Hear From the Founders of MOVI On The Future of Work

Technology has always been a huge part of the world’s progress. It affects industries from all over the world, as well as each individual's life. It’s certainly playing a role in the workplace. To date, it’s now revolutionised the hiring process, business operations, and skill sets needed to successfully perform their jobs.

How the workplace looks right now is different from how it was decades ago. Even with the dawn of the digital age and the prospect of AI taking over, the question remains: what will the future of work look like? 

The Emergence of Changes and Other Trends

Culture and employee experience 

In a world that’s increasingly being driven by technology and the constant need to be online, the need for culture and employee experience is an understated change. The success of the digital transformation can be traced back to innovation and culture, which are regarded as the leading catalysts for change. Employees will now be encouraged to be more engaged personally and professionally, and not just digitally.

Healthy work structures 

The future of work will also be about dismantling hierarchy structures, where lines have always been drawn between bosses and subordinates. In an era of change, work will now be more diverse and open, and in turn, become healthy and efficient for either party involved. Instead of directing attention to managers, for instance, employees will be encouraged to work in teams instead. This ensures that workplace politics will have no room left to foster, and instead, encourage a collaborative and supportive environment that will give way to a smooth journey to the digital landscape.

The push for educational pursuits

In a period of unprecedented change, the best jobs of the future cannot just be handled blindly. A bulk of it will still need uniquely human skills, even in a highly technical environment. Emotional intelligence, problem-solving, creativity, and empathy are skills highlighted today, and for good reason—they’re integral for growth and stability for years to come. 

This also gives way to the importance of education away from textbooks and concepts. Exposure to diversity and culture is necessary for true growth, along with the proactiveness to seek criticism to continuously grow and hone skill sets. 

The technological advancements

Technology moves at an increasingly accelerated pace. To ensure survival, people are encouraged to learn and adapt as quickly. The results have been overwhelmingly positive thus far, as tools like voice commands, machine learning, and augmented reality are taking the world by storm. Although they often end up in the mainstream, they end up becoming the norm. The next big thing is just around the corner, so workplaces will do well to stay on their toes and keep up. 

The Remote World of Work

Although the future of work comes in many different facets, the biggest player in the game right now is the remote world. COVID-19 brought about unprecedented changes and has forced the workforce’s operations into the cloud—work from home has been the norm ever since, but the outcomes remain to be seen. 

Fortunately, the digital era has been friendly enough to allow for a rather smooth transition. With emails, collaboration tools, chat places, and virtual meetings in place, employees and employers alike have found that working remotely can indeed be productive. Innovation and creativity continue to be highlighted, and new avenues open up opportunities for growth. 

Unfortunately, with a pandemic to worry about, employers struggle to keep up with personal issues. Parents struggle with their family responsibilities, while other companies fail to provide adequate equipment for teleworking. The new “normal” has struck hard and true, but once again, the end game still remains blurry.

How to Prepare for the Future of Work

The future of work continues to work in speeds and margins uncontrollable. Given the current circumstance of a pandemic, we cannot prejudice all the changes that could possibly occur in the future. The amount of certainty may also be a problem, as although the world is benefiting much from remote work, we cannot fully know if we’re ever prepared enough. 

Rather than succumbing to the threat of AI taking over and replacing human labour as we know it, experts encourage people to invest in the traits uniquely human—ones that quite frankly, can never be replaced by any robotic counterpart: creativity, empathy, passion, imagination, emotional and social intelligence, and problem-solving. People are encouraged to remain highly adaptable, as changes are unpredictable. In essence, seeking new skill sets to hone ensures that you remain relevant.

Investing in the future is also one way to prepare for the future of work. If you’re looking at the trend of working remotely, for instance, it’s integral to invest in a space that’s comfortable and uniquely your own. You’ll be dealing with countless conferences, documents, emails, and other workloads all day, so why not invest in MOVI’s standing desk? It incorporates technologically-advanced features unseen anywhere, making it the perfect companion as you prepare for the future of work. 

The hierarchical structure of the workplace is also slowly being dismantled. Employees are now encouraged to shape their own career paths, steering clear away from the traditional concept of climbing up the corporate ladder. A content writer is now free to pursue digital art as another career, while an engineer can now become a chef on the side. With that being said, preparing for the future of work means pursuing a diverse set of skills and experiences, now freely given the reigns to forge their career paths—work now goes beyond just paycheques. 

Forward and Beyond: The Future of Work

Nothing is certain in this world, apart from death and taxes. It’s therefore vital for every individual to make a conscious step towards the future. It’s inevitable that machines could become colleagues, and operations to become obsolete. Papers may cease to exist and instead, become computer files we can only interact with digitally. 

Organisations are encouraged to take a good look at their business practices, to see if anything needs changing. Developments are inevitable parts of a progressive world, whether it be something simple as adopting a remote work policy, or perhaps something as complex as introducing AI into the operations. 

While such changes can shift the dynamics and turn the tides for many, the future of work is certain: it has been designed to accommodate our needs. If we don’t begin to adapt today, keeping up later will become a challenge and in most cases, a death sentence. 

MOVI has always been passionate about work and health, coming up with ways to innovatively mingle the two concepts. Our standing desk setup is the result of that, which we believe could help jumpstart the future of work. Future Proof your career—get yours today!