Future Track: Power to the People in 2024 (Part II)

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Future Business People According to WANTED Analytics, online postings for bitcoin-related jobs grew nearly 500 percent in the past year. Who knew 10 years ago there would even be jobs in digital currency ? The future is full of positions most of us have never heard of, like parabolic expert or microbial balancer. Technology is driving changes in employment, and it’s likely to do the same for the hiring process. In the first of this futuristic blog series, we envisioned how talent acquisition in 2024 might be different with highly evolved technology giving the recruiter instant feedback on the candidate – was he lying? Exaggerating? Uncomfortable? Embellishing? That futuristic technology gives the upper hand to the recruiter. Now it’s time to examine the other side of the coin and see how the future will help the candidate as well.

Window to the Future Workplace

Over the last decade, power in the hiring equation has shifted from being employer-heavy to more of a balanced relationship. It’s due in part to shortages of skilled talent. This trend continues into 2024, so not all power is in the hands of the recruiter. That’s good news for candidates, because a new job represents a huge risk in terms of future compensation and perhaps more importantly, future health.  We know today that employees’ happiness at work directly impacts their physical well-being.  In the U.S., 42 percent of workers surveyed have changed jobs due to a stressful work environment; another 35 percent said they considered changing jobs due to stress1. Candidates will need a way to better understand a new workplace before they commit to it so they can minimize their risk.  Enter the future and see what’s possible to select a job not only based on the thrill of responsibilities and the culture of the firm but also based on the compatibility or happiness your co-workers will generate with you and for you.

Deeper Insight with Video Interviewing 5.0

In this future scenario, candidates don’t just check out their boss on LinkedIn or find dirt on the company on Glassdoor. That’s truly basic. In 2024, the job candidate can enter the names of the hiring manager, the department leadership and close co-workers against their own personality and run a compatibility profile. The result would be a report evaluating the mesh of their own personality with the rest of their potential team. In addition to knowledge gained through a video interview, the technology would provide added insight to decide if the job situation is right or deadly, kumbaya or stress-city. It could let candidates know that yes, this group of people will contribute to happiness and inner peace in your life. Or, watch out – this mix of people will kill you within 12 months. Similar functionality is already in play with concepts like Match.com and eHarmony – why not apply it to the workplace and hiring? After all, you spend more of your time with your close colleagues than you do with your spouse and children.

The Candidate Benefits

This kind of techno-personality mesh analysis could have far-reaching impact. For candidates, it could direct you to certain companies and certain hiring teams, greatly speeding up the get-to-know-you stage in recruitment. The additional information may help candidates feel more confident in their decision-making, and try a job that’s a bit of a stretch.  Definitely it would speed along the onboarding and time to productivity. When that trust is already present, new hires can jump in without hesitation, feel at ease, make mistakes, learn and perform faster. And just think about those hiring managers who would be laid bare by this compatibility index. They’d never be able to attract any new employees, ever! What a way to clean house for corporate America. Now that’s exciting!

  1. Monster.com online poll, March 2014.

By Michele Ellner