Since the world emerged from the Covid pandemic, economies in richer nations such as the UK have faced skills shortages. A range of converging factors have resulted in many sectors experiencing too few workers for the available jobs. This report considers whether this situation is likely to improve in the longer-term. Looking ahead to 2050, the report explores whether a world of work with too few jobs or too few workers is likely to emerge.
One year on from the publication of our ‘Eight Drivers of Change – the future of work’ 2021 Report, the landscape of the world of work has altered significantly. Our new Report by James Davies, Partner at Lewis Silkin, reflects on the extent to which major events in the world, alongside evolving societal attitudes, advancing technologies and a shifting political landscape, have impacted on the key observations and themes identified in the 2021 Report. Importantly, the new Report looks forward to consider how the world of work will evolve in the years ahead and the implications for employers and their workforces.
As the working landscape continues to shift rapidly in response to world events, this comprehensive new Report provides a timely and important assessment of the key issues and challenges of the day that will impact on the world of work for years to come.
This second article of a two-part series explores what the future of work may hold for women in light of the impact of the pandemic and increasing automation in the labour market.
Advancements in AI, automation and the disruption caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic are combining with dramatically ageing populations. Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of 20-first explores how these multiple parallel forces present risks and opportunities for age and gender balance in the workplace.
In this first article of a two part series, we explore the history of women in waged work through the ages and both the historic and current challenges faced by women in the workplace. Our second article will focus on what the future of work may hold for women in light of the pandemic and the effect of increasing automation on the labour market and women's working lives.
Madeleine Jephcott, Managing Practice Development Lawyer in Lewis Silkin LLP’s employment team, considers the drivers behind an ageing workforce, current and expected government policy in this area and how employers can take steps now to adapt to this ongoing trend.
This is part of a series of interviews in which a selection of HR leaders across a variety of sectors share their thoughts on the impact of past and anticipated future changes on their world of work.
We recently released a new report, written for the Future of Work Hub by Lewis Silkin LLP, which looks at the impact of megatrends such as globalisation, technology and changing demographics - on the world of work and the key implications for business.
This is the third in a series of articles produced for the Future of Work Hub by Lewis Silkin LLP looking at the importance of harnessing flexibility in the future world of work.
This article is the first in a series of articles by Lewis Silkin LLP which will look at the impact of three megatrends - globalisation, technology and changing demographics - on the world of work and the implications for business.
This is the second in a series of articles produced for the Future of Work Hub by Lewis Silkin LLP looking at how to deal with an ageing workforce.
This is the next in the series of interviews in which a selection of HR leaders across a variety of sectors share their thoughts on the impact of past and anticipated future changes on their world of work.
We speak to Sebastian Mynott, founder, Principal Molecular Ecologist and Chief Operations Officer at Applied Genomics Ltd about how he has harnessed tech and talent to create a sustainable future for Applied Genomics, and what he has learnt along the way.
In the context of an ageing workforce, this article, based on a study by Dr Ulrike Fasbender of the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen and Mo Wang of the University of Florida, looks at how negative attitudes towards older workers can effect hiring decisions and makes suggestions on what organisations can do to tackle it.
Cathy Temple, Senior HRD at Oracle speaks to us about the anticipated future changes on her world of work as part of our ‘spotlight on’ series.
This is the fourth in a series of interviews in which a selection of HR leaders across a variety of sectors share their thoughts on the impact of past and anticipated future changes on their world of work.
This is the third in a series of interviews in which a selection of HR leaders across a variety of sectors share their thoughts on the impact of past and anticipated future changes on their world of work.
This is the second in a series of interviews in which a selection of HR leaders across a variety of sectors share their thoughts on the impact of past and anticipated future changes on their world of work.
This is the first in a series of interviews in which a selection of HR leaders across a variety of sectors share their thoughts on the impact of past and anticipated future changes on their world of work.
This article from Natalie Carrick and Caroline Sharley of WDi Consulting focuses on how leaders can make the case for energy management in their organisations and illustrates 9 ways to help them achieve that objective.
