Brace up for an evolved work space

Flexi workforce and gig economy have added a new dimension to the workplace over the past year. This coupled with a changing landscape of job roles and responsibilities has cleared the road for new paradigms to evolve and get established. Some of the key trends that are going to rule office space in 2019 are: 

Embracing the millennial mantra to success

Unlike conventional employees, millennials challenge rigid hierarchies and prefer flexible employment opportunities. Irrespective of gender, they look for quick rewards, growth, time out for personal goals of life, health etc. They are also more open to taking risks by challenging the status quo of career stability.

Stress on fitness and well being

To improve employee retention and allow for better work-life balance, corporations are now willing to accommodate more robust redressal of stress, depression and other mental health issues. In its 2018 report, Sodexo noted how present-day employers are “boosting their collective Emotional Intelligence (EI)—from recruiting the right talent to better assessing and teaching EI”.

Evolving nature of work

With technology enabling round the clock workplace negotiations, staying off work is often a contested issue for many millennials. Moreover, new concepts like co-working, outsourcing of services or rather freelancing have re-conceptualised workplace equations altogether. Technological breakthroughs in the form of Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, machine learning, and big data have played an enormous role in substituting human labour across the globe. The trend is likely to continue in the coming year creating more job losses in various fields ranging from IT to even medicine. 

Addressing sexual harassment at workplaces

The #MeToo movement galvanised anger against sexual harassment in different industries in 2018. Hence, organizations may have to beef up institutional mechanisms that address complains in a speedy and effective manner.

 How these trends will play out in offices next year is for us to see, understand and improvise….

Upgrading skills

Cutting-edge research and improved investments in robotics and mechanisation have also pushed many employees to regularly update their skills. The emergence of varied online courses on learning platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, edX, Udemy, Udacity etc. reiterate how important it is for the millennial workforce to acquire hot skills.