Future of Workplace Trends

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas the future workplace will be a very different environment.

An Increase in Teleconferencing, a Decrease in Business Travel. Higher airfares along with environmental concerns will prompt more companies to look at teleconferencing as an alternative to travel.

A Shift to Social Networking Sites for Employee Recruitment. Over the next 10 years, the firm sees a shift away from traditional print ads and job boards to social networking sites.

The Four-Day Work Week. A new survey finds that 23 percent of companies currently offer a condensed work week, which typically consists of four 10-hour days.
Rising gas prices along with continued emphasis on work-life balance will make four-day work weeks the new standard.

Corporate Degree Programs. The need for workers with advanced skills and creative abilities will lead companies to enter into the business of educating future, potential employees. Companies will create entire programs with course work focused on corporate culture and goals.

Global Talent Pools. As the global economy continues to expand so too will the global talent pool. Geography will become less important as employers seek to recruit talent worldwide.

Community Space In Lieu of Cubes. The cube farm will be scrapped in favour of wide open spaces that foster community and collaboration. An open environment will allow for greater mobility. It will also accommodate the increasing number of telecommuters who work onsite only occasionally.

Free Agents Rule. More employees will become free agents as more companies look to hire people on a project basis and workers seek to control their careers.
Challenger cites a report that finds free agents are expected to represent 40 percent of the workforce by 2012.

Corporate Headquarters Obsolete. The traditional workplace and the traditional worker are changing and so too will the corporate headquarters and Challenger, Gray & Christmas predicts that, within 20 years, the corporate headquarters of today will become nearly extinct.