Work raises essential life questions: What values inspire our actions? How do we interact with each other? What tasks do we have as humans? Is work half of life or the central place for self-fulfillment? The Future Work Report by the German job network Xing, in collaboration with Trendbüro Munich, explores how we might work in the future.
Automation demands upskilling and reskilling. “We must prepare for the fact that the changing work environment will require a lot of adaptability from employees and companies,” says Xing labor market expert Julian Stahl. “The era of completed transformations gives way to constant evolution.” About 23% of survey participants believe their current job won’t exist in its present form in 15 years.
It will be crucial to not only question established processes but to consciously unlearn them to make room for new things, according to Julian Stahl. A significant component is in HR topics around re- and upskilling. Especially in the low- and middle-wage sectors, employees can hardly avoid important training and even retraining.
Initially, this sounds like potential mass unemployment, but the report reassures that the total number of jobs remains stable. “The upcoming retirement wave – by 2036, about 30% of the workforce in Germany will retire – offsets some jobs lost due to new technologies like artificial intelligence or robotics.”
For people, this holds a lot of potential in how they experience their workdays. The report states: “Many jobs are shifting to the regenerative manufacturing sector, higher wage levels, or industries with a lot of human-to-human interaction.” This could ultimately mean more meaning, more money, more relationships, benefiting especially blue-collar workers, or those outside offices.
A frequently cited example is nursing. Nurses spend much of their time performing repetitive tasks. AI-supported systems can take over tasks like monitoring vital signs, administering medication on schedule, or overseeing patient data. This frees up time to provide more social care to those in need.
Decoupling work location and company is a trend that will continue to solidify, according to the report. Remote work will lead to increasing internationalization of the workforce, affecting white-collar workers of all ages. “The desire to explore the world is no longer limited to younger employees. Generations are almost equal in their curiosity to discover the world,” states the report.
Nearly half, 48%, believe flexible, hybrid work models will continue to establish themselves. Employees choose their living and working locations freely and as needed. For companies, this means conducting recruitment independently of location to reach every potential specialist. The report shows there is still significant catching up to do in companies.
Thirty-eight percent of survey participants confirm that there are already strategies in their companies. Fifty-four percent agree that location-independent recruiting can alleviate the skills shortage by 2040. For the authors, it’s clear: HR departments should prepare for the trend, clarify legal frameworks, and develop good strategies to compete globally.
The Future Work Report by Xing and Trendbüro Munich includes 13 trends showing what, where, how, and with whom we will work in the future – from automation shifts to AI as a co-worker, fluid polywork, and conscious hybridity. In addition to the trends, 732 Xing members and 111 recruiters and HR managers from the job network were surveyed.