Around half of the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce is at risk of losing their livelihoods due to Covid-19, according a joint statement by the International Labor Organization (ILO), The World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The pandemic has taken away jobs for millions of of people. Many more are being put on furloughs or seeing pay cuts.
The workplaces have also seen a dramatic shift where now majority of the workforce is operating remotely. The situation is unlikely to change in the near future.
In such a situation, it becomes necessary that we understand what work in future will look like. This will hep chart a path to create more jobs and also help companies adapt better to the situation.
Frost and Sullivan, renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, has released a report Top 5 Growth Opportunities in the Connected Work Industry for 2021 – What You Need to Know Now in which it talks about five avenues which can be used by companies to facilitate better and efficient working in future.
Work in the cloud
Remote and hybrid working have become a necessity now.
Businesses must enable efficient work-from home policies that accommodate the new ways of working and give employees more choice. Businesses will require advanced technology tools that enable access to communications, collaboration, etc. Cloud services enabled business agility and operational continuity during the pandemic.
Advanced, cloud-based communications and collaboration tools effectively support virtual organizations and are becoming foundational to a carefully-designed digital transformation strategy.
Video-first user experiences
During the pandemic, cloud video meetings like Google Meet, Zoom gained
unprecedented awareness and adoption. As users are becoming better acquainted with software-based tools, cloud communications and collaboration adoption will accelerate rapidly.
To address the increased demand for remote collaboration, technology providers must ensure they offer advanced meeting and messaging capabilities as part of their cloud solutions
Mobile-ready communications and collaboration solutions
Software-based communications and collaboration solutions accessible on demand on any device of the choice are the preferred option for remote workers and contact center agents, as well as for many teachers, healthcare staff, and others who switched to virtual operations.
Advanced mobility features can enable providers to differentiate and deliver high customer value. A fully digital customer experience is also a critical capability when physical contact and access to business premises are restricted.
Programmable platforms
Businesses increasingly require custom tailored solutions and communications integration.
APIs and CPaaS solutions are generating growing revenues and will both complement and compete with pre-packaged cloud communications and collaboration solutions.
Service providers must enable integration with popular third party software like productivity suites, CRM, helpdesk, and vertical apps.
Cognitive collaboration
AI can boost team collaboration, personal efficiency, and employee safety by enabling effective human-to-machine interactions. AI-powered applications enable time and cost savings, smarter customer service, efficient CX management, and reliable, actionable insights that accelerate decision making.
Several AI functionalities are being within workforce management like virtual assistants, chatbots, voice bots, behavioral applications, AI-powered IVR/natural language processing, etc .
AI technology is still in a growth phase, far from maturity but is expected to grow rapidly. In fact, 86% of businesses around the globe plan to invest in AI capabilities over the next two years.
Innovative uses of AI will enable forward-looking providers to differentiate their solutions and improve customer retention.
There is a rapid need to accommodate a large number of remote workers and digitally transform entire organizations within a short period. This will favorably position providers that offer flexible packaging,
pricing, efficient provisioning, and solutions that are secure, feature-rich, yet intuitive, mobile-ready, and easy to use and manage.
Technology developers and service providers must deliver solutions that align with current business priorities, as well as create possibilities to address future technology requirements and business use cases.
Komal is an English literature student with a keen interest in economic developments and politics amongst others. She is a part of Research & Content team at HrNxt.com