The Future of Work - Beyond 2035 (Part 1)

PA R T 1 O F 6
A series of white papers
by Paula Kensington
What is
the future
of work?
BEYOND 2035
How to future-
proof yourself
and your skills
to transition
with ease and
confidence into
the next decade
and beyond

‘Education is the
passport to the future,
tomorrow belongs to
those who prepare
for it today.’
Malcolm X

An
uncertain
future
Technological changes continue to
impact our lives at break-neck speed. It’s
now very difficult to live without internet
access at home, whereas only 20 years
ago that was the norm. Physical cash
is fast becoming obsolete replaced by
things like PayPass, artificial intelligence
is already here in the form of robots,
chatbots and driverless cars.
What does this mean for
our futures and what
impact it will have on our
lives and how we work?
For some people the future is exciting, for
others it’s uncertain and scary, and for yet
more still it’s just something we haven’t
really thought about.
The future, however, happens regardless
of your background, experience, role, age
or culture. Historian Yuval Harari’s opinion
is that anyone, any person, country
or society, falling behind in this agile
revolution will not be able to catch up.
Our biggest challenge is how we might
live our lives tomorrow and beyond, to
keep pace with the next revolution.
What is the future of work? | 3

In this rapidly changing landscape, you
must start thinking about future-proofing
yourself.
What steps can you take to manage this
exciting and daunting new agile age?
How do you prepare yourself for what’s
coming? How do you learn to turn risks into
opportunities? How do you set yourself up
to stay relevant, to secure your job, your
income, where you live and the lifestyle you
are accustomed to or wanting to achieve?
How will the future affect you as a
tradesperson, a middle manager, a CEO,
an entrepreneur? What impacts will it have
on your industry or business sector? As
someone who lives in the city or someone in
the country?
We are constantly bombarded with
information, scary-sounding stories and
case studies that make it impossible to
distinguish between what’s vital to know
and what is white noise.
So let’s stop asking questions and start
exploring answers so that you can take on
the future with confidence and ease.
Having the skills, knowledge and
understanding of how to deal with the
future, setting boundaries to balance work
and downtime, will empower us to step into
new roles, to explore the unknown in our
lives. This is the essence of future proofing.

Apathy is one of
our biggest risks.

How do you feel
about the future?
1. I am thinking forward to the next five to 10
years and planning for what is changing.
2. I’m concerned about what’s next and its
impact on my life and that of my family.
3. I haven’t really thought about the
future at this stage.

But a
positive
unknown
A lot has been written on this topic, it
has been discussed and debated by
many passionate futurists, but we need
to start integrating some practical
ideas that can be turned into tangible
actions for each of us – whether we are
accountants, middle or senior managers,
zookeepers or tradespeople.
More and more of us already feel the
impact of being overwhelmed and busy.
What do I work on? What do I focus on
next? Having some knowledge of what’s
to come will help you to focus on the
right things. As a start, this will alleviate
those feelings of being overwhelmed,
and ultimately it will help you feel upbeat
about the future.
Rather than listen to the
negatives about the future,
let’s embrace it and identify
the opportunities for
you and your particular
job or lifestyle.
We need to take advantage of the
possibilities and not be scared of
the unknown.
It might be hard to imagine a home
without Wi-Fi – something that used
to be a ‘nice-to-have’ and is now an
imperative. We need to continue to
embrace new technology as positive.
We may need to look at reinventing
ourselves in order to stay relevant. We
may need to believe in ourselves a little
more to take the right steps to set
ourselves up for the future. If technology
is set to replace some of the tasks we
used to perform, we need to look at
different jobs in the future. This is turn
means we may need to learn new skills.

Reinvention is the key to a positive
present. Technology can help us
embrace change and take action to
set ourselves up for success.
We will not stop
technological progress,
but we can make choices
today about how
technology will shape
the future of our lives
and our world.
The future will affect all aspects of
our lives: health, wealth, personal
relationships, our home, work, and
education. So we must plan our own
future, review our current lifestyle and
adopt practical tools to help shape our
decisions for the next five to ten years.
This is about thinking big for yourself
and exploring some very real
methods of delivering the future
that you want to live.
Being future proof
means having the
power to take on
opportunities that
the future will offer.

Figure 1: Five areas to future proof
WHAT
JOBS
WE WILL
HAVE
HOW
WE CAN
REMAIN
HAPPY
AT WORK
WHERE
WE WILL
WORK
HOW
WE WILL
WORK
HOW WE
WILL BE
PAID
There are five key areas you need to explore
in order to set yourself up for the future, as
shown in Figure 1:
1. What jobs we will have
2. How we can remain happy at work
3. Where we will work
4. How we will work
5. How we will be paid.
Five
areas to
future
proof

What impact will the marriage of
humans and machines have on our work?
What jobs will cease? What new jobs will
be created?
Remember when ATMs were introduced
in the early 1990s and society predicted
the closure of bank branches, prompting
the end of face-to-face teller/manager
relationships. In fact, according to James
Bessen, Economist at Boston University
School of Law the opposite has occurred
with more than four times as many
branches open today and 10% more
tellers. There is a trend towards more
human-to-human connection.
What are the essential human qualities
that will become more valuable in
tomorrow’s world? What will the role of
robots free us up to do? How will human
skills complement technological ones?
What impact does this have on us?
We do know with some certainty that
emotional intelligence is seen as ever
more important. According to a 2016
Deloitte survey on the top 20 skills
required for work in 2020, the top
three skills are all based on emotional
intelligence:
What jobs we will have How we can remain
happy at work
1 2
1. oral comprehension – the ability to
listen and understand information
and ideas
2. problem sensitivity – the ability to
tell when something is wrong or likely
to go wrong
3. oral expression – the ability to
communicate information and ideas
to help others understand.
Perhaps, as our world increases in
technology, society will demand more
mystery, more nostalgia and curiosity to
balance the machine power. It brings the
radical humanisation of the workforce.