This article from Geraldine Gallacher, Managing Director of the Executive Coaching Consultancy is the second in a series exploring female talent. It considers the challenges faced by employers in retaining women after maternity leave and offers some suggestions as to how managers can best support women that want to return to work.
Drawing upon new research, this article from Adrian Wakeling, Senior Policy Advisor at Acas, asks how well organisations are managing older workers and gives some clues as to what the workplace issues of the future might be.
It has been nearly 10 years since the introduction of age discrimination legislation in the UK. This article from Andrew Smith of Matrix Chambers reflects on the past and considers the practical challenges facing employers in the future.
This article from Lynn White and Natalie Carrick of WDI Consulting, explores the factors that businesses can consider in order to create a culture that helps people to build and sustain their energy levels.
How can businesses attract and retain female talent? Geraldine Gallacher, Managing Director of the Executive Coaching Consultancy, discusses the issues.
David D'Souza, Head of London for the CIPD, reflects upon our latest event "Shifting Workforce Demographics" by asking questions about the future of work.
Leading futurist Dean van Leeuwen, shares his thoughts on migration in the second in a series of blogs on shifting workforce demographics.
There are up to five generations in the workplace for the first time; Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z. This article from Rachel Brushfield of Energise, explores generational differences and considers the implications on organisations.
In the third of our series of articles looking at how different countries in the APAC region are responding to the changing world of work, Abi Frederick of Lewis Silkin, focuses on the demographic dilemma facing Japan and offers a comparison to the situation in the UK and across Europe.
This report by the OECD examines how longevity and technological change are impacting work across 38 countries and identifies key employer policies that can help facilitate career mobility, resulting in better employment choices at older ages.
This report from 50+ Choices Roundtable reveals that 72% of over-50s seek flexible work to achieve a better work-life balance, with many also having care responsibilities. With rates of home-working among over-50s rising from 10% in 2020 to 22.4% in 2023, the report sets out key recommendations for government and businesses to support greater flexible working for over-50s to help more people stay in meaningful work.
The world of work is undergoing profound and extensive disruption. Large-scale trends are transforming work, workforces and workplaces. The legacy of the pandemic has combined with a tense economic and social landscape, presenting businesses with significant challenges. How can businesses best navigate this increasingly complex environment? And, if you are in HR or have people responsibilities, what are the key strategic issues and areas of priority action for 2024 and beyond?
This report by the Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics, in collaboration with Protiviti, highlights the importance of bridging generational divides to improve workforce productivity.
This recent study by the Institute of Labor Economics introduces the ‘Individual Inclusiveness Inventory’, which captures what makes an individual inclusive of others at work. The report proposes a two-factor solution including ‘Belonging and Uniqueness’ and ‘Challenge and Openness’.
Randstad’s latest Workmonitor report surveyed over 27,000 workers in 34 markets globally, finding that employers need to rekindle connections with workers to understand their needs and desires. Work-life balance, flexibility, equity and skilling are now the driving force behind career decisions.
This report from the International Centre for Migration Policy Development examines various important dimensions and developments of migration, including the ‘coming of age’ of labour migration in Europe, which is expected to take on additional speed in 2024.
This report from WorkL analyses data from more than 300,000 employees across 60,000 organisations globally, reporting that 2023 was a challenging year for employers and employees alike.
Manpower Group’s recent report surveys 40,077 employers across 41 countries, finding that 75% of employers report difficulties in finding the talent they need, with employers in the Health Care and Life Sciences industry reporting the greatest difficulties.
The International Labour Organization’s recent report reveals a complex global employment scenario; with an extra two million workers expected to be looking for jobs in 2024, the global unemployment rate is set to increase, yet growing inequalities and stagnant productivity persist and are causes for concern.
Fragomen’s recent report examines the impact of varying immigration policies on skills and labour shortages, demographic challenges and ongoing economic hardships, and offers a roadmap for employers to maximise opportunities while minimising risk. The report notes that the results of key national elections around the world in 2024 will illuminate whether governments bring about immigration policies to further alleviate worker and skills shortages, or if they will instead choose to protect their domestic workforces.
