global dynamics and politics

In the first episode of our “In Conversation with…” podcast series for 2024 Lucy is joined by fellow Lewis Silkin partner Naomi Hanrahan-Soar.

Lucy and Naomi discuss the trends behind shifting migration patterns and what that means for the workplace. They explore how employers can harness the benefits of migration, while also addressing a range of challenges.

Key takeaways:

• Brexit has had a significant influence on the type of migration to the UK: One impact of Brexit is an increase in migration from countries outside the EU and, potentially, those coming from further afield are likely to have a longer-term view of staying in the UK.
• COVID-19 has accelerated cross-border working: A rise in people requesting to work remotely from abroad is giving rise to numerous challenges from an immigration, employment law and tax perspective.
• Migration can address skills shortages: This is particularly the case given ageing populations and economies experiencing ongoing skills shortages. However, workforce strategies need to consider the cost of recruiting skilled workers from abroad and the opportunity to upskill and retrain existing workforces.
• More diversity leads to more creativity: Bringing different experiences, skills, perspectives and ways of thinking into an organisation increases the ability of the workforce to identify new opportunities and creative solutions.

 Over the course of this year, we’ve hosted conversations with leading experts and thinkers to explore their perspectives on the future of work and consider the opportunities and challenges ahead for employers and their people as the world of work continues to evolve rapidly.

In this final episode of 2023, our podcast host, Lucy Lewis, Employment Partner at Lewis Silkin, reflects on the conversations she has had this year and draws together a range of insightful perspectives shared by her guests.

Lucy spotlights the key themes that emerged across her conversations - from the role of trust and employee voice in the workplace, to the four-day working week, the importance of organisational resilience, adapting to an ageing workforce, what the future of the platform economy looks like and the impact of automation and AI on jobs and workforce skills. 

At the end of each discussion, we asked each of our guests to share their thoughts on what is missing from the current conversation on the future of work. What is not getting enough attention? What are we not talking enough about? Tune in to hear what they had to say!

In the tenth episode of our “In Conversation with…” podcast series for 2023, Lucy Lewis, partner at Lewis Silkin, speaks to Shruti Singh, Senior Economist at the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.

Lucy and Shruti discuss the impact of ageing populations on the world of work and how employers, governments and individuals can respond to demographic shifts and build productive intergenerational workforces.

Key takeaways from the conversation:

• Ageing populations are a growing issue: Rapid population ageing due to increases in life expectancy and falling fertility is a key issue for businesses, policymakers and governments across the OECD. By 2050 the proportion of the population in OECD countries aged 65 and over is expected to increase to nearly 28%.
• Employers should focus on the employee life cycle: There is substantial individual variation in the support that is needed within age groups and at different life stages. Rather than looking at what certain generations might want, employers should focus on supporting a multigenerational workforce through the whole life cycle at work.
• Intergenerational workforces work: Employers that promote age inclusive workforces and successfully combine the talents and diverse outlooks of their employees, whatever their age, generally find that their workforce is enriched and more productive as a result.
• Employers can take steps to support older workers: An age inclusive organisational culture plays an important role in supporting longer working lives. To succeed, support must be integrated, taking into account job quality, health and flexibility. Line manager training is essential to embed these components into company culture.
• Skills are key: It is important that older workers continue to upgrade and expand their skills over their working life, particularly in light of continuing technological change. Mid-life career reviews, personal development plans and career conversations are increasingly used by employers.

In the ninth episode of our “In Conversation with…” podcast series for 2023, Lucy Lewis, partner at Lewis Silkin LLP, is joined by Paul Miller, Chief Creative Officer and founder of the Digital Workplace Group. 

“We are living in a time which is no longer the industrial age, it’s not even the digital age; it is the living age.”

Lucy and Paul discuss the need for organisational adaptiveness and resilience to better withstand and respond to the current disruption and pressure on business, and explore concepts from Paul’s book ‘Nature of Work: The New Story of Work for a Living Age’. In this book, Paul draws on patterns from the natural world to provide leaders with the language and questions to evolve their workplaces from organisations to organisms. 

