As 2020 draws near, it’s hard not to reflect on the past decade- so much has changed in the 10 years that flew by. In 2010, those who even had a smartphone were carrying around an iPhone 4 or a BlackBerry OS 6.0 version.
While the illustrious BlackBerry has all but disappeared from the workplace of 2019, there has been plenty of technologies in its wake to replace it. Let’s take a look at how the workplace has changed, communication tools and otherwise, in the past decade.
1. Collaboration over competition
“So many things have happened in the last decade that have really accelerated this change from competition to collaboration,” said Ann Shoket, workplace thought leader and former Editor-In-Chief of Seventeen Magazine.
“So first of all this old idea that there was room at the table for one woman, and you would fight tooth or nail for that spot, so obviously there was a lot of competition, particularly among women.
“Then the next generation, Millennial women, came in and made more room at the table and brought their friends along with them. That was the shift toward collaboration.”
2. It’s an employee market, not an employer market
“Reflecting back on 2010 and what the economic circumstances were versus where we are at today, the competition for talent was very different in 2010 than as we enter 2020,” said Rhiannon Staples, the Chief Marketing Officer at Hibob.
Low unemployment rates today mean that job seekers have more options, and employees have more leverage in terms of what they can expect of their company due to the competition for top talent.
“It really is on businesses to help develop an environment, a culture, and perks that really draw the best talent in the market,” Staples said. “That’s really very different from where we were just 10 years ago.”
3. Push towards a more remote workforce
Anyone in the workforce 10 years ago won’t be shocked that the change in when and where we work made this list. Whereas in the past remote work was reserved for special situations, that kind of idea is now replaced by a lot more freedom of where you work and when you work, and that’s not just people who are entrepreneurs. This idea is something that everybody wants out of work, to have a more flexible time frame to be free from the office. This idea of freedom is such an important piece of where we are going at work.
“That kind of idea is now replaced by a lot more freedom of where you work and when you work, and that’s not just people who are entrepreneurs,” Shoket said. “This idea is something that everybody wants out of work, to have a more flexible time frame to be free from the office. This idea of freedom is such an important piece of where we are going at work.”