Innovations

Network, community or fortress – what does the future hold for the workplace?

Change is the one constant we can rely on when it comes to workplace planning. Looking back 20 years, the office was markedly different to that of today; no laptops, mobile phones or email. But, what of the future? Whilst it’s impossible to know what will happen in the next 20 or 30 years, we can use current trends and challenges to inform predictions on what may happen. In a new report, ‘Workplace Futures: A Prospective Through Scenarios’, Johnson Controls has examined how and why the global workplace will change by 2030.

Produced in collaboration with The Futures Academy at the Dublin Institute of Technology, the report explores three feasible scenarios of how the workplace could look in 2030. These scenarios were created by applying the Futures Methodology, which has been used extensively to understand tomorrow’s business landscape by considering current trends and challenges.

By understanding what the future could mean for business, companies are in the best possible position to prepare for, and meet, the challenges the future will bring. The three scenarios developed through the research all depict very different worlds, each playing a major influence on the development of the workplace.

Jazz – A Global Market by 2030: the workplace is a network

This scenario assumes major economic growth and fierce competition on a global scale, driven by rapid technological advances and further market integration. As a result, the workplace of Jazz will be agile, with highly mobile workers. Communication will be essential for survival, and workers will lose the sense of belonging as a result of this new structure. The key structure of the workplace is its network - the organisation becomes more virtual.

Wise Counsels – A Secure World by 2030: the workplace is a community

This scenario assumes global economic stability and an effort to attain environmental balance and social progress. The world is becoming collaborative and sustainable, the creation and dissemination of knowledge driving economic well being. In this scenario, there will be a global consensus for change and preservation. An ‘employee village’ type of structure evolving around the community has also been imagined. The corporate workplace will survive in this scenario and will be based around social activities, creating common workspaces and increasing collaboration.

Dantesque – A Fragmented World by 2030: the workplace is a fortress

This scenario assumes global economic stagnation, cultural difference and insecurity. Emphasis on distrust, retrenchment and reaction leads to widespread social unrest, conflict and environmental degradation. Dantesque is much darker than the other scenarios, seeing mass migration to rich regions bringing new difficulties and growth in illegality and exploitation. In this fragmented world, we could witness a series of major catastrophes from healthcare problems to a major terrorist attack by 2017.

The Workplace Futures report is built on detailed research and a ‘Futures Workshop’ attended by academics and industry professionals. It demonstrates that some of the workplace changes which are already underway, such as the growth in mobile working, look set to continue. What is clear is that our workplace is going to evolve to be very different from how we know it today:

Regional meeting places will be developed to enable social interaction
The house will become both the home and the workplace; improving quality of life
New and improved streetscape office designs will incorporate cafes, shops, offices, lounges and the availability of live information
There will be fewer large and more distributed facilities that will have less reliance on active systems
The workspace will be shaped by its users
Increasing cultural references, branding and information content will be placed within the workplace
Responsibilities relating to IT or telecoms servicing will increase as remote working becomes increasingly popular and the traditional office becomes a thing of the past
Workplaces will depend on renewable energies

By looking at the future of the workplace, those responsible for providing working environments are able to understand and prepare for the challenges that the future could hold. These could include employee response to change, supporting globally fragmented clients, internal communication and aligning migration patterns with the changing market and the workplace.

These scenarios are thought provoking and challenging in the future they depict. The most probable future, of course, is likely to be a combination of events and conditions from all of them. We know we will be faced by some of the issues raised in the scenarios, but we do not know when and by how much. You can be sure the change is coming.

CONTACT

Dr. Marie-Cecile Puybaraud, Director of Global WorkPlace Innovation at Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions, on +44 (0) 7966 563 167 or Marie.C.Puybaraud@jci.com