Future of the workplace

The future of the workforce and workplaces looks bright — if workers, managers and community leaders seize the moment. Rather than returning to traditional ways post-COVID-19, the key to a successful future is to ask, “How, given the technology available today, can I do things very differently?” That was a key takeaway from a Sept. 15 virtual panel discussion with Daniel Susskind, a bestselling author on the future of work. In addition to Mr. Susskind, who participated virtually from England, in-person panelists were Lura McBride, president and CEO of Van Meter, and Jon Dusek, president of Armstrong Development. The purpose of the discussion, “It’s Go Time: Solutions for a Future-Forward Workforce,” was to learn how the Corridor region can be a winner in a new economy after the dramatic changes experienced since the beginning of the pandemic, said Doug Neumann, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, which hosted the event. Technology Mr. Susskind said that although he’s best known for his work on the future of professions and how AI will affect white-collar workers, his most recent book, published in January 2020, looks more broadly at all types of workers, the world of work and how we might all live together given the technological changes that are taking place. In the last 28 to 24 months, there has been a cultural shift with respect to technology. One of the consequences is the faith placed in technology to solve problems in very different ways, Mr. Susskind said. While some have been spectacular failures, there have been remarkable successes, too. Telemedicine, virtual education and even online courts have become the norm in many parts of the world. All of this has been part of a “massive, unplanned, unwanted but entirely inescapable pilot scheme in the use of all these different technologies in the workplace,” he said. Workforce There will not be a “technological Big Bang after which lots of people wake up and find themselves without work,” Mr. Susskind said. “It’s something far more incremental, but I don’t think it’s any less deserving of our attention.” There will be work to be done, but for various reasons, people might not be able to do it. Mr. Susskind discussed three reasons for people not being able to do the work available. The first, skills match — not having the skills and capabilities to do the work that needs to be done — is perhaps the most familiar, he said. Place mismatch is where people don’t tend to live in the place that work is being created. The pandemic has challenged preconceptions about where work can be done, Mr. Susskind said. However, if people find themselves in a place where there isn’t work being created, and they’re not able to work virtually elsewhere, that’s a problem, too, he added. What is becoming more prominent is identity mismatch. This has to do with people having a particular conception of themselves, and being willing to stay out of work to protect that identity, Mr. Susskind said. For example, working American men displaced from traditional factory roles by technology would rather not work at all than work in what have been traditionally pink-collar jobs held by women. Yvonne Hoth, HR manager of Midwest Metal Products, said although her company hasn’t faced workforce shortages — employee numbers have remained steady around 100 — her company has already begun working on one of Mr. Susskind’s recommendations. Company engineers are working on the issue of automating some lower-skill manufacturing functions. “Some functions of manufacturing can be automated quite handily,” Ms. Hoth said. Workplace Now is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and forward-thinking managers to reshape the workplace by asking employees what they liked about working from home during the pandemic and what they missed about working in an office, Mr. Susskind said. Ms. McBride noted that the pandemic wasn’t the first time companies rearranged to have many employees working from home. She recalled how companies in the late 1990s, hoping to cut expenses, asked employees to work virtually. Where workers do their work “will continue to be the evolution of the workplace,” she said. Mr. Dusek touted studies that found the impact of the pandemic on commercial spaces will be 90% to 95% of workers will go back to their offices. That was good news to several participants, including Aaron Baument, vice president of business banking at BankIowa. “I think where we’re heading is great. I think technology and what it proposes going forward is always fascinating and intriguing to me,” he said. “If you’re not changing with the times, you’re falling behind.” Even if employers make a modified approach to reopening offices, there will be an effect on the coffee shops, restaurants and office cleaning services, whether you’re a banker or commercial developer, said Cheri Monahan, vice president of commercial banking at Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust. “I really hope that 95% number is true because I want to keep my small business owners open,” she said. Mr. Dusek concluded that now is a “changing moment.” He thinks back to another challenging time in the region’s history from which, “We came back well.” “Just as the flood of 2008 advanced commercial development about two decades in Cedar Rapids, let’s make the best of COVID,” he said.