Jobhop Jobhop's blog : What Will The Future Work Place Be Like?

Technology is changing everything and that includes how we work and where we work

A few years back I asked a young person where he’d like to work and he said Costa Coffee, but he didn’t mean he wanted to be an employee of Costa Coffee, he just wanted to drink their coffee all day and do his work from their premises! If there’s no need to go into the office, then it makes sense, as long as the coffee premises has good wifi.

By embracing the remote worker, big fancy offices aren’t needed. How many times have you been into a big office block and seen many of the offices sitting there empty? They’re still being heated but empty, or sometimes you’ll see an office with eight desks but just one person actually sitting at one!

So what will the future work place be like?

Hot desking

This isn’t new, it’s been around for ages but it’s gaining popularity. Why allocate actual desks to employees when many employees are on the road or working in another location much of the time. It’s easier to have identical work stations that can be used when and whenever required, whilst all personal belongings are kept in a locker. One to one desking is being left behind in yesteryear.

Satellites and Hubs

The work place will start getting smaller and instead of the massive main office where everyone checks into at 9am and leaves at 5pm there will be satellites or hubs dotted about. For example if a company covered all of the South of England from one office, it may have three satellite offices instead, one in Cambridge, one London and another in Somerset. These satellites are open 24/7 are ID operated, have great technology so all satellites can talk to each other and the most important thing, always stocked with great coffee!

IOT

The “internet of things” everything will be interconnected. Every chair will be programmed to recognise the person sitting in it, the chair will talk to the computer, which in turn will make sure it brings your screen up. When you leave the chair, your computer will automatically go to sleep, if you go off for an hour you’ll receive a message to ask if you’re coming back or can someone else now use the desk.

Your calendar will speak to you and if you need to reschedule anything it will automatically talk to that persons calendar on your behalf. Your “calendar” will also speak to your car to make sure that it has enough fuel for the 2pm appointment in Harrow and your car will speak to the road network to organise the best route for you before you get in and switch on the ignition or perhaps it will then be called the "start button"!

Worts

A word mix of work and ort, the German way to say place or location.

As more and more people do only what they love, work life and personal life are just one big mash up. Businesses know they have to attract and keep talent and knowing how expensive it is to get living accommodation, trendy worts will be contracted out to employees at a very reasonable costs. Worts are on site comfortable living pods, which turn the work environment into something like a village, with their own vertical farms! As well as farms they’ll have running tracks, healthy eateries and cycle paths. What company will be the first to have a strap-line... This is how we roll here, worts and all!

Robots

Every future office will come equipped with its own robot, they’ll be slightly more aloof than the ones that worked on the factory floor! It is true that robots will eliminate many jobs, however technology will also create many new types of jobs.

Robots already help and will help even more with tasks like customer check ins, smart office control, security, transportation and deliveries. They still take too long to fold a towel so there’s still a while before us humans are completely redundant! Robots are useless at folding towels!

As well as independent robots employees, could have their own “selfie robot” to extend their reach. For example you’re based in the UK but your “selfie robot” roams around the USA office and attends meetings there..Freaky ay!

Holograms

The Christmas office party will never be the same again, it could be confusing to see who’s really there and who’s just a holographic version of themselves.

Instead of meetings, seminars or even webinars ( for some companies webinars are still futuristic!), they’ll be holonars. It will feel like your sitting in the same room with all your work collegues, which could be confusing for your nan if she’s popped by for tea that day!

The best bit is the commute to work...Goodbye train, hello jetpack!

JOIN Jobhop and spread the word.

Julie Bishop Jobhop.co.uk

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