Key takeaways from the conversation: 

• Organisations are organisms: Companies seeking to build a sustainable organisation and to humanise workforce experiences can benefit from viewing their organisation as a dynamic and living thing rather than a rigid and industrialised structure. 
• Corporate purpose is key: Companies must focus on taking corporate purpose from concept to practice and identify where they can have a direct impact at a local level. 
• Leadership today is challenging:  To succeed, leaders should consider adopting “servant leadership” and reflect on core values around meaning, purpose, empowerment and agility. 
• Advances in generative AI are deeply significant: AI will change the way we work and raises important ethical and societal concerns. However, the current labour shortages experienced by many countries are likely to remain. 
• We may need to rethink tax: As technology continues to significantly impact on jobs, debate is growing on the merits of an “AI tax”. 

In the eighth episode of our “In Conversation with…” podcast series for 2023, Lucy Lewis, partner at Lewis Silkin LLP is joined by fellow partner James Davies. 

What if these optimists have been seriously underestimating the pace and scale at which automation will replace and change the jobs of today in the second quarter of the century? What if the insipid productivity growth we have experienced over the last 10 years or so continues into the second quarter of the century? And what if we have too few workers with the skills needed for the occupations of tomorrow? 

Lucy and James discuss James’ upcoming report for the Future of Work Hub, and consider whether, despite current skills shortages, the future world of work in 2050 could feature too few jobs.  

Key takeaways from the conversation:

• We could see a future with too few jobs: there is a significant risk that the future of work could be characterised by too few jobs for the number of workers. Employers, policymakers and individuals must take steps now to prepare. 
• Skills shortages will persist: employers, policymakers and educators must invest in developing the skills of the future. If workers do not have the skills needed for the occupations of tomorrow, we could see a future where high unemployment co-exists with significant skills shortages in some areas. 
• The current tax regime is becoming untenable: as companies decide whether to automate jobs, we should reconsider how we tax employment so that there is less of a cost disparity between employing people and automation.    
• Cross border competition for key skills will become more intense: employers will need to deliver on the values and priorities of workers, particularly younger generations, to attract and retain the best people. 
• Technology and AI are not the only drivers of change: other drivers, such as demographics and geopolitics, could significantly impact the jobs market of the future. 

In the seventh episode of our “In Conversation with…” podcast series for 2023, Lucy Lewis, Partner at Lewis Silkin LLP is joined by fellow partners Colin Leckey and Tarun Tawakley. 

“There is the opportunity to be ahead of the regulators and not wait for the regulation to catch up with you but be the ones who are innovating and taking the lead when it comes to developing the models that are most attractive for the people who want to work with you.”

As expectations around work continue to evolve, Colin and Tarun discuss the big questions surrounding the future of the platform economy, including opportunities to foster good work and the impact of regulation on the future landscape. 

Key takeaways from the conversation: 

• Platform work has advantages: whilst there are well-publicised concerns that the platform economy could foster insecure work, it can provide individuals with genuine flexibility and enhance DE&I. 
• Good work and platforms: platforms are starting to offer more benefits, perks and a sense of community, notwithstanding the current legal uncertainty and risk of reclassification from self-employed to worker. 
• Regulators are playing catch up: achieving an appropriate balance between heavy and light touch regulation is very difficult, there is currently no consensus and approaches vary across the globe. 
• Platforms have the opportunity to take the lead: platforms can be ahead of the regulators and be the ones who are innovating and leading when it comes to developing models that are attractive for those that want to work for them. 

In the second episode of our “In Conversation with…” podcast series for 2023, Partner Lucy Lewis speaks to Penelope Mantzaris, Senior Vice President at Edelman Data & Intelligence about trust and how it is evolving. 

“Trust is the foundation that allows an organisation to take responsible risk and to innovate and, if it makes mistakes, to rebound from them”.

With the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer hot off the press, Penelope and Lucy consider the role that trust has to play in an increasingly polarised society and what this means for employers. 

Key takeaways from the conversation: 

• Factors such as distrust in the government, a lack of shared identity in communities and economic pessimism are leading to intense polarisation in society. However, trust in employers remains high. 
• Trust is local. People trust those that they have real interactions with like their neighbours, co-workers and the CEO of their own employer. 
• Consumers and employees are applying pressure to business, buying brands which match their values and choosing to work for companies that have a positive societal impact. CEO behaviour matters.
• To build trust, leaders must place their trust in employees first, provide information about contentious issues and make employees feel comfortable voicing their opinions. 
• Businesses should use trusted voices at each level of the organisation, particularly if difficult decisions need to be taken. 