Increased collaboration and innovation
is important, as well as greater
flexibility for employees, both inside and
outside of the office. Workplaces that
support both employee wellbeing and
productivity is key.
This may mean a choice of different
working areas, methods and styles
to suit certain types of teams and
individuals. Will empowering others to
work based on their particular styles and
preferences boost happiness as well as
the bottom-line?
Where we will work
3
The concept of a nine-to-five, Monday-
to-Friday job is on the out. Thanks to
laptops and the internet, many of us do
can do our job pretty much anywhere,
any time.
We don’t actually need to be in the
office. Employees can work days
from home, and people working for
themselves often use coworking offices.
What advantages and disadvantages
will this bring? Will ‘popcorn working’ –
where we do different types of work in
different places, like emails in cafes, and
phone calls in the office – be the next
wave of where we work?

There has been a big shift towards
flatter organisational structures. How
will this impact how we are managed or
manage others?
Managing teams in terms of the amount
of output is not an effective strategy in
the digital world. Rather, employers need
to focus their attention on achieving
specific outcomes. However, management
culture and performance tools are all still
measuring output.
How we will work
4
The Swedish company Epicentre recently
embedded radio-frequency identification
RFID chips in the hands of their 150 staff.
These chips have the power to open
doors, operate the photocopier and access
vending machines, and have the potential
to collect information on where team
members are and what they are doing.
While this may seem an invasion of
privacy, what advantages might this also
bring when it comes to accountability?
How could these chips help us instead of
hinder us?

Will we still be paid a salary in the future,
or will there be alternatives to simple hard
currency? Already we see great flexibility
being traded for dollars, such as salary-
sacrifice benefits, working from home
arrangements and working four days a week.
Is flexibility set to become the new currency,
or will there be something else?
Into the future, perhaps we will be offered
more than just flexibility and salary as
rewards for employment. Could you be
leased a work-owned robot to help care for
your children or elderly parents, perform
domestic chores or assist with ordering and
planning family life? Would this help you to
become more efficient working from home,
and add to employee levels of satisfaction?
How we will be paid
5

‘The future depends
on what we do
in the present.’
Mahatma Gandhi

What’s
next?
This is Part 1 in a series of six white papers
that are designed to get you thinking
about what might be possible and help
you plan towards your future.
The content of these white papers has
evolved from research and a number
of Think Tank sessions, involving a
diverse group of business professionals,
entrepreneurs, CEOs and the
self-employed.
To become part of
the discussion contact:
ideas@paulakensington.com
The next five white papers will focus
on each of the five areas we need to
future proof:
1. What jobs we will have
2. How we can remain happy at work
3. Where we will work
4. How we will work
5. How we will be paid.
We’ll explore each of these areas in
depth – what impacts and challenges
they bring, what possibilities they create
and how any one – from junior staff to
high-level leaders, the self-employed
and tradespeople – can start to put into
place practical steps to ensure you set
yourself up for the next decade.

Part 2 of
the series
will explore:
What
jobs
we will
have.

Paula Kensington is an award-winning
CFO and finance futurist. She is passionate
about people, planning and possibilities.
She has 20-plus years executing big visions,
ideas and strategic plans that achieve
goals for the next five years and beyond.
Her life and work is testament to that.
Paula is the current CFO for Bulletproof
Group, an ASX-listed technology company.
Previously she was CFO/COO in Australia
and New Zealand for Regus, the global
workplace solution specialists. In addition,
she coaches and mentors upcoming
leaders to equip them with the right skills
needed to forward think into their future.
Her passion for future proofing is
demonstrated through her volunteering
work. She works with Dress for Success,
About
the author
a charity that helps women get back to
work, and explore and achieve their lifetime
vision and goals. She is also the chair of
the ANZ division of accounting body ACCA,
where she represents over 6,000 members.
Paula believes that living a life with
purpose means taking steps to achieve
your desired outcomes.
Everyone needs a plan and a strategy
to do this.
This series of white papers is the first step
to help you achieve that goal.
Contact Paula
Paula is available for keynote presentations
at conferences to varied audiences. She
also loves talking to employee groups, in
town hall style meetings or smaller talent
pools, where her experience and passion for
the future helps to alleviate anxiety in the
workplace, at all levels of an organisation.
She is passionate about how the future
impacts everyone, in all types of jobs
and industries. Help her spread the word
about her work.
0404 678 483
paula.kensington@bigpond.com.au

SOURCES
http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/startup/technology-to-drive-future-
workplace-trends-20170509-gw0lxt.html
http://time.com/4672373/yuval-noah-harari-homo-deus-interview/
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/Growth/
deloitte-uk-talent-for-survival-report.pdf
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/swedish-company-
epicenter-implants-microchips-into-employees/news-story/5c48700ebb54262ae
389db085593ab12
COPYRIGHT © PAULA KENSINGTON 2017
You have permission to post, email, print and pass along this white paper to anyone you like, as long as you make no changes to its content or
digital format. To reproduce the content in any form, electronic or otherwise, you must have the permission of the author. We reserve the right
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The Future of Work - Beyond 2035 (Part 1)

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