The workplace has long been a shifting target. Some of the outstanding concerns from the previous three years were resolved in 2023, particularly those related to the return to office. However, as organised labour increased and technology advanced, a number of new themes emerged. Together, they produced a year of work trends that were unmatched.
AI started its unavoidable ascent.
ChatGPT’s debut on November 30
A tidal wave of workplace changes in 2023 was paved in 2022. The most talked about topic of the year was probably how artificial intelligence will affect the labour force and the nature of work in the future. And with good cause.
In no time at all, generative AI began to permeate almost every aspect of employment, for both employers and employees. Employers started to receive documents written in ChatGPT from job candidates, and employees started incorporating the technology into their normal workdays. If they were prohibited from using the tools, they discovered ways to get over the ban.
Concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over the workforce were widespread and even existential, especially in light of 2023 statistics from companies like Goldman Sachs and McKinsey and Company suggesting that many people may soon be replaced by robots.
Returning to work became a fact.
The days of opposing return-to-office policies are long gone for many employees. Whether they want to or not, millions of workers are back in the office, at least in part, following nearly three years of conflict between employers and employees.
Due to the slowing employment market, leaders have gained more clout and are imposing mandatory return-to-office policies that many employees are forced to comply with.
Labour raised its voice.
Known variously as the “hot labour summer” or the “summer of strikes,” workers made their voices known in 2023. Millions of people worldwide organised themselves in a variety of sectors in search of improved pay and working conditions as well as long-term job security.
Healthcare workers in the US and the UK went on high-profile strikes in response to years of understaffing and fatigue from the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of workers in the transport, education, and service sectors joined them. However, two US-based strikes in particular attracted notice internationally.
Workplace benefits, reinterpreted
Benefits like ping-pong tables and tap kombucha have lost some of their significance as necessities for employee happiness over the past few years. The epidemic changed employee expectations of their workplaces, such as new wellness programmes or the freedom to work whenever and wherever they pleased. Most employers have listened, if not benevolently then at least out of a need to draw and keep talent.
Benefits have changed even more this year as employees all over the world have adjusted to life after the pandemic. As workers adapted to flexible work schedules, valued work-life balance, and took on more duties at home, employers started updating their benefits packages.
Surviving off of #worktok
Thanks to #worktok, work trends made a significant social media debut this year. Many sites, especially TikTok, allowed creators to walk viewers around their offices and everyday routines as they got ready for workdays. This resulted in the creators’ videos receiving millions of views. They have reportedly quit on live streams and occasionally voiced complaints about their bosses (#quittok).
