Why we're so anxious about the future for the work
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There once was a time when thinking about life after high school filled you with excitement, not anxiety. There once was a time when thinking about your career filled you with possibilities, not knots. I became a high school teacher in 2001 and about 10 years ago, I noticed a distinct difference in how young people were feeling about life after graduation. Excitement had turned to anxiety. There were just too many options to think through and the world of work was changing much too fast. But then I noticed it wasn't just young people feeling worried about the future of work. It was my friends, it's my colleagues, it was leaders of organizations. Something was happening. You see, independent of age, people went from being excited to being anxious. Why is that and why would we let being anxious about the future become The New Normal? I imagine being 17 or 47 or 57 looking out into the future, unsure of what it looked like and what that would do to my feelings and my outlook on life and on work. So I decided to do something big. In 2018, I left being a teacher and with a small film crew embarked on a global journey around the world to try to make sense of the changes we were seeing. It was an 18 - month journey that spanned 150,000 kilometers in 15 different countries to have hundreds of hours of conversation.
曾经有那么一段时间，一想到高中毕业后的生活，你心中满是兴奋，而非焦虑。曾经也有那么一段时间，一想到自己的职业生涯，你眼前满是各种可能性，而非困惑。我在 2001 年成为了一名高中教师，大约 10 年前，我明显察觉到年轻人对于毕业后生活的感受发生了显著变化。兴奋已然变成了焦虑。要考虑的选择实在太多了，而且职场世界变化太快。但后来我发现，不只是年轻人对未来的职场感到担忧，我的朋友们、同事们，还有各个组织的领导者们也都如此。有些状况正在发生。要知道，不论年龄大小，人们都从满怀兴奋变成了忧心忡忡。这是为什么呢？我们又为何要让对未来的焦虑成为新常态呢？我想象着自己 17 岁、47 岁或者 57 岁时，望着未来，不确定它会是什么样子，也不知道这会对我的感受以及我对生活和工作的看法产生怎样的影响。于是我决定做一件大事。2018 年，我辞去教师工作，带着一个小型摄制组开启了一场环球之旅，试图弄明白我们所目睹的这些变化。这是一场为期 18 个月的旅程，行程达 15 万公里，足迹遍布 15 个不同的国家，期间进行了数百小时的交流。
And we made a very important discovery. There is no way to tell what the future of work will look like. There's just too many things going on from changes in demographics to artificial intelligence, from the migration of people to geopolitics, from climate change to hybrid work. There's too many things happening all at once to make sense of it. In fact, throughout our journey, we met with some of the world's top thought leaders and when we asked them what they saw coming in their field in 5 years, in their most honest moments they would say that they didn't know. But then it hit us. We could not predict the changes we would see, but we could predict the challenges we would face. And that flip in thinking opened up a world of possibilities. We discovered that there are three main challenges that we'll face in the future of work and it will dominate that for everyday people. So pack your bags and come with me on a mental journey around the world to uncover the three challenges in the future of work.
