The World of Work in 2024: top trends for the year ahead

From a ‘flight to character’ to the envy office and the orange economy, WORKTECH Academy’s report, The World of Work in 2024, presents 20 new directions to spot as the year unfolds

How will work and workplace shape up this year as organisations around the world look to seal the deal over hybrid work and employees settle on a new equilibrium?

WORKTECH Academy’s new report, ‘The World of Work in 2024’, presents new ideas and trends right across the spectrum of people, place, technology, culture and design.

WORKTECH Academy’s Global Partners, Adrianse, Area, CX App, ERA-co, MillerKnoll and Unwork contributed to our report, as well as several experts drawn from the Academy’s global network.

WORKTECH Academy Director Jeremy Myerson, who edited the report, explains: ‘What we discovered in compiling trends for 2024 is that the future of work will be determined by a complex interplay of different factors, some of them unpredictable and below the radar.’

Return on experience

The report’s predictions for people include employers taking a less skin-deep approach to wellness, a less confrontational approach to flexible working and a less ad hoc approach to managing experience. Return on experience could replace return on investment as a governing theme.

When it comes to place, the Academy is predicting that a ‘flight to quality’ in office space might not be enough this year. There will instead be a ‘flight to character’ in which office space is based on storytelling, history and purpose to attract employees back to the office. Scentscapes, biomorphism, recycled furniture and Instagrammable interiors will also be part of the mix.

Technology trends in the report focus on the role of AI in both managing and designing smart buildings, as well as ways to ‘fix the commute’ rather than earn it. New workplace amenities in 2024 may include e-gaming consoles.

‘Technology trends focus on the role of AI in managing and designing smart buildings’

Jeremy Myerson adds: ‘There’s no single over-powering direction in terms of developing the 2024 workplace. Instead, we are seeing a mosaic of overlapping themes and ideas which will make this an especially interesting and challenging year for everyone engaged in planning, designing, managing and participating in the new world of work.’