How and Why Jobs Have Changed in the Era of Digitalization
Digitization is Transforming Office Life. Why in Ten Years the Vast Majority of Workers will be Freelancers
A few years ago, when we heard the word “office”, we clearly imagined the gloomy silhouette of white walls and the boring faces of workers who were reluctant to sit out the 8 hours specified in their contract. However, the rapid development of technology and the related changes in the approach to work suggest that stereotypes will not live long.
New Values
New values of employees, their desire for freedom, and desire to develop, motivate companies to improve the corporate culture and organization of the work environment. Offices stop being a place you don’t want to go to in the morning and become an open space for creativity, motivation, and professional growth.
The need to significantly change the approach to the organization of offices is associated with changes in the needs and values of employees. An important role in this process was played by the emergence of representatives of the millennial generation on the labor market, who from early childhood were accustomed to technology and open access to information. According to research by Ernst & Young, 70% of experienced professionals in Ukraine consider the company’s image and wages to be equivalently determining criteria for choosing a job. 60% are guided by corporate culture.
It is also worth noting that the importance of these factors has changed over the years. In 2015, the amount of remuneration was key for 72% of respondents, and the company’s image was considered the main one by 63% of the surveyed specialists. We see how the emphasis in the system of employee motivation has shifted from wages to intangible values. This trend is making its own adjustments in the formation of offices, spurring companies to create the most comfortable workplaces for employees. Along with the improved conditions for employees, competition between potential candidates has also increased. For the employer to pay attention to you, it is recommended to write a good resume using resume editing.
The management of companies strives to improve the corporate culture, at the same time, the number of freelancers is growing at a record rate. According to Upwork and Freelancers Union, about a third of all U.S. workers choose to freelance in 2018. By 2027, the vast majority of workers are projected to be freelance. This number of freelancers is also due to the desire of employees for freedom and mobility.
That is why working in new offices becomes a flexible compromise between the needs of employers and employees. If earlier the typical day of the employee began at 9 am at the office table, then the current approach allows him to choose. Equipped with the latest technology, offices provide employees with room for creativity and mobility, while the management is left with the confidence of employees’ brand loyalty, which is often lacking for freelancers.
Establishing the work of modern offices is a whole science and art at the same time. Company employees work in open spaces with a large number of conference rooms and meeting rooms. Workers are not tied to specific places and can freely “migrate”. For example, in our company, none of the employees, including the CEO, have their own office. Sometimes organizations can even boast of international staff mobility. Employees are given access to the company’s offices abroad using corporate magnetic cards, passes, or passwords.
Office Innovation
Organizations now use technologies that maximize workforce productivity and make the process of completing tasks more comfortable and free. Artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly optimized workflows. AI algorithms save employees time by sorting emails based on importance and relevance, giving hints and reminders to successfully interact with customers.
Cloud services have made a significant contribution to increasing the mobility of employees in modern companies. Storing data on such resources allows employees not to be tied to one place or computer. With secure access to your account, you can easily complete tasks from any computer inside the office, on a laptop during lunch, or even in line to see a doctor on your smartphone.
The office communications of employees have also changed. The Internet eliminates the need for frequent meetings with colleagues. Previously, to resolve an issue or ask for advice, employees had to physically meet in a meeting room, now everything happens online from different cities or even from different countries. On the one hand, this greatly simplifies and speeds up the processes, but on the other hand, it alienates workers from the team.
Companies pay attention even to such details and try to compensate for the seemingly non-obvious lack of communication. Technology is helping to do this again. For example, online parties are held for remote workers, where they can chat with colleagues, be imbued with the corporate spirit of the company, and feel like a part of the team. In our company, we try to make the most of the camera during online meetings so that people can see each other while chatting online.
What Awaits us Next
Over the past decade, the organization of workplaces has really changed a lot, and there is no prerequisite for the fact that what we can now call a “typical office” will appear in the near future. The values, desires, and needs of employees are constantly changing, and, therefore, create a demand for a new form of office design, and the development of technology allows us to satisfy these needs.
Now it is still difficult to say what the office of the future will be like. But for sure, there will be no more attachment to walls and furniture, there will be less paperwork, and even business meetings of employees will be digitized as much as possible thanks to corporate mail and its future counterparts. The relationship between new employee requirements, the ability to change and progress through new technologies will become one of the determining factors in the development of new office structures.
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