我们有了一个非常重要的发现。根本没办法说清未来的职场会是什么样子。从人口结构变化到人工智能，从人口迁移到地缘政治，从气候变化到混合办公，当下有太多的事情同时在发生，让人难以理清头绪。实际上，在整个旅程中，我们与世界上一些顶尖的思想领袖进行了交流，当我们问他们在自己的领域内，未来 5 年将会出现什么情况时，在他们最坦诚的时候，他们会说自己也不知道。但随后我们突然意识到，我们虽无法预测将会看到的变化，但我们能够预测将要面临的挑战。这种思维的转变开启了一个充满各种可能性的世界。我们发现，在未来的职场中，我们将会面临三大主要挑战，而且这些挑战将主导普通人的职场生活。那么，收拾好行囊，跟我来一场心灵上的环球之旅吧，一起去揭示未来职场的这三大挑战。
Our first stop, France. We were in the Alps, cows grazing, rolling hills, church steeples in the distance. We were there living with the head farmer of a cooperative at the time and we said to him, "Wow, if we ever die and come back in another life as a farmer, we hope it's here. Look at this place, it's beautiful." We chuckled and then he said, "As beautiful as it is, our community is struggling. In fact, we have depression and even suicides right now." It was difficult to hear. He went on to say that farming's always been hard. It was hard for my grandparents and hard for my parents and hard for me. But back in the day, you would care for the cows and the cows would produce milk and that milk would go down the road and turn into cheese and that cheese would go to the market and be sold and people would buy the cheese and taste the cheese and say, "Pierre, you did it again. Another year of great cheese." And there was fulfillment there. My hard work was recognized by the person who ate the cheese. Now, farming's still hard. Care for the cows, they produce milk and now a truck comes by and picks up that milk and our milk gets mixed in with the other farmers' milk and all of the sudden my hard work is anonymous. No one says anything anymore. That conversation shed light on a challenge that we were seeing all over the world. The challenge of human connection. In all the ways that work is changing, the way we interact with people, we're becoming disengaged. You see, we can't predict the change but we can predict the challenge. And so if human connection is a challenge that we know we need to face in the future of work, then we can solve for that if we are aware and intentional about our human connections at work, even when they're not obvious. Who receives your work? Whose hard work do you receive?
我们的第一站是法国。我们身处阿尔卑斯山区，牛群在吃草，山峦起伏，远处是教堂的尖顶。当时我们和一个合作社的负责人住在一起，我们对他说：“哇，如果有来生，我们要是能当个农民的话，希望就在这儿当。看看这地方，多美啊。” 我们笑了起来，然后他说：“尽管这儿很美，但我们这个社区现在正面临困境。事实上，现在我们这儿有人患上抑郁症，甚至有人自杀。” 听到这些真的让人很难过。他接着说，务农一直都很辛苦，我的祖父母辛苦，我的父母辛苦，我也辛苦。但以前，你照看奶牛，奶牛产奶，牛奶沿着路被运走，制成奶酪，奶酪进入市场销售，人们买了奶酪品尝后会说：‘皮埃尔，你又成功了，又是一年的好奶酪啊。’那时候能从中获得成就感，吃奶酪的人认可了我的辛勤劳作。现在，务农依然辛苦，照看奶牛，奶牛产奶，然后会有一辆卡车过来把牛奶收走，我们的牛奶和其他农民的牛奶混在一起，突然间，我的辛勤劳作变得无人知晓了。再也没有人说什么了。那次交谈揭示了一个我们在世界各地都能看到的挑战 —— 人际联系方面的挑战。随着工作方式的全方位改变，我们与人交往的方式也在变化，我们正变得越来越疏离。要知道，我们虽无法预测变化，但能预测挑战。所以，如果人际联系是我们知道在未来职场中需要面对的一个挑战，那么只要我们在职场中能有意识地去关注人际联系，即便在不那么明显的情况下也如此，我们就能解决这个问题。谁接收了你的工作成果？你又接收了谁的辛勤劳动成果呢？
Challenge number two. Come with me to Italy, specifically a region in the South called Puglia where they live the Dolce Vita, The Sweet Life. Here, 80% of the businesses are still family run. They take four to six coffee breaks per day and the lunch break in the workday is 3 hours long. They have mastered the art of human connection and kept it as a top priority. We were there presenting our findings with a group of professionals and specifically we were discussing the decision to keep a three - hour lunch break in the workday with new technology and business models taking hold fast in countries all around them. And then they said to us, "Okay, we know, we know we have a beautiful work - life balance, but you've been all over the world. You tell us, are we in danger of becoming irrelevant?" It's an important question and one that shed light on a question that more and more of us need to ask in the future of work. Can we stay relevant? Technology, AI, new business models, they're taking hold fast all around us. There's no avoiding it, but it doesn't mean we need to fear it because they can bring with them new opportunities, new earnings. Gone are the days where the same skills you had at the beginning of your career will last you all the way until the end. 30 years ago, jobs and skills were stable, but not anymore. New technology is driving the need to learn new skills. Technology may change what you do in your career, but it will definitely change how you do it. The problem is it's tough to know how or when that change is coming. You see, we can't predict the change but we can predict the challenge. So if staying relevant is a challenge that we know we need to face in the future of work, then we can solve for that if we fall in love with lifelong learning because then we can be on the front end of that change when it arrives.
