Digital dominant, but still human-centred

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: What do you think your workplace will look like in 10 years' time? How might the profile of your workforce change?

Nick Waters CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Asia-Pacific

OUR workplace of the future will have a landing zone for autonomous drones that will bring us to work. The profile of our workforce will change to a wider variety of skillsets - data scientists, technologists, code writers, and jobs of the future that don't exist today. Agile working concepts will be standard practice, office space required will decrease and a high proportion will be designated collaboration areas. Work spaces will place emphasis on supporting healthy lifestyles with more showers, changing facilities and juice bars. All work spaces will maximise energy efficiency and offer facilities that make it easier for working Mums.

Sidney Lim Managing Director Protiviti Pte Ltd

MUCH has been written about the negative and positive effects of the technology revolution on businesses and their employees across industry sectors. I believe that while technology can be leveraged to support and enhance business operations, not all jobs can be replaced by technology. Machines may replace many of the repetitive tasks but there will always be a need for the human touch. As long as we continue to create and innovate, be adaptable to change and open to learning new skills, our human workforce will remain relevant in the future workplace.

Alex Campbell Managing Director, Asia Xero

THE workplace in 10 years will look more different from today than today's workplace does from 100 years ago. Cloud technology is already challenging the very notion of a physical workplace, by enabling us to work from anywhere, on any device, at any time.

Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning mean any work that can be automated will be automated. We need to see this as an opportunity and not as a threat. History has shown us that new technology will continue to automate mundane work, but that this creates new economic opportunities and allows people to develop, train and focus on the high value work that only we can do.

Bob White President, Asia-Pacific Medtronic

NO matter where we work or who we work for, the future of the workplace depends on challenging ourselves to become better thinkers. "Horizontal thinkers" who are able to see outside of their immediate purview to recognise new patterns and connect seemingly random ideas make breakthroughs and advance innovations. "Critical thinkers" who go beyond what they've been taught and aren't afraid to ask questions about fundamental assumptions push us to take necessary risks. And, "global thinkers" who immerse themselves in new experiences to develop unique insights and approaches bring us together into a shared experience.

Multi-dimensional thinking is one of many things that artificial intelligence cannot replicate but even as we humans evolve our thinking into the future, there is one aspect of work that is timeless - the importance of building a diverse and inclusive culture that leads to success.

Victor Mills Chief Executive Singapore International Chamber of Commerce

IN 10 years' time on May Day 2027, most companies will have developed an inclusive workplace culture consistently practised by both employers and employees. Employers will provide the optimal conditions necessary to allow all their employees to care about the company's success and their role in achieving that success.

An inclusive workplace culture will allow employees to stay adaptable to new technology, to stay engaged to keep innovating and to work together in cross-cultural and cross-border teams to serve customers. Employers and employees will value customer-centric teamwork above all and keep learning together with their artificial intelligence support staff.

Rick Scurfield President NetApp APAC

ARTIFICIAL intelligence will transform every aspect of our lives, especially in the workforce. However, much of the discourse around AI has been the misconception that it will remove jobs and displace employees. This is a notion that needs to be debunked. The integration of AI into the workforce will boost efficiency and productivity for businesses, freeing up human capital to be used for more advanced, highly skilled work.

This is also reflected in the Singapore government's Future Economy recommendations such as SkillsFuture. We are already seeing the impacts these changes will have - many employees no longer need to manually process data as part of their daily roles, making the future workplace more engaging and flexible.

Adam Judd Senior Vice-President, Asia-Pacific F5 Networks

CONNECTORS, collaborators and conquerors in every sense, millennials are going to be the drivers of tomorrow's workforce. In truth, Asia-Pacific's possibly most hardworking demographic today. For digital natives, the future of work is simply everywhere. Rearranging their day at a moment's notice while being empowered with access to information so they can work on the go, at any hour of the day.

A need for speed mentality has pushed enterprises into dedicating to faster and smarter technological growth strategies. By redefining access to all applications and devices to ensure that sluggish security scans and disruptive breaches do not break the momentum, millennials are able to produce maximum output with the least amount of input. They embrace the blurred lines between personal life and professional work.

Amid the connected revolution, millennials are shaking up the world of work and there is no stopping them. If businesses become as flexible as they are, it's going to be a match made to succeed.

