What Is the Real Future of Work? Remote work is the present. Here's what the future will hold for the global workforce.
By Mike Swigunski Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
One of the growing trends that the world has seen over the past year is the rise of remote work. As working from home is continuing to gain some serious steam around the world, more and more predictions have been taking place as to whether or not these trends will proceed into the future. With the rise of modern technology and the introduction of new careers that didn't exist 100 years ago, the future of work will be much different than what we witnessed in the previous century.
As we progress, the present of the workforce is remote, but the real future of work will be much more flexible. It is also likely to be one where workers are more focused on accomplishing goals to a high level of quality as opposed to filling out a timesheet and working exactly 40 hours a week.
Remote work is the present
Right now, remote work is not just a trend of the future. It is the present. As reported by CNBC, 70% of the global workforce already are working remotely at least once a week. This sort of data should be inspiring for anybody who is looking for a reason to start working remotely as opposed to their desk job.
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The remote work industry has propelled itself further throughout the past year. According to a survey conducted by popular remote work platform Slack, 16 million skilled US workers switched to working online in the month of May 2020 alone. If this trend continues, the majority of the world's workforce could feasibly soon be permanent remote workers.
The future is flexible
Flexible working is not a new concept, but there will soon be mass adoption while the remote workforce continues to progress. Henry Ford helped standardized for the 40-hour workweek back in 1920, but this was initially created for factory workers. A lot has changed since then and the modern workforce needs to adapt and progress. In the future of work, hours will be more flexible and the future will be one where companies are more concerned about the results of their employees.
All of us live personal lives and professional lives. When the two start to intermix together to a high extent, it is easy for workers to get burnt out on their jobs, ask for time off, a raise on pay, and so on. In the future of remote work, we anticipate that jobs will be more respectful and flexible when it comes to your personal life. Work will start to focus more on wrapping around your personal schedule and needs, and not the other way around.
Output vs. Input
A worker's key performance indicators (or KPIs) are likely to be more important than the number of hours that they put in each week. Employers of the future are likely to focus more on how well the workers accomplish particular goals instead of focusing solely upon the hours they are working each day. The old-school office attitude of working yourself to the bone as a means to rise up the corporate ranks might not be as relevant of a theme for the future.
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Workers of the future will likely be more focused on putting forth their effort into reaching the desired outputs of the business. Since KPIs will continue to be important and improved upon, the quality of the results that the workers accomplish will be tested to a high extent. This way, businesses can keep focusing more on the core of their business and continue making investments that are proven to generate great outputs that generate an ROI (return on investment).
Is the future of work going to be remote?
The information is clear that remote work has been growing inexorably in demand both by employers and employees. Although the future might be different than the job market we knew and loved in the past, it is always strategic to stay on top of trends and accept changes that come with the future.
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We anticipate that the majority of workers in the future will be working remotely. Also, jobs will likely be less focused on the number of hours you put in, and instead more on the quality of your work. Additionally, the jobs of the future are going to be more flexible with your personal life. Although this is different than what we know from the past, the future of work looks very bright and promising for those who are able to work remotely.
