10 electrifying workplace trends that will impact you in 2023

This commentary is adapted from the research piece I published here in December 2022.

I dunno what you think about the impact of the last two years on the workplace.

In my experience, it has elevated the conversation about what it means to work, and our relationship with work.

On some level, this has just been the acceleration of mega-trends that we’ve seen in the workplace for decades now, as a Microsoft study has found.

But I think there’s more to it.

The increasing instances of talented people rejecting higher paying, higher status jobs, in favor of work that’s more aligned with their values and life choices, are hinting at a deeper change.

A change that is also reflected in the greater emphasis on mental health and wellbeing. And the phenomenon of “quiet quitting”.

Work ain’t what it used to be.

The transactional nature of work which arose from the Industrial Revolution shifted towards a greater degree of emotional entanglement between our occupations and our sense of selves during the 1990s to 2010s.

Employee engagement was a mystical elixir thought to magic out productivity from thin air, which was generated from a cocktail of the once-popular employee engagement survey and ‘action plans’ forced upon managers.

However, the impact of the pandemic seems to be to call BS on the alchemy, and heralded a rise in the neo-transactional approach to our work.

Work is exactly what it looks like at face value. An exchange of time and talent for money that allows us to live the lives we aspire to. Employees can choose the endeavor which best suits their life aspirations. If they have a good boss and great co-workers, fantastic. Everyone knows this and does their best to get along and help each other find meaning and engagement.

While this sounds cynical, I actually think it’s the next step in the evolution of the “employee engagement” movement. It’s a lot more authentic, and can be the basis of healthy conversations around how we can make the workplace and work a lot more bearable for everyone (dare I say enjoyable?).

Because the truth is that many of us continue to find meaning in our work, and do enjoy the company of our co-workers, and appreciate the efforts our bosses make to help us develop. But there’s just a sober realization that there’s a lot more to the short life that we have here on earth.

10 Workplace trends for 2023

Inspired by these philosophical musings, my team and I researched what we thought were some of the things that will affect our workplace the most this year, and came up with the 10 items below:

1. Organizations taking a more cautious approach to hiring and recruitment

2. Four-day work week might be the 'new normal'

3. Quiet quitting turning into 'silent insecurity'

4. Supply of remote jobs start to dwindle despite increasing demand

5. Career mobility and upskilling will be top priorities for employees

6. Continued shortage of labor supply as populations age and countries tighten foreign hiring policies

7. Higher standards for a better workplace

8. Adoption of AI will be prominent in people management practices

9. New expectations around health and well-being

10. The shifting requirements of HR skills that will be relevant

For a detailed exploration into the data and research I’d recommend checking out the full piece here.

I dive into some of the more interesting trends below.

4. Supply of remote jobs starting to dwindle despite increasing demand

In Feb 2022, 20% of all US-based job postings on LinkedIn were remote.

This fell to 14% by September, and continues to fall.

Yet, they attracted more than 50% of all job applications.

How this equilibrium will eventually play out is anyone’s guess. Employers may find that they can flex what looks to be a stronger market position now with the softening macroeconomy, and hold out to demand working in offices (incidentally, Disney is the latest to impose 4 days per week back in the office as one of Bob Iger’s initiatives just 2 months into his return to the company).

Or we may find ourselves in a steady-state where employees eventually win out, and the job market defaults to a “work from anywhere” deal two or more days per week.

Either way, only time will tell.

7. Higher standards for a better workplace

Our attitudes to work has changed, and I’d say for the better.

We demand more transparency from employers. Greater respect for diversity and equity in the workplace - across genders, sexual orientation, skin color, nationality, disabilities, and others.

We demand greater respect for wellbeing. For paid time-off. For weekends as a right, not a privilege.

We expect our company to uphold sustainability pledges. Give back to the community. Honorable business ethics.

And we expect leaders to listen.

My take?

That’s awesome.

8. Adoption of AI will be prominent in people management practices

For a long time (ok, well since the 1970s at least) people have been enamored by the promise of artificial intelligence.

But the results have always been underwhelming.

As computing power and sophistication has gone through revolution after revolution since then, I believe the technology is finally coming of age.

Here’s a rendering of a happy workplace promoting high levels of employee wellbeing, created in seconds by a generative AI (DALL-E 2):

It's not perfect, and there were some really weird renderings of human and pet faces in some of the other drafts, but it's eerily close to what a human would be able to generate.

When I personally started playing around with the code for GPT3 by OpenAI, it was the first time in a long while with my experiences in tech that I felt a sense of wonder. Almost like I’d experienced a magic trick. (I even interviewed ChatGPT, an interface that uses the core technology, in this post)

In typical fashion, I think I got overly excited and immediately commissioned a bunch of new projects at EngageRocket to look into the applications of this technology in the workplace. And I’m sure I’m not the only nerd to do so.

The early results are, I can say without hyperbole, mindblowing.

It’s still too early to tell how this will shake out, but I’m willing to bet my last dollar that 2023 will see the introduction of some amazing tech in the workplace powered by generative AI.

(Watch this space for EngageRocket’s offering!)

2023 is going to be an exciting year in the workplace

It’s only 10 days into January and I’m already riveted to my feeds watching some of these changes unfold.

Now it’s your turn: what do you think will be the most interesting developments in the workplace this year?