Technological advances and changing workplace needs are shaping the future of work. These changes are creating new workplace structures, new competencies for organizational success, and new learning and skill development demands for workers.

The ASAE ForesightWorks research initiative of the ASAE Foundation has identified eight drivers of change that pose opportunities and challenges for association talent management:

• Automating Work. Machine learning, innovative robotics, and even the spread of blockchain mean that growing swaths of work are potentially automatable.
• Bifurcated Workforce. The expansion of gig and freelance work, along with rising inequality of opportunity, may create two classes of American workers: mission-critical players who move the organization forward and foot-soldiers who do the basic work.
• Diversity + Inclusion. American society and workplaces will continue to grow more diverse and inclusive as values evolve and younger generations increase their share in the demographic mix.
• Human-Machine Cooperation. Though many forecasts predict substantial job losses due to automation, many jobs will rely on cooperation between people and machines.
• More Human Humans. Automation will steadily increase the value of certain human qualities in work, including social skills and creativity.
• New Forms of Work. Freelance, gig, contract, and temporary work and the infrastructure to support them are growing, and organizations increasingly rely on these independent professionals.
• Reputation by the Numbers. As human resources data analytics grow, assessment of a candidate’s suitability for a job will be driven by a person’s algorithmic match to an organization’s needs.
• Work Redefined. A variety of driving forces are redefining the nature of work and jobs in fundamental ways, and new employment and workplace systems will be needed to meet emerging needs.

Tools You Can Use

ASAE ForesightWorks Workforce and Workplace Action Set. This set of eight action briefs explores these drivers of change individually. Each action brief provides a summary description, insights on timing, strategic questions, action steps, and keywords for continued reading.

Why Associations Need Foresight. This research brief introduces the ASAE ForesightWorks program and suggests ways to think about and apply intelligence about drivers of change and conduct future-focused scanning on your own.