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Scenario: Futures of the Workplace

The year is 2033, and a typical workday looks like this: Jenny sleeps in until 9 AM, wakes up, and spends a leisurely morning getting ready. At 11, she logs into her virtual office space to get working. She spends most of the day just organizing her task list – half of her team was laid off yesterday, and she needs to redistribute their work among the remaining team members. A few years ago, this would have meant they'd all be putting in lots of overtime to make sure their app launches as scheduled. However, with mandated 32-hour workweeks, they're either going to have to push back the launch date, or find some new teammates, and quickly.

Jenny's 32-hour workweek might sound like a dream to many of us. It could mean more time for passion projects, for family and friends, or for getting some much-needed rest. However, it also comes with concerns: how will this affect salaried professionals? What about people who work multiple jobs? How will this affect the minimum wage?

Congressman wants to make 32-hour workweek U.S. law to ‘increase the happiness of humankind’

Rep. Mark Takano, who represents California’s 39th district, has reintroduced his 32-hour Workweek Act to Congress.

CNBCJennifer Liu

As the world moves past the three year mark since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies across the world are pushing once again for a return to the office. By now, many employees have grown accustomed to the work from home lifestyle. Others, however, are still wondering if productivity has dropped. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is one example.

Salesforce is shuttering Slack’s remote work research group Future Forum amid CEO Marc Benioff’s back-to-office push

When Future Forum launched in 2020, its head wrote that “the sudden move to remote work provides the opportunity to question decades of orthodoxy about a 9-to-5, office-centric, homogeneous work culture.”

Yahoo EntertainmentKylie Robison, Jane Thier

And it's not only the United States that's calling for an end to remote work. Australia is also facing a struggle between those who want a return to the office and those who would rather stay at home.

Return to office standoff: coming soon to a workplace near you

As the economy slows and job layoffs take hold, workers wedded to flexible arrangements will start to fill office chairs again.

Australian Financial ReviewKevin George

At the same time, multiple major tech companies have seen massive layoffs over the past few months. Regardless of remote work status, many are afraid for the future of their jobs.

A comprehensive list of 2023 tech layoffs

Here you’ll find a complete list of all the known layoffs in tech, from Big Tech to startups, broken down by month throughout 2023.

TechCrunchNatasha Mascarenhas

All together, these trends raise some interesting questions. So, what do you think the future of the workplace will look like?

Join us at chat.theforesight.club for discussion threads on the future of the workplace, along with other topics ranging from AI to travel.

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