We live in a world where we have only begun to work more and, in doing so, we have made ourselves even more dependent on work, in terms of meaning but also from a financial point of view. Since the 1980s, we have been working more, and by now it is also no longer possible to support a family as a single earner. And so we generally work more and longer.
And the strain is off! Anyway, new generations entering the workplace want to get more out of life than just work, so working even more is not an option. In addition, we see that technology demands a revalidation of work. Why does the average middle manager in a corporate get paid so much more than a plumber, painter, teacher or nurse? While they keep our society running? And then to top it off, working the way we do now is quite often bad for our health. Because there are more people with burnout than ever, and all that travelling and flying back and forth is not really good for our climate either.
In short: the future of work is not about how to work, how to be hybrid or how to retain our talent as an organisation. No, the question is much broader. Because if we dream about a world 20 years from now, will we all still work as (hard) as we do today? Or will we want this to be different? My dream: people will always want to add value, belong somewhere and will want to use their talents and competences to do so. So will we start paying for the added value someone provides to the organisation or society instead of the title, hierarchical rank or study someone has? To get there, we need to determine NOW how technology can help us actually shape that future of work. Let technology mainly do those tasks where we as humans do not add value, and let the rest be filled by us. So a bus can drive itself just fine, but I would really like a host to be there to make sure I am safe, or have an enjoyable ride. With that, I dream that we can just pay for everyone’s basic needs as a society (like a basic income) so that everyone can work from abundance rather than shortages or scarcity. Because then we do what really contributes, we probably work a lot more locally and do those things we are good at as human beings. Yes really, this is!
My dream will have to come to live in steps and experiments. But let’s not wait and do nothing. Because we can already take steps in that direction today, namely by first determining how to get tasks done by technology in your work environment and how employees can better use their talents and skills.
