In this time of global crisis and uncertainty, we put the call out to leaders, CEOs, strategists and consultants to sit down and tell us, in their own words, what is going on and what is going to happen next in this vital global industry.
The events of the past 18 months have changed the world forever. What started as a frightening and inconvenient health crisis that we assumed would be short-lived turned out to be much more devastating, virulent and pervasive.
In early spring a year ago, we were all looking for some sort of “return to normalcy” in relatively short order. How we did business had been compromised, but surely we would be able to return to living and working just as we had before the pandemic.
Sitting here today, as we enter summer 2021, what we can see is that the sheer volume and intensity of the changes we have encountered and endured are far beyond what most of us ever anticipated.
- Point: Almost every interaction we have now start or ends with a digital component
- Point: The liberty we had for unrestricted travel will never be the same
- Point: Working from home under COVID-19 is rapidly becoming a shift to remote working as par for the course, a model that we probably should have been on top of a decade ago
To that last point, the future of work, let’s look at some indicators as to just how pervasive these changes are.
Over the past year, workforce mobility has grown at an exponential rate. Pandemic working is blending now into a future of remote working, and remote working is leading to unprecedented talent mobility. Talent is being recruited regardless of location. For many organizations on the hunt for top talent, it is totally acceptable for employees to live in Colorado and work in Connecticut and vice versa.
Competition for talented and skilled people has never been higher. In 10 years, the Gen Z cohort will be firmly ensconced in the workforce. They are the echo generation of the late bloomers. There are 68 million in the United States alone, and let me assure you, as any parent of a 20-year-old will tell you –yes, they think differently.
My guest today is Pranam Lapinski, co-founder of Door of Clubs, an online platform that connects employers to Gen Z talent through college campus clubs. He is passionate about bridging gaps in understanding between Gen Z and other generations to create more empathy and effectiveness and has surveyed 15,000+ Gen Z-ers about the future of work in addition to facilitating hundreds of focus groups with many, many more across the US.