New research from Bain & Company shows that worker motivations evolve with age, with attributes like interesting work and autonomy being key priorities for workers around age 60. The report reveals that leading companies, including Home Depot, Mitsubishi and Tokyo Gas are adapting their talent programmes to meet the different needs of older workers and suggests that those firms that invest in recruiting, reskilling, and respecting the strengths of older workers can not only solve their talent gap problem, but also create a workforce that’s more productive, balanced, diverse and loyal.
New research from the Pew Research Center reveals that the proportion of Americans aged 65 and older has nearly doubled in the last 35 years and suggests that today’s older workers have longer working hours, higher education levels, and increased hourly pay compared to previous generations. Taking all these factors into account, older workers’ contribution to the labour force has grown significantly, accounting for 7% of the total workforce in 2023.
This white paper written by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Accenture, addresses key concerns on the impact of large language models on jobs and emphasises the need for businesses to adopt proactive and responsible strategies to manage these changes.
The paper serves as a toolkit for businesses, providing practical strategies in three primary areas: 1) job change and job displacement risk, 2) job quality, and 3) learning and skilling.
Lewis Silkin Partner James Davies has written a report for the Future of Work Hub ‘The future of work in 2050 – too few jobs or too few workers?’. The report explores the possibility that, by 2050, economies like the UK will face a labour market with too few jobs for the available workers. In the report, James identifies the decisions and actions which will need to be addressed and brings together insights from a variety of sources to offer a glimpse of that future.
This roundtable discussion looked at the evolving relationship between employers and their people and explored emerging challenges and opportunities for employers as they take steps to link sustainability and a conscious approach to environmental issues to people strategy.
New research from Multiverse has found that millions of workers over the age of 50 are leaving the workforce early, and the trend is set to continue.
The report highlights the economic and social challenges this poses, including reduced productivity, a talent drain for businesses, and lower tax revenue for public services. It suggests prioritising training and development to better prepare older workers for changing skills requirements.
In this report, we explore the effects of global population trends on the workplace and examine government and employer measures that have been implemented across a range of countries to address the reality of an ageing workforce.
This paper from Autonomy suggests an equitable route for the deployment of AI in the pursuit of greater productivity and considers how the latest AI technology could lead to shorter hours in Great Britain, without reductions in livelihoods or productivity over the next decade.
The CIPD’s latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook report has revealed that a quarter of organisations who are struggling to fill vacancies plan to use automation. The figure has nearly doubled since last summer, when just 13% reported considering using automation to plug gaps – an increase the CIPD attributed to the rise of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in the past year. The survey of 2,000 employers saw four in 10 predict that AI and automation could increase productivity and efficiency, with a third anticipating cost savings and a fifth expecting enhanced decision making. However, 36% of employers see privacy and security concerns as the main drawback for implementing generative AI in their workplace. This particularly evident among employers who have banned its use. The report also uncovered the extent of shortages in the workforce, finding that as many as 41% of employers had ‘hard to fill’ vacancies. This figure stood at 51% in the public sector, compared to 38% in the private sector.
The McKinsey Health Institute’s 2023 survey of more than 30,000 employees across 30 countries found that employees who had positive work experiences reported better holistic health, are more innovative at work, and have improved job performance. Holistic health is an integrated view of an individual’s mental, physical, spiritual and social functioning. While it was found that more than half of the surveyed employees have positive overall holistic health, there are substantial variations between countries and age groups, with those aged 18-24 having the lowest holistic-health scores. Workplace enablers such as meaningful work and psychological safety are shown to strongly predict good holistic health, but burnout is closely linked to workplace stressors. The report concludes by offering organisational, team, job, and individual interventions strategies for employers that address demands and enablers to boost overall employee holistic health.
This report from the CIPD sets the context of longstanding megatrends impacting the UK’s world of work, arguing that skills development policy is the key policy lever needed in response. It compares and summarises current labour market and skills challenges across the four nations as well as employer approaches to training and provides an overview of key public policy developments. Skills and labour shortages continue to impact employers across all four nations and virtually all sectors of the economy. In addition to this, skills gaps, mismatches and underutilisation point to persistent inefficiencies between the labour market and the skills development system. The second half of the report focuses on apprenticeship systems which have seen the biggest evolution and divergence since 2017.