For more on this topic, visit the Future of Work Hub. 

In the first episode of our ‘In Conversation with…’ podcast series for 2023, Lucy speaks to James Davies, Partner at Lewis Silkin LLP.  James is a leading expert in employment law and speaks widely on issues relating to the future of work. He published his latest report on the future of work, “Eight drivers of change: 2022 and beyond” in November last year. 

In this episode, James and Lucy explore the impact generational attitudes, particularly those of younger generations, are having on work and society more broadly and how that will influence the world of work in the years ahead.

Key takeaways from the conversation: 

• Generational attitudes and values are having a profound impact on the world of work

Generational attitudes, particularly those of younger generations, are impacting employer decision-making around the world. Employers, particularly in the US, must consider their stance on social and political issues as part of their value proposition.

• Shifting generational values will lead to political change

Shifting attitudes are predicted to drive significant political change in the UK which could, in turn, dramatically influence the employment landscape, including in areas such as tax, immigration and labour relations.   

• Employers must act now to navigate the road ahead 

To attract and retain the best people, employers will need to look outside traditional demographic and geographic recruitment pools and review their recruitment models. Employers need to recognise the importance of connecting organisational and employee sense of purpose.

• Focus will shift to climate change and growing inequality  

Climate change and inequality are likely to emerge as dominant societal and business critical issues in the years ahead and garner the attention and action they deserve from society, governments and employers.  

You can read James’ report here.  

In the ninth episode of our ‘In Conversation with…’ podcast series for 2022, Lucy speaks to Ritu Mohanka, Managing Director and Head of EMEA at Syndio, a leading workplace equity platform.  

In this episode, Ritu shares her fascinating insights into how data can be used to drive workplace and pay equity and how businesses are responding to increasing pressure from stakeholders, employees and legislators to address systematic bias in the workplace. 

Ritu discusses the important role that communication and transparency have to play in building and creating high workplace trust and considers some of the key factors driving the creation of pay gaps, including the ‘opportunity gap’. She goes on to explain why data driven decision-making is one of the most important components for future strategic decisions, pushing it to the top of HR’s agenda.

Turning to intersectionality, Ritu explores how this poses particular challenges when assessing and tackling pay gaps and illustrates the different approaches employers are taking to address these. Finally, Ritu and Lucy discuss the role that pay transparency legislation has to play in driving change, and how multi-national companies can navigate their global obligations from a cultural and regulatory perspective.

In our final ‘In conversation with…’ podcast for 2021, our host, Lucy Lewis, reflects on the perspectives shared by our ten guest speakers on what the future of work could hold. Our conversations have covered a lot of ground, reflecting the dynamic landscape of the world of work. Highlights include how the role of trust between people and business is changing, the rise of hybrid working and the future of the office and how the workforce is shaping the sustainability agenda. Lucy concludes with a look back at what some of our ten leading experts and thinkers consider will be the biggest and most radical change for the future of work that we’ll see coming out of the pandemic.

James discusses his new report, the Eight Drivers of Change, analysing that whilst the pandemic has been a leading catalyst for change in the future of work, it is only one of many drivers of change. James talks through the emerging themes he has identified as a result of the drivers of changes, in particular exploring how changes to the labour market will see ongoing skills shortages and the pandemic meaning employers will be striving to restore a sense of belonging at work.  Finally, James makes some thought-provoking predictions for the future, predicting we will all work less hours yet work for longer.

In our second podcast of the series, we talk to Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, championing better work and working lives. 
Peter discusses how 2020 has changed the agenda for businesses, the potential for the end of the 9 to 5 working day and the future of the office. We go on to discuss how people professionals should be planning for the future of work, the increasing importance of employee voice and why upskilling to futureproof your workforce is so important.
To learn more about the work of the CIPD and read their People Profession 2030: a collective view of future trends report, please click here.

In our first podcast of the series, we talk to Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford University and Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technological and Economic Change. Previously Ian was economic advisor to President Mandela and then Vice President and Director of Development Policy for the World Bank. 

Ian gives us his views on the key trends at play in the world of work and discusses the Oxford Martin Programme’s research showing 47% of jobs may be vulnerable to technological displacement over the next 20 years. He goes on to discuss the impact of the pandemic in respect of the transformation of office space and property prices as well as the increasing inequality and divisions in society. Finally, we hear about how the global pandemic will affect globalisation in the future.