Abhinav Banerjee

Case Study “Whether the jobs change, or just the tools, one aspect of work is likely to remain steady in the face of technological disruption – the necessity for meaning…” – Adobe “For the first time in modern history, workplace demographics now span four generations, meaning that 20-year-old new hires can find themselves working side-by-side with colleagues who are older than they are by 50 years (or even more)…” – AARP, Washington DC “In an age of disruption, business and HR leaders are being pressed to rewrite the rules for how they organize, recruit, develop, manage, and engage the 21st-century workforce…” – Deloitte, 2017 Background The fourth industrial revolution that we are currently witnessing is being defined as the new age of automation, driven by unprecedented technological advances. The pace of automation and its scope continues to grow exponentially. As entire families of work activities get increasingly automated, the implications on the global economy are manifold – changing nature of work, job roles being redefined, a certain class of job roles becoming redundant leading to growth in new occupations and new roles. These changes are ushering in a new age of learning – continuous, agile and on-the-go, both urgent and imperative for the current workforce and the emerging pipeline of talent. This changing world of work is causing considerable anxiety—and with good reason. There is growing polarization of labour-market opportunities between high- and low-skill jobs, unemployment and underemployment especially among young people, stagnating incomes for a large proportion of households, and income inequality. Migration and its effects on jobs has become a sensitive political issue in many advanced economies. And from Mumbai to Manchester, public debate rages about the future of work and whether there will be enough jobs to gainfully employ everyone. The development of automation enabled by technologies including robotics and artificial intelligence brings the promise of higher productivity (and with productivity, economic growth), increased efficiencies, safety, and convenience. But these technologies also raise difficult questions about the broader impact of automation on jobs, skills, wages, and the nature of work itself. At the same time, job-matching sites such as LinkedIn and Monster are changing and expanding the way individuals look for work and companies identify and recruit talent. Moreover, with the advent of the ‘Gig Economy’, independent workers are increasingly choosing to offer their services on digital platforms including Upwork, Uber, and Etsy and, in the process, challenging conventional ideas about how and where work is undertaken. Thus, with a workforce comprising multiple contrasting attitudes, and a rich mix of generations coexisting at the workplace today – from the Baby Boomers and Gen X, to the Millennials and now Generation Z – we are in for some very interesting times ahead. Questions: Q.1 Given the above context, how do you envision the future of work, the workforce, and the workplace, in 2025? What parts of this picture excite you, and which parts induce concern? (600-750 words) Q.2 As someone from Generation Z about to enter the workplace for the very first time, what is your idea of what ‘work’ should be like, and what is that you seek from it? (400-500 words)