What Will Work Look Like in 2020?

What will work look like in 2020?

Do you worry about a robot or machine learning taking over your job? Do you think you’re ill-prepared for what work will look like in the future? If so, you’re not alone. A recent Pew Research Center survey found the majority of US workers think they’ll need new skills and training in order to be successful at work.

So, what work will look like in 2020? It seems like that magic number is years away but in reality, it will be here before we know it. With technologies like machine learning, driverless cars and advancements in Artificial Intelligence evolving so rapidly, how will the changes impact work life in 2020? Will these new technologies replace human workers, or will they be used to enhance work, to automate processes and enable human workers to spend more time thinking and problem-solving? We’ve pulled together insights from thought leaders into what work will look like in 2020 and beyond.

THE MILLENIAL WORKFORCE

You can’t have a discussion about the future of work without focusing on how the incoming workforce actually works. Sure, many companies are building state of the art office campuses, offering flexible hours and remote work options but many believe the way millennials work and what they want to achieve, couple with an always-connected global workforce, will shape the future of how we work.

“Millennials, also known as Generation Y, will comprise 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025. They are the most educated, most diverse and the most connected generation of our lifetime, and they are poised to make a major impact on corporate America.

Millennials love to collaborate and don’t want to be put in cubicle to do their work. You will see more and more companies adopting social spaces that are customized to their own needs based on their job function. Technology will be a major part of how they collaborate and we’re seeing this already through internal social networks and social media tools that allow for blogs and forum posts.”

Dan Schawbel, source for reference Author, Gen Y career and workplace expert.

CONNECTED WORKPLACES

“Technology is not only shifting the norms surrounding what work we do, it’s also fundamentally changing the landscape of the places where we work and the way we interact with them. The employee’s experience of place is being impacted dramatically by the increasing number of smart buildings that harness the power of location-aware technologies.

By leveraging indoor mapping and positioning technologies with open architectures, leading workplaces are using the Internet of Things (IoT) to implement innovative use cases to remove friction and create smart, innovative and connected workplaces. From indoor blue dot navigation and office hoteling to facilities management and ‘find-a-friend’ features, location-aware employee apps are changing the way we work indoors.”

Chris Wiegand, CEO and co-founder, Jibestream, a data-driven indoor mapping and intelligence platform.

MIXED REALITY

In 2020, the workplace will begin transitioning to a hybrid environment of utilizing Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality to improve productivity, enhance employee training, and develop new marketing activation programs.  By implementing Mobile Augmented Reality, advertising and marketing will greatly enhance consumer engagement thru gamification.  AR provides unique interactions while capturing consumer data in real-time during the marketing campaign. AR will become an important platform opportunity for brands and sports teams to directly increase revenue opportunities and measure the results instantly.

Augmented Reality also has the potential to revolutionize the way employees are trained in assembly and manufacturing. This is particularly true when it comes to occupations that involve the handling of industrial equipment and machinery. When beacons and cloud data are tied to fully augmented reality, it enables an effective way to identify where a physical object is. An AR-assisted environment will allow workers to interactively learn and train in a safe and controlled setting that allows for simulating real-life scenarios in a guided learning environment prior to putting them in live production settings.

Alen Paul Silverrstieen, CEO of Imagination Park (www.imaginationpark.com).

ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE

 The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us, and we’re already seeing massive changes in workplace connectivity, collaboration, productivity and (of course) technology. One of the biggest changes is the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). From automation and virtual assistants to systems capable of analyzing massive data sets to find trends, AI represents one the biggest opportunities that business leaders can take advantage of now to ready themselves for the future.

We strongly believe that machine learning and AI are the keys to accelerating the future of work in 2020, especially as developer supply and expertise grows to meet demand. And the demand for AI in the workplace only continues to grow, with the number of AI expertise requests at Codementor increasing 6.5 times in 2018 (compared to 2017).

Weiting Liu, CEO of Codementor

THE FUTURE OF WORK

So, if you’re you still wondering if a robot will take over your job, head over to Will Robots Take My Job and type in your profession. Low risk? Then you don’t have anything to worry about. But if your current job has more than a 50% chance of being taken over by automation, then you might want to think about learning some new skills.

Lee Rainie, director of internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center in Washington, says “The experts are hardly close to a consensus on whether robotics and artificial intelligence will result in more jobs, or fewer jobs, but they will certainly change jobs. Everybody expects that this great sorting out of skills and functions will continue for as far as the eye can see.”

Whether you’re in IT, AI robotics or biotech, the overriding advice for those with a full career ahead of them is to keep up with the latest tech skills, stay educated and be flexible.