Over the past 10 years, the discussion on the future of work has predominantly been linked to job automation. However, while this trend and its ramifications will undoubtedly remain a relevant strand of the discussion, the rapidly evolving nature of our economies and societies – accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis – has brought about a broader range of shifts in how and where we work, the ways in which work, workplaces and workforces are organized, and the employee-employer relationship. 

The COVID-19 pandemic will have profound, long-term consequences for our economies and societies, including for the future of work.1 As part of The Great Reset needed to support the transition to a fairer, more sustainable post-COVID world, companies have a responsibility, and a rare opportunity, to rethink their organizational and workplace structures to invest in their workforces as core drivers of long-term resilience and future success. Having recognized the COVID-19 crisis as a defining leadership and transformation moment,2 chief people officers and other human resources (HR) and business leaders are now called on to build on what they have learned from the immediate crisis response to reset their organizations’ future of work agendas and lead the way towards better and more human-centric work, workplaces and workforces.

This report, developed in collaboration with Mercer, brings together key insights and lessons from the COVID-19 crisis response of the World Economic Forum’s broader industry community to imagine and set out an updated future of work company action agenda for a post-COVID world. In particular, the report brings together the perspectives on COVID-19 workforce-related best practices of more than 60 chief human resources officers (CHROs) from leading global employers as well as a broad range of insights into how organizations are preparing for the post-pandemic shape of work from the Forum’s network of Preparing for the Future of Work Industry Accelerators,3 comprising more than 200 senior HR leaders, education technology and learning providers, academia and government stakeholders in nine industries.

Furthermore, this report is intended to complement the Forum’s existing set of actionable research and guidance on the future of work, including its Workforce Principles for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism in a Time of Crisis,4 white papers on HR4.0: Shaping People Strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution5 and Towards a Reskilling Revolution: Industry-Led Action for the Future of Work,6 and bi-annual Future of Jobs Report.

Building on this wealth of insights and experience from the Forum’s broader industry community, this report is intended as a call to action for companies and organizations globally to update and reset their future of work preparedness agendas for a more relevant and inclusive post-pandemic “new” future of work for all. Importantly, these are not just questions for after the crisis. Forward-thinking CHROs point to a need to consider early on how work, the workplace and the workforce will look in the medium to long term to begin making the necessary investments today.

The workforce and workplace impact of COVID-19 crisis As of mid-2020, 93% of the world’s workers resided in countries with some form of workplace closure measure in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.7 Businesses providing essential services, such as healthcare, logistics, food and retail, continued to operate with new health and safety measures in place. Where jobs could be performed remotely, companies pivoted rapidly to the largest experiment in mass remote-working in history, comprising 39% of workers in OECD countries on average.8 Businesses deemed nonessential and those impossible to perform remotely, including in industries such as travel and tourism, were suspended during lockdowns, leading to millions of workers being furloughed or laid off. 

Moreover, according to the Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2020, more than 50% of global businesses have accelerated the automation of tasks in response to the crisis – with more than 30% also accelerating the implementation of reskilling and upskilling programmes (Figure 1).9 With the arrival of the pandemic, companies changed their operating practices essentially overnight, prompting many to re-examine how well their employees were prepared and supported to carry out their duties. While prior to the pandemic organizations were already undertaking initiatives to support and equip their workforce with the right types of skills, jobs and tools, many were doing so at a pace not aligned to the accelerated speed of change brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and other global trends.10 As a result, a window of opportunity now exists for companies and organizations to reassess the impact of the pandemic, review the changes imposed and reset and rejuvenate their approach to work, the workplace and their workforce to create new meaningful employment opportunities while ensuring workers are adequately prepared for the new shape of work.