NCET Biz Tips: Creating the workforce of the future

Where are the workers? In spite of headlines highlighting layoffs, many industries are struggling with talent shortages. Here in Nevada, healthcare, renewable energy, and tourism/gaming have job openings that simply can’t be filled by available workforce or solved with traditional workforce planning approaches. The future of work – and worker experience – will continue to be shaped by ongoing changes in the workforce, workplace, and work itself.

Workforce

Most industries are grappling with talent shortages. This was predicted pre-pandemic and accelerated during the pandemic. For example, the massive nursing shortage has become more acute due to burnout. Pre-pandemic tourism and gaming workers found jobs in other industries when income was cut off during the pandemic. Other industries like renewable energy are growing so quickly that the market can’t keep up with job demand.

In many cases, employers have scaled back business hours or services and growth forecasts because they don’t have the workforce to operate at full capacity. Due to demographic shifts and aging population, the number of working age people will continue to decline – while demand in industries like healthcare and renewable energy will increase. Waiting for the workforce to return to normal ... well, this is the new normal.

At Synthology, we are working with companies to optimize workforce productivity. Artificial Intelligence is a timely tool, allowing us to focus on best use of our human powers, while leveraging the power of AI to get more stuff done every day. Wondering where to get started?

AI is best deployed to streamline and build efficiency where processes are defined, steps are repeatable, and outcomes are predictable. This frees people to apply critical thinking, collaboration, and innovate solutions to ambiguous business challenges.

Workplace

As expected, the workplace demographics have shifted significantly. The pandemic accelerated the shift as many Baby Boomers (ages 57-75 years old) retired sooner than expected. By 2025, Millennials (ages 25-40 years old) will be 75% of the workforce. The rapid shift to a majority Millennial workforce has surfaced a culture reflecting Millennial values and expectations, as well as a workforce of digital natives.

Millennials want to work for a company that values well-being. This includes work/life balance. Millennials value open, transparent, and inclusive workplaces. While most people have similar values in the workplace, Millennials bet their job on it. If the workplace isn’t demonstrating their values, Millennials will move on more quickly than older generations to a company that matches their work culture expectations.

What does this mean for your company? Culture is an increasingly important factor in hiring and retaining talent. What is your internal brand? Are you hiring strategically to attract talent that aligns with your brand? How are you communicating company values in words and actions? What practices do you have in place to create open and transparent communication from leadership decisions to all-hands meetings? In simple terms, your vibe attracts your tribe. Being intentional about the culture you create is critical to finding and keeping talent.

Work Itself

Work is changing. Skills sets for jobs have changed 25% since 2015. By 2027, this number is expected to double. (LinkedIn 2023 Workplace Learning Report )

You won’t be able to “buy” skilled labor in the marketplace. There simply aren’t enough workers. Instead, we will need to build these skills within our companies through learning in the flow of work. Instead of planning time off for learning, workers will be learning on the job with performance support software that prompts action, augmented reality to apply learning with assistance to a job task, and cohorts that learn and do in apprentice-like novel job assignments.

The workplace of the future is a human-centered, tech-enabled experience that thrives on flexibility, figuring things out, innovating, communicating, and creating a culture of belonging. Are you ready for the future of work?

Learn more about creating the workforce of the future at NCET’s Biz Bite on Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Reno Public Market. NCET is a member-supported nonprofit organization that produces educational and networking events to help people explore business and technology. More info at wwww.NCETbite.org.

Cristine Lipscomb is co-founder and CEO at Synthology. She believes that people and organizations are capable of wild ambitions when they are set up to succeed. She brings 25+ years of industry experience to the talent lifecycle from recruiting, onboarding, learning, and performance, to leadership and workforce planning.