November 03, 2022
What are we really talking about when we talk about the “future of work”?
Nearly three years since the pandemic began, that phrase remains ubiquitous, signifying everything and nothing. It has become, yes, a lazy synonym for hybrid work, a catch-all stand-in for technologies like automation and AI, a branded calling card for workplace consultants trying to cash in on a disruptive moment. But it is also shorthand for the crucial conversations that must be had about creating opportunity for those who lack it, resolving persistent skills shortages, balancing flexibility with collaboration and addressing the burnout and mental health crises the last few years have wrought.
Our inaugural Future of Work 50 list highlights the executives, companies, thought leaders and innovators who are helping shape these conversations—or whose reach positions them to impact millions of workers. Some are high-profile CEOs leading billion-dollar companies whose technologies, philanthropic endeavors or work practices have made them a bellwether. (Read our Q&A with Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield about his own predictions on where work is headed, what he thinks of the metaverse and how he works now.)
Others are relatively unknown startup leaders inventing new tools, activists driving new policies or movements, researchers making sense of the changes taking place or talent leaders creating new work models—or making decisions that impact millions of employees. Amid the ongoing debate over the purpose of the office, others are designing workspaces that inject play or planet-friendly elements in hopes the office might actually become a destination again. Read rest here.