THE State OF Work

The way we work is rapidly changing. Let's explore five Future of Work trends that could be shaping your career going forward

- SILKE COLQUHOUN

Your parents may have stayed with one employer for decades, possibly their whole working lives. Loyalty to a single company was king. To climb the corporate ladder, people were expected to have a tertiary qualification. And if you were a workaholic, you were well rewarded.

However, artificial intelligence (AI), the global pandemic and shifting employee needs are disrupting the workplace. How we'll work in future will differ dramatically from everything we're used to. Research firm Gartner has provided insight into the following trends likely to influence the state of work - globally and in South Africa -over the next five years.

1 SHORTER WORKWEEK

While a shorter working week used to be radically different (and a pipe dream for most), post-Covid it's become comparable to the remote-work/workfrom-home discussion. In fact, 63% of surveyed candidates rated a "four-day workweek for the same pay" as the top new offering to attract them to a job.

Recent pilot projects suggest benefits for productivity and employee well-being, says Gartner, which expects the four-day workweek to "go from radical to routine".

2 SHREDDING THE 'PAPER CEILING'