• Kai Anderson
    Transformation Lead International, Mercer
  • Ilya Bonic
    President, Career, and Head of Mercer Strategy
  • Kate Bravery
    Senior Partner, Global Talent and Assessments Leader

The New Shape of Work interview series addresses the challenges and uncertainty in the current business environment with a focus on how to transition to a more agile workforce for the future.

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The past few years have seen attitudes about work and working change dramatically — far more rapidly than in the past decade. Facing job transformations and changing employee expectations, organizations are experiencing staffing challenges as never before. So how can we adapt to this new way of working? 

In this episode, we are sharing a conversation about a new book from Mercer called Work Different: 10 Truths for Winning in the People Age. The book shares practical guidance for making sustainable people management work in today’s global economy.

Interesting moments:

  • Sustainable people management

    We talk about strategic workforce planning and how we can think in a more nuanced way about how we meet the demands of the future. The way we work today is changing as we bring in AI and automation. But we need to look at the demands we place on our people because 82% still say that they are at risk of burnout this year.

  • AI and labor trends converge

    The workforce is shrinking. So economic downturns as we have right now may dampen this effect for now, but labor shortages are here to stay. Organizations and executives are freezing headcount, but they are also increasing their investments into AI and automation.

  • Productivity gains

    Generative AI is changing the landscape, and a big question is what do you do with the productivity gains. Do we invest that time into employee learning, education and working with AI to focus more on those creative and innovative aspects of work? Or do we give it all back to the bottom line?

  • The increased role of purpose

    We asked the question, what would you forego a pay raise for this year? And many people said more time off, better benefits, and the opportunity to engage in a sustainability pursuit. So, we see that that importance of purpose and contributing not just to profit, but to a wider array of things, is important in 2024. 

Interview series

10 truths for winning in the people age

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