2040's Ideas and Innovations Newsletter, Issue 69: What is Work?
Issue 69, August 18th, 2022
What is work? Where is work? What work matters? Why do we work? The traditional work models are turning on their heads. It’s been a long time coming since the Industrial Age, but we are at a crossroads moving forward radically in how we view and manage work … and our workforce.
Think of the current work-related cultural conversation: the Great Resignation, anti-Ambition, silent resignation, a next-gen mental health crisis, distributed work, essential vs. nonessential, unionization pushed by young highly educated workers, global health emergencies, purpose- values-driven work and a demand for corporate transparency.
What does it take to make a revolution? Or at the very least a fast-forward evolution? We are either going through a significant reset of work, or the tail end of a pandemic-influenced re-evaluation of work. Or both. Much has been reported about the post-pandemic (or ongoing, depending on where you stand on the issue) changes in work, so, instead, we are going to focus on a few key indicators that we believe are reshaping the new rules of work.