will be a mix of human specific competencies and technological savvy. You’ll find jobs today belonging to a specific domain which will cross into technology: e.g., an accountant will be as much a technologist as an expert in finance, a recruiter might have a mix of artificial intelligence and psychology studies…who knows. I would recommend everybody to master two domains, the first being your passion, the second being technology. Even if you want to become a composer, you will have to be able to work with technology as much as with instruments. The skills in demand will always be analytical/critical thinking, communication, creativity, and relationship building, no matter what role you’ll assume.

We will most probably struggle! It’s primarily a question of demographics but there are other elements compounding the issue. The economy will continue to ask for more and more participants while the competition will grow in force. Attracting talent will be harder in 10 years than now. Money will lose part of its current strength as the generations coming into the workforce are looking for more than just money and security: they’re looking for purpose in their role. Furthermore, the job will have to bring them happiness. Few jobs today are specifically constructed for that purpose.

Another prohibiting factor is that Luxembourg is not on the leading edge of flexibility in terms of labour law. Both employers and employees suffer. But first and foremost, the housing cost is preventing younger talent to come and make a career in Luxembourg. I don’t see the housing issue resolved soon. Future talent will not come to live in Luxembourg if this doesn’t drastically change. We see it now already with the slowdown of interest from Eastern Europeans. It’s only a matter of time when we will be primarily attractive to non-EU citizens.

If you choose the right balance between flexibility, salary, workload, purpose, development, and career growth, you will find the talent you need.

You do have to package these elements into a people value proposition you can market. However, if one of those elements is off, you will have to counterbalance with another element, knowing money is but a short-term fix and will not help you out in the long run. Retaining talent depends on the same mix but there are 2 important elements in addition: culture and leadership. The latter dictates the first. The quality and strength of the leadership will determine the culture for people to thrive in.

You cannot underestimate the role of the leader or first-line manager. Without this culture, retention becomes an uphill battle. Knowing that in a knowledge economy, the investment in upskilling the employees is very high, retention becomes the new recruiting.