NAB
Virtual offices are taking over as the shift to remote and
hybrid work is likely here to stay. Micropreneurs 2.0, crypto-artisans and
nomadic employees are redefining what it means to work in the 21st Century.
article here
In a new report, “Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in
2022,” marketing agency Wunderman Thompson, via its research unit WTI, charts
the future of work.
Let’s take a look.
Metawork
Microsoft will launch Mesh for Microsoft Teams this year,
enabling mixed reality for users, with the option to attend meetings as
customized avatars and collaborate on projects through shared holographic
experiences. Mesh also gives companies the option to build immersive virtual
environments. Microsoft describes the feature as “a gateway to the metaverse.”
Meta has its version called Horizon Workrooms. By connecting
through VR co-workers can collaborate and create together in the same virtual
workspace. “Meet teammates across the table, even if you’re across the world —
and transform your home office into your favorite remote meeting room,” Horizon
Workrooms promises.
Building branded virtual workspaces are gaining popularity.
Kumospace and gen-Z startup Branch focus on heightening “organic interactions”
using virtual rooms that mimic physical environments, where users’ avatars can
move around and interact.
“The way we connect, live and work is transforming thanks to
the metaverse,” says Emma Chiu, global director of WTI. “The future of work
will foster a hybrid setup for many, leading with virtual workspaces that
generate new forms of creativity, collaboration and immersion.”
Crypto-Artisans
The Web 3.0 economy is providing an alternative to corporate
employment in the form of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). This
is a digitally native community or organization that could potentially
represent the future of work.
“Your next employer could be a DAO,” imagines Chiu.
“Strictly speaking, a DAO is a community-led digital organization that runs on
blockchain technology. It is managed not by a CEO or board of directors but by
a smart contract (lines of code that define its operations). In practice, many
DAOs are not yet fully autonomous and so the term is also used colloquially to
refer to digital organizations in general. Crucially, DAOs also have built-in
treasuries linked to cryptocurrency, which means members can earn tokens in
return for their contributions.”
A new breed of crypto worker is already being drawn to DAOs
as an alternative to the corporate nine-to-five. WTI says participation in the
DAO economy growing fast. According to DeepDAO, a platform that tracks the
industry, there were 1.6 million members and token owners in December 2021.
From an employee’s point of view, DAOs have a lot to offer,
WTI observes. DAOs are digital, so there are no physical HQs or geographic
boundaries—both already outdated notions for many Gen Z’ers. DAOs have little
to no hierarchy, so there are no bosses either. Instead, they offer members the
ability to collectively influence decisions and share in profits. Above all
they offer a readymade community of likeminded, passionate, and highly invested
people all pursuing the same goal.
“While not every company will want to copy the DAO
model, nor will it be universally appropriate, there are interesting lessons to
learn from this new model in terms of community, culture building and worker
empowerment,” WTI notes.
In an era of employee activism, many want to shape the place
they work to fit their values, as Julia Rosenberg, cofounder and CEO at Orca
Protocol, recently explained at the Mainnet conference (quoted by WTI): “If you
disagree, you have the opportunity to effect change, which is not something
that exists in centralized organizations,” Chiu says.
Micropreneurs 2.0
In the initial months of the pandemic in 2020, many workers
quit their desk jobs to pursue passion projects full-time. Now the trend has
snowballed into a nationwide reassessment of work that is precipitating the
next era of employment.
British workers are going freelance in droves. April 2021
data from freelancer platform PeoplePerHour found that almost one in five
freelancers had become self-employed as a side hustle alongside an employee
position, and nearly two-fifths of those began freelancing in the past 12
months.
According to Microsoft’s global Work Trend Index, published
in March 2021, 41% of people around the world were likely to consider leaving
their jobs within the next year, rising to 54% of Gen Z. The Washington
Post dubbed the shift the “great reassessment of work.” So where are
workers going? Many are leaving for higher-paying jobs, whether that’s retail
and service workers taking entry-level positions or mid-career professionals
switching jobs.
As of December 2020, resignations among managers were 12%
higher than the previous year, according to workforce analytics company Visier.
Others are pursuing passions or side hustles full-time. Microsoft’s research
revealed that 46% of people were planning to make a major career pivot or
transition.
“Employees are scrutinizing what they want from a career and
a workplace, potentially bringing about the end of the workplace as we know
it,” suggests WTI.
The Great Reskill
A related trend happening across business as the nature of
work changes, so does the need for new employee skillsets.
“As the digital revolution races on, brands are realizing
that the fastest and most effective way to keep pace is to upskill their
existing workforce,” says Chiu.
According to one educator, employees will be expected to
have to learn some sort of new skill every four years.
It’s already happening. Levi Strauss & Co announced a
new company-wide Machine Learning Bootcamp. This was an eight-week, full-time,
paid program that offers employees training in digital skills such as coding
and machine learning. Graduates of the bootcamp will either return to their
current job with new skills or will join the company’s strategy and AI team.
Verizon invested more than $200 million in employee learning
and development programs in 2020, offering training in topics like data
science, 5G and AI. By the end of 2021, Verizon said it had equipped 100,000
employees with digital skills “to ensure team members are ready to keep pace
with ever-changing demands of building the future.”
The Nomad Economy
What’s more, the new influx of workers won’t be expected to
be in the office. At least not all of the time or not in our received notions
of what an office constitutes.
Pandemic-induced lockdowns have broken traditional working
habits. “With this came a surge of remote workers, some of whom became digital
nomads for the first time, choosing to work in new cities, states, or even new
countries,” says Chiu. “The future of work is borderless. As ingenious
companies step up to iron out the complications that accompany a transient
lifestyle, digital nomads will continue to grow in numbers and financial clout.
A new economy is emerging that caters to digital nomads’ administrative,
financial and logistical needs.”
Metaverse Recruits
“Is it time to hire a chief metaverse officer?” Vogue
Business mused in an October 2021 article that noted the rise in augmented
retail, virtual venues and digital possessions.
From virtual material designers to creatives across the
board, companies are hiring for a metaverse workforce. The metaverse virtually
recreates pretty much all aspects of life, and recruitment is no different.
“In the coming years, companies of all kinds are
increasingly going to be re-orienting towards a hybrid model of virtual and
physical work, production, commerce and communications,” Grant Paterson, head
of gaming and esports at Wunderman Thompson, explains. “The dual forces of
converging technologies and emerging consumer behaviors in virtual places makes
the cultivation of a ‘virtual pillar’ critical for many, if not all,
businesses.”
The report notes that Nike filed seven trademark
applications in October 2021; they include use of “downloadable virtual goods”
and “retail store services featuring virtual goods.” In the same month, the
company started recruiting virtual material designers to sit within its digital
product creation team. The job spec describes the role as helping to “build the
future of Nike Footwear materials” and ignite “the digital and virtual
revolution at Nike.”
Last November, British broadcaster ITV posted a position for
a metaverse creative within its new Metavision initiative, which “looks to
combine the worlds of gaming, entertainment and advertising.” The role involves
creating metaverse brand activations from concept stage to execution.
According to Chiu, “Partnering with external tech and games
companies has been the trend of the past year; now brands are seeking out
talent of their own to accelerate the technological offerings of the metaverse.
Just as when social media became mainstream and companies scrambled to hire
social media leads, so recruiting talent to help build offerings around the
metaverse will be reminiscent of that hurry to hire, and maybe even more
urgent.”
No comments:
Post a Comment