Hopes & Fears : Future of Work

Technological developments are more and more integrated in our lives and the business world. Consequently, while new jobs emerge, current ones change, and change causes uncertainty, excitement and worry. While participants in Turkey feel very worried about the future of their jobs, global participants feel excited and confident. Also, women seem more worried about themselves and future generations than men do.

Participants from Turkey believe that the recruitment model will change, people will sell their skills under their own brands and very few people will have stable, long-term jobs. Because of the highly competitive Turkish labour market, the increase of gig jobs and the inclination of Gen Z towards social media and freelance work, participants’ trust in and expectations of personal brands are higher than the global averages.

With the technological developments of recent years, the automation of business and its effects on occupations are regularly discussed. While technological developments have a positive impact in many fields, current occupations are at risk of becoming obsolete in the future due to automation. 30% of participants believe that their occupations will disappear in the next 5 years. Participants in Turkey are more optimistic. Another finding related to automation suggests that, compared to global results, participants from Turkey think public authorities are not as responsible for protecting the future of occupations.

Compared to global results, more participants think technological developments are opportunities. 73% of participants think that technology provides more opportunities than risks.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused radical changes in the business world. As company priorities, operation models and work models change, issues such as work-life balance and doing a job that is meaningful become more important, and well-being claims an important position in company strategies and on company agendas. When we categorise the participants by age, we come across differing results. Participants in the 18-35 age group want to control their own jobs, while the 35-54 age group wants jobs that make a difference. Results show that the 18-35 age group selected work security and long-term work in an organisation less than other age groups.

Much research suggests that the remote work model, which became widespread with the impact of the pandemic, affects women and men differently because of the unbalanced division of household labour. Survey results suggest that more women than men prefer fully remote working conditions.

Because of technological developments, new ways of working and the pandemic, the skills employees need in their work changed. To catch up with these developments and achieve competency, employees used various strategies. Accordingly, another prominent finding of the survey is that employees in Turkey expect less from public authorities compared to the global average. 

Employees in Turkey took important steps to learn these skills and prepare themselves for the new conditions. 89% of participants state that they are ready to learn these skills. This percentage is very high compared to global results. When compared to global results, employees in Turkey expect less from public authorities with regard to skill development.