2024 and beyond: strategic priorities shaping the workforce and HR agenda
The landscape of work is changing rapidly, as advances in technology converge with demographic changes, shifts in the geo-political landscape, a growing climate emergency and evolving social trends.
This new report by the Future of Work Hub “Strategic priorities shaping the workforce and HR agenda in 2024 and beyond” explores the impact of four key areas – technology, demographics, sustainability and geo-politics – on the world of work. It spotlights related insights from a range of experts and outlines a set of priority actions to help businesses respond, prepare and build organisational resilience in the years ahead.
Technology
Advancing technological capabilities are driving major structural and societal shifts which will impact on the way we live and work in the years ahead. Technology deployment has the potential to create new jobs and boost productivity, but also has the potential to make many jobs redundant and fundamentally change many more. To realise the full benefits of emerging technologies, businesses will need to monitor, review, and assess risk as technology is adopted on an ongoing basis, and invest in their people strategies to enable workforces to adapt and build necessary capabilities for the future.
Demographics
Demographic change is profoundly altering the world of work. As life expectancy increases and fertility rates fall, the workforce is ageing. Employers need to adapt by adjusting recruitment, retention and development strategies to respond to the different priorities and pressures of a multi-generational workforce. As workforces become more diverse, employers increasingly recognise that addressing DE&I is not only the right thing to do but is essential to build competitive advantage. And as workforce values, attitudes and behaviours evolve, employers will need to work ever harder to shape the employee experience and workplace culture to meet these changing expectations to attract and retain the best people.
Sustainability
Sustainability concerns encompass the growing climate crisis and the social impact of business and its role in wider society. Employers face increasing scrutiny from consumers, investors and current and future employees on how they perform – beyond financial performance – and climate change and sustainability will increasingly influence employers’ priorities and drive organisational change. Taking action to address an organisation’s environmental impact will be increasingly important in attracting, motivating, and retaining the best people. With more empowered and assertive workforces expecting employers to play a larger role in supporting the welfare of their employees and the wider communities in which they operate, businesses will need to consider how to develop organisational purpose and the position it takes on wider societal concerns.
Global dynamics and politics
Globalisation has been a powerful driver of workplace change but is undergoing a significant transformation, becoming more complex and fragmented. These changes are driving a shift away from regulatory convergence and the development of global rules. Companies confronted with disparate national regulations and a growing emphasis on cross-border cultural understanding are facing an increasingly complex environment in which to manage a global workforce. As a result employers will need to balance a reliance on global recruitment pools and migration routes to secure the best people against opportunities to reskill the workforce to meet future organisational needs.
About the Future of Work Hub
The Future of Work Hub is a Lewis Silkin initiative which aims to support organisations in their horizon-scanning – enabling them to see ahead, identify and anticipate future opportunities and challenges and evaluate how best to respond. The Future of Work Hub website brings together leading resources on the drivers shaping the world of work and regularly produces and curates original content from a broad range of stakeholders on how organisations can respond and adapt. The Hub also acts as a forum to generate and inform debate through conversations with leading experts, innovative thinkers and peer-to-peer insight sharing.
Visit the Future of Work Hub website or follow the Hub on X.
For more information, please contact Madeleine Jephcott, Managing Practice Development Lawyer, Lewis Silkin LLP
Jake Wall
Jake has been the Policy Manager for Skills and Future of Work since May 2022, supporting techUK's work to empower the UK to skill, attract and retain the brightest global talent, and prepare for the digital transformations of the future workplace.