第二个挑战。跟我一起到意大利去，具体来说是南部一个叫普利亚的地区，那里的人们过着惬意的生活 ——“甜蜜生活”。在这里，80% 的企业仍然是家族经营的。他们每天会有四到六次咖啡休息时间，工作日的午休时间长达 3 个小时。他们已经掌握了人际联系的艺术，并将其作为重中之重。我们在那里向一群专业人士展示了我们的研究成果，当时我们特别讨论了在周边各国新技术和商业模式迅速兴起的情况下，仍保留工作日 3 小时午休时间这一决定。然后他们问我们：“好吧，我们知道，我们有着很不错的工作与生活平衡，但你们走遍了世界各地，你们说说，我们是否有变得无关紧要的危险呢？” 这是个重要的问题，它也揭示了一个在未来职场中我们越来越需要问自己的问题。我们能否保持自身的关联性呢？技术、人工智能、新的商业模式，它们正在我们周围迅速扎根。这是无法避免的，但这并不意味着我们需要害怕，因为它们能带来新的机遇、新的收益。那种职业生涯初期所具备的技能可以一直用到退休的日子已经一去不复返了。30 年前，工作和技能都很稳定，但现在不一样了。新技术促使人们需要学习新技能。技术或许会改变你在职场中所做的工作内容，但肯定会改变你做事的方式。问题在于，很难知道这种变化会如何以及何时到来。要知道，我们虽无法预测变化，但能预测挑战。所以，如果保持关联性是我们知道在未来职场中需要面对的一个挑战，那么只要我们热爱终身学习，就能解决这个问题，因为这样当变化来临时，我们就能走在变化的前沿。
Challenge number three. Let's head to Korea. We were there about 3 weeks and at this point very used to the 36 lanes of traffic buzzing below our highrise. But one morning we opened the curtains and there was silence. No traffic. We went on to learn that it was their National exam day, the day that people would write a test that would determine their career path. So silence was needed. No cars on the road, road construction stopped, planes were grounded. In fact, the only sound on the road we would hear that day is police escorts getting students who'd slept in to the exam. Imagine the pressure of that. An entire country that holds its breath for you to write a test that determines your future. That pressure stays on in career long after that exam is written. We would often times see subways packed with people in business suits as late as 11:00 p.m. South Korea has just decreased its maximum hourly work week from 68 hours to 52. South Korea has been on a rocket ship of economic growth and technology. If you go to Seoul, it looks like you've stepped into the future. But that pace has come at a dark tradeoff, one that they're trying to understand and fix, showing up in poor mental health, increased alcohol usage and increase divorce rates. This shed light on a challenge that we were seeing all over the world. The challenge of staying healthy. You see, whether it's technology, longer work hours or the isolation that can come from working at home, can we stay healthy mentally, physically, emotionally? You see, we can't predict the change but we can predict the challenge. So staying healthy is a challenge that we know we need to face and we can solve for it if we are honest and proactive about the changes that we know we need to make in our lifestyle.
