Together, we build tailored people and organisation solutions with a deep understanding of our clients’ uniqueness, grounded in rigorous analysis and data-driven insight, to create lasting, differentiated value.
We help clients to implement organisational transformation, improve the effectiveness of their workforce, develop and move talent around their business, and manage their human capital risks. We work from people strategy through to organisational execution.
The future of work asks us to consider the biggest questions of our age. What influence will the continuing march of technology, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) have on where we work and how we work? Will we need to work at all? What is our place in an automated world?
Many commentators focus on technology and the role that automation is predicted to have on jobs and the workplace. We believe the real story is far more complicated. This is less about technological innovation and more about the manner in which humans decide to use that technology.
The shape that the workforce of the future takes will be the result of complex, changing and competing forces. Some of these forces are certain, but the speed at which they unfold can be hard to predict. Regulations and laws, the governments that impose them, broad trends in consumer, citizen and worker sentiment will all influence the transition toward an automated workplace. The outcome of this battle will determine the future of work in 2030.
When so many complex forces are at play, linear predictions are too simplistic. Businesses, governments and individuals need to be prepared for a number of possible, even seemingly unlikely, outcomes.
The megatrends are the tremendous forces reshaping society and with it, the world of work: the economic shifts that are redistributing power, wealth, competition and opportunity around the globe; the disruptive innovations, radical thinking, new business models and resource scarcity that are impacting every sector. Businesses need a clear and meaningful purpose and mandate to attract and retain employees, customers and partners in the decade ahead.
The megatrends identified by PwC form the foundation for all our scenarios. How humans respond to the challenges and opportunities which the megatrends bring will determine the worlds in which the future of work plays out.
Excited - I see a world full of possibility
Confident - I Know that I will be successful
Worried - I'm nervous about what the future holds
Uninterested - I tend not to think too far ahead
Rapid advances in technological innovation | The changing size, distribution and age pro le of the world’s population | Significant increase in the world’s population moving to live in cities | Power shifting between developed and developing countries | Depleted fossil fuels, extreme weather, rising sea levels and water shortages |
Automation, robotics and AI are advancing quickly, dramatically changing the nature and number of jobs available. Technology has the power to improve our lives, raising productivity, living standards and average life span, and free people to focus on personal fulfilment. But it also brings the threat of social unrest and political upheaval if economic advantages are not shared equitably. |
With a few regional exceptions
the world’s population is ageing,
putting pressure on business,
social institutions and economies. Our longer life span will affect business models, talent’s ambitions and pension costs. Older workers will need to will need to learn new skills and work for longer. ‘Re‐tooling’ will become the norm. The shortage of a human workforce in a number of rapidly‐ageing economies will drive the need for automation and productivity enhancements. |
By 2030, the UN projects that
4.9 billion people will be urban
dwellers and, by 2050, the
world’s urban population will have increased by about 72%. Already some of the large cities have GDPs larger than mid size countries. In this new world, cities will become important agents for job creation. |
The rapidly developing nations,
particularly those with a large
working‐age population, that
embrace a business ethos, attract more investment and improve their education system will gain the most. Emerging nations face the biggest challenge as technology increases the gulf with the developed world; unemployment and migration will continue to be rampant without signicant, sustained investment. The erosion of the middle class, wealth disparity and job losses due to large‐scale automation will increase the risk of social unrest in developed countries. |
Demand for energy and water is
forecast to increase by as much
as 50% and 40% respectively. By 2030 new type of jobs in alternative energy, new engineering processes, product design and waste management and re‐use will need to be created to deal with these needs. Traditional energy industries, and the millions of people employed by them, will see a rapid restructuring. |