Dean Van Leeuwen has recently published an article in Tomorrow Today where he mentions and explains the five major workplace trends that shall impact the future of work.

First, there will be more global integration and diversity. Global growth will continue and accelerate in the years to come and economic power will shift from West to East, with Chine becoming the largest economy by 2025 and India having the potential to beat China by 2050. As a result, Globalization and diversity will remain a business reality that leaders must learn to manage on a global level.

Second, competition will become more and more aggressive. Competitors will keep on emerging from unlikely sources and new business models shall continue to put under revision the ways of engaging and working with people within and outside organizations. Currently, the largest source of start-ups and large companies is China, which is a fact leading to western companies reconsider the way the think about Asia.

Third, digital personal assistants (iPAs) will be the best tools for knowledge workers. By working together with iPAs, workers shall reach new levels of productivity. iPAs and new technology are expected to create new jobs and to enhance workers’ productivity by assisting them on daily routines, analyzing data and filtering information. However, this sort of technology is also expected to replace around 40% of knowledge jobs during the next twenty years. Siri and Google Now are the current and early examples of iPAs to come.

Fourth, there will be mass mobility and permanent employment will continue to fall with the growth of flexible remote workers and freelancers, thanks to mobile technology and the cloud. Van Leeweun states that leaders will need to modify the way they manage teams during projects by guiding resources, coaching workers and managing patterns, systems and design. In addition, an increasing number of people will work in flexible contracts, taking part in projects to contribute with their skills and then move on to another project.

Finally, there is the issue of workforce evolution, as aging shall become a very important matter. Elder people will not want to retire, and Van Leeweun says that, according to their research, the concept of retirement will disappear in the next twenty years. This will lead to an increasing generational conflict between younger generations who will find difficulties entering the labour market and older generations who will not wish to leave it. This particular issue demands “radical re-thinking of how people are employed, promoted, motivated and managed.” Says Van Leeweun.