The OECD’s latest International Migration Outlook report explores recent developments in migration movements and the labour market inclusion of immigrants in OECD countries. The report reveals that permanent migration to OECD countries reached a record high of 6.1 million in 2022, marking a 26% increase from 2021. It cites rising labour migration as one contributing factor, as migrant workers have helped lower labour and skills shortages in OECD countries.
This year’s edition also includes a special focus on the labour market integration of migrant mothers and fertility patterns among migrant populations.
Recent research from CBI, in partnership with Pertemps, reveals that 71% of UK businesses have been hit by labour shortages in the last 12 months and 77% of businesses believe access to skills threatens the UK’s current labour market competitiveness.
This report from Generation and the OECD analyses existing data and the results from an eight-country survey of employers, job seekers, and employees in Europe and the US. It finds that employers who would hire from the 45-64 age group are in the minority, with the length of a candidate’s experience not being a significant factor in interview decisions. Additionally, 70% of employers believe individuals over 45 struggle to adapt to technological advances. Notwithstanding this, most employers indicated that their existing employees aged 45+ performed as well as or better than their younger colleagues and learnt at a similar or faster pace. The report concludes by laying out 13 recommendations for employers, policy makers, and midcareer and older individuals to enable an intergenerational workforce.
In this report, James Davies, Employment Partner at Lewis Silkin LLP, explores the possibility that, by 2050, economies like the UK will face a labour market with too few jobs for the available workers. Rapid advances in technology are converging with other significant drivers of change to transform the world of work. Delving down into the work and occupations of today, this report considers the factors which could increase or decrease jobs in different sectors over the next quarter of a century. The impact of this transformation will depend on decisions made, and actions taken, over the next few years. This report identifies the decisions and actions which will need to be addressed and brings together insights from a variety of sources to offer a glimpse of that future.
In the latest white paper of the Jobs of Tomorrow series, the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Accenture, presents an examination of the potential impact of large language models (LLMs) on jobs. To measure the impact of LLMs, this paper analyses over 19,000 individual tasks across 867 occupations. It assesses the potential exposure of each task to LLM adoption and classifies them as tasks with high potential for automation, high potential for augmentation, low potential for either, or unaffected. The paper also provides an overview of new roles that are emerging due to the adoption of LLMs.
The CIPD’s latest health and wellbeing survey report provides a wealth of benchmarking data and analysis on key areas including wellbeing, absence, presenteeism and leaveism, work-related stress and mental health. Key findings include employee sickness absence is at the highest level reported for over a decade, with 3.4% of working time lost per year and mental ill health and musculoskeletal injuries being the top causes of both short-term and long-term absence.
This manifesto from the CIPD calls on the UK government to create a long-term workforce strategy centred on skilled, healthy and fair work to drive changes in the ways in which employers recruit, develop and retain their workforces. This workforce strategy underpins a broader and bolder vision for economic growth that can boost productivity across all sectors and raise overall living standards across the country. Priority areas include skills, innovation, business support, digital adoption, green transition, immigration and labour market regulation.
In this report from Edelman, employer trust emerges as a crucial theme in an era of declining trust in institutions. Employers stand as exceptions to this trend. Younger employees influence older colleagues, redefining work meaning and management dynamics. Individuals seek meaning in the workplace and demand that employers match their values with their business practices. Additionally, the report emphasises the importance of action over words, particularly in a diverse, politically charged landscape. It underscores the importance of prioritising deskless employees, urging transparency and personal engagement to build trust, recognising their pivotal role as brand representatives to customers.
The world of work is undergoing profound and extensive disruption. Large-scale trends are transforming work, workforces and workplaces. The legacy of the pandemic has combined with a tense economic and social landscape, presenting businesses with significant challenges. How can businesses best navigate this increasingly complex environment? And, if you are in HR and have people responsibilities, what are the key strategic issues and areas of priority action for 2024 and beyond?
As the working landscape continues to shift rapidly in response to world events, this comprehensive new Report provides a timely and important assessment of the key issues and challenges of the day that will impact on the world of work for years to come.