第三个挑战。让我们前往韩国。我们在那儿待了大约 3 周，到那个时候，已经对高楼下方川流不息的 36 车道交通习以为常了。但有一天早上，我们拉开窗帘，外面一片寂静，没有车来车往。后来我们得知那天是韩国的高考日，在这一天，人们要参加一场将决定他们职业道路的考试。所以需要保持安静，路上没有汽车行驶，道路施工也停止了，飞机停飞。事实上，那天在路上我们能听到的唯一声音就是警察护送睡过头的学生去考场的声音。想象一下那种压力吧，整个国家都屏住呼吸，就等你去参加这场决定你未来的考试。而那种压力在考试结束后，在职场生涯中仍会长期存在。我们经常会看到，到晚上 11 点了，地铁里还挤满了穿着商务装的人。韩国刚刚将每周最长工作时长从 68 小时减少到了 52 小时。韩国一直在经济增长和技术发展的快车道上疾驰。如果你去到首尔，感觉就像踏入了未来世界一样。但这种发展速度带来了不良的后果，他们正在试图理解并解决这些问题，这些问题体现在心理健康状况不佳、酗酒现象增多以及离婚率上升等方面。这揭示了一个我们在世界各地都能看到的挑战 —— 保持健康方面的挑战。要知道，无论是技术因素、更长的工作时间，还是在家工作可能带来的孤独感，我们能否在心理、身体和情感方面都保持健康呢？我们虽无法预测变化，但能预测挑战。所以，保持健康是我们知道自己需要面对的一个挑战，而且如果我们能坦诚面对并积极主动地对生活方式做出我们知道需要做出的改变，我们就能解决这个问题。
You see, despite the future of work being so unpredictable, it doesn't mean that we can't prepare for it. In fact, maybe even we can get excited about it again if we focus on our human connections, on our technology connections and on our health or well - being connections. Now I imagine being 17 or 47 or 57 looking ahead to the unpredictable future of work and being able to say, "I don't know what's coming, but I actually feel ready for it." Thank you.
要知道，尽管未来的职场如此难以预测，但这并不意味着我们没办法为之做准备。实际上，如果我们重视人际联系、技术关联以及健康或幸福方面的关联，或许我们甚至能再次对未来职场满怀期待。现在，我想象着自己 17 岁、47 岁或者 57 岁时，展望难以预测的未来职场，能够说出：“我不知道将会发生什么，但我确实感觉自己已经做好了准备。” 谢谢大家。
Vocabularies and expressions
anxious /ˈaNG(k)SHəs/
Why we're so anxious about the future of the work.
excitement /ikˈsītmənt/
There once was a time when thinking about life after high school filled you with excitement, not anxiety.
knot
There once was a time when thinking about your career filled you with possibilities, not knots.
distinct /dəˈstiNG(k)t/
I noticed a distinct difference in how young people were feeling about life after graduation.
crew /kro͞o/, embark /əmˈbärk/
I left being a teacher and with a film crew embarked on a global journey around the word.
demographics /ˌdeməˈɡrafiks/, geopolitics /ˌjēōˈpälədiks/
There's just too many things going on from changes in demographics to artificial intelligence, from migration of people to geopolitics, from climate change to hybrid work.
dominate /ˈdäməˌnāt/
We discovered that there are three main challenges that we'll face in the future of work and it will dominate that for everyday people.
cows grazing, rolling hills, church steeples /ˈstēp(ə)l/
We were in Alps, cows grazing, rolling hills, church steeples in the distance.
chuckled /ˈCHək(ə)l/
We chuckled and the he said.
depression /dəˈpreSH(ə)n/, suicide
In fact, we have depression and even suicides right now.
fulfillment /fo͝olˈfilm(ə)nt/
And there was fulfillment there.
anonymous /əˈnänəməs/
Care for cows, the produce milk and now a truck comes by and picks up that milk and our milk gets mixed in witch the other formers' milk and all of the sudden my hard work is anonymous.
disengage /ˌdisənˈɡāj/
In all the ways that work is changing, the way we interact with people, we're becoming disengaged.
specifically /spəˈsifək(ə)lē/
We were there presenting our findings with a group of professionals and specifically we were discussing the decision to keep a three - hour lunch break in the workday.
irrelevant
Are we in danger of becoming irrelevant?
relevant /ˈreləv(ə)nt/
Can we stay relevant?
lifelong
We can solve for that if we fall in love with lifelong learning because the we can be on the front end of that change when it arrives.
curtain
But one morning we opened the curtains and there was silence.