Future Of Work: what future for work?
Remote working, increasing digitalization, development of freelance work… The upheavals in society and technological progress are accelerating the changes in the world of work. Corporate life is evolving day by day and innovations are constantly developing. But what will tomorrow’s work look like in UK and other European countries ?
The Future of Work characterizes the new practices, which are in full expansion, that are redrawing the contours of the professional sphere. Hybrid work, employee well-being… Since the health crisis linked to covid-19, there has been talk of innovative organizations. They are emerging thanks to the development of new technologies, but also thanks to the place that work now occupies in our lives. Indeed, following the telecommuting imposed during the pandemic, a large majority of companies have realized that it is possible to combine these organizational modes with their growth and productivity objectives.
At the same time, the acceleration of the digital transformation has proven that technology is a real added value and not a threat to human work. The Future of Work therefore exists to meet the economic and performance challenges of companies that must innovate to attract and retain talent. And if these working methods are already established in some European countries and elsewhere, in UK, it is a novelty.
The new trends of the future of work
When we talk about the future of work or the work of the future, we are referring in particular to the innovative trends that are taking hold and becoming normalized in the professional world. Indeed, digital technologies and tools, the explosion of freelance status and the increasingly rapid evolution of emerging work modes, are at the origin of work on the future of work.
● The company itself is evolving, from its management to its employees, and the hierarchy is continuing its horizontalization. More on a collaborative mode rather than pyramidal, management is becoming more human.
● Telecommuting is becoming the norm and is proposed as soon as technically possible.
● Since Covid-19 and the resulting bankruptcy of many companies, there is a return to craftsmanship and manual creation.
● Intrapreneurship, which combines employeeism and entrepreneurship within the same organization, is on the rise.
● Meaning as the primary motivation for working for a company.
● Remuneration, which remains a criterion of choice, is less and less a priority for hiring as it is for retention.
● Well-being and health at work (quality of life at work) are new requirements and standards in the era of the omnipresence of Chief Happiness Officers (CHOs), employee surveys and HR policies geared towards professional fulfillment.
Future Of Work: what future for work?
Freelancing: the new work mode of the future
Independence is gaining ground at an incredible rate. The digital revolution allows people to work from anywhere, anytime. This pushes more and more people to free themselves from salaried employment to freelance. Moreover, the new forms and conditions of work are gradually removing the status of normality that the employee (and especially the permanent contract) had for decades.
The extended enterprise now includes the freelancers who regularly collaborate with it. However, not all professions are equal in the face of this phenomenon and, above all, the status of a freelancer remains less protective than that of an employee on a permanent contract, whether in terms of income stability, unemployment or even retirement. This is why the model of umbrella company / portage salarial is identified as one of the ideal solutions to be free and independent while having the security of an employee.
In an umbrella company, the umbrella company takes care of all the administrative and contractual aspect of its activity. From quotation to invoicing and recovery, this form of contract allows the consultant to concentrate only on the development of his activity and the realization of his missions. Less mental load, more freedom, all with the same protections as a normal employee. This hybrid form of work, at the crossroads between entrepreneurship and salaried employment, is thus presented as the work standard of tomorrow.