Stephen Wang Director of Asia-Pacific Talent Plus

AS technological advancements such as automation and robotics become more prominent, workforce shifts will require more human touches in the way people work and who they work with. Dexterity in emotional intelligence, seamless communication capabilities, a people service based aptitude, agility in complex decision-making and creativity will become much sought after talents.

What this means is that workforce diversity will only become enhanced. Therefore we will see global individuals working across borders flexibly without physical presence. This shift highlights the need for leaders who can adapt with the times and lead employees across boundaries.

Howie Lau President Singapore Computer Society

WITH the rapid growth and advancement in technologies today, the future workplace can take any shape and form. Technological innovation, coupled with creative thinking, will usher in new realities for people to work in, physically or remotely. However, the principles of ubiquitous connectivity and collaborative workplace will remain a constant.

While it is likely that humans and machines will work alongside one another, the capabilities of robots and machines will not outperform human capital, which will remain as organisations' most valuable asset. Therefore, it is crucial for organisations to equip their people with relevant skills so that they can fully utilise technology to enhance their efficiency and productivity.

Jayajyoti Sengupta APAC Head Cognizant

THE future of work will be about leveraging digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, and the Internet of Things, as fundamental enablers of increased productivity and innovation, while empowering the workforce to work in tandem with machines.

Amid rapid changes in core job skillsets brought about by the digital era, it will involve doubling down on uniquely human analytical, strategy and leadership skills that require constructive thinking and cannot be replaced with robot technology. The emphasis will be on acquiring new skills that catalyse thinking, problem-solving, and delivering in smarter, more creative and productive ways. Being more digital will be about being more human.

Paul Henaghan President, South Asia and Korea Dell EMC

THE workforce of today is a highly interconnected one with new technologies empowering people to perform at their best through working anywhere, anytime on any device. Enabling the workforce with innovative devices and accessories designed specifically for the way people work will not only promote greater productivity but it will attract the right talent and enhance customer experience - core to any business strategy.

Business leaders will need to also innovate by pushing decision-making to the edge and inspire new ways of working through disruptive technologies such as augmented and virtual reality. While technology is inextricably linked to the modern workplace, the future workforce will imbibe a culture of innovation and an entrepreneurial mindset to remain competitive in an ever-transforming business landscape.

Wong Heng Chew Country President Fujitsu Singapore

THE workplace of the future is starting to happen around us now. And this future, a bright one I believe, will be what we make of it.

In 10 years' time, today's emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) will positively transform businesses. Creativeness and innovation in particular will be the key differentiators for business success, more so than ever. I imagine a human-centric workplace environment - of different generations, needs and working preferences - supported by intelligent systems.

This new digital-enabled workforce will leverage technology to be more productive, create new value and shape a better future. In addition, they will have to think deeper and be more conscious about data security. AI will be used to make sense of Big Data, generate new insights, and support people in making optimal decisions. Yet the final call will always require a human touch - where empathy, compassion and critical analysis will always remain relevant.

As the workplace evolves beyond physical environments, balancing information access and productivity with data protection and workplace security will see increasing importance as threats get more sophisticated.

Girish Ramachandran President, Asia-Pacific Tata Consultancy Services

IN the next 10 years, we will see profound changes in the workplace with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and mobile super-computing, as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Given that we will be working longer and technology will continue to evolve, the workplace will transform at an even faster pace.

All of us will be re-skilling ourselves multiple times throughout a typical career. The workplace will become more efficient, productive and geared to performance enhancement. The physical and digital spaces will fuse, impacting all disciplines and industries. Companies that have invested in automation or robotics will realise the benefits and create more jobs than ever in traditional functions disrupted but made more efficient by digital.

Allan Tan Managing Partner Ying Communications, a Finn Partners company

IN 10 years, we'll be able to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of any effort with (close to) 100 per cent accuracy.

Therefore, the agency of the future will become a manager of a network of tasks, aimed at achieving specified, measurable outcomes. These tasks will be divided between man and machine; in-house and outsourced, and probably involve the use of task-serving platforms secured via real-time bidding. Repetitive backroom tasks will be handled by algorithms, while tasks involving lateral thinking and creativity will remain in human hands.

In 10 years, agencies will be made up of people who are skilled at creating, managing and optimising these task networks. The successful ones will be those who learn from every "job" they do, and apply that learning rapidly to the next task at hand.

Pauline Goh CEO, Singapore and South-east Asia CBRE

SOME clear ideas of the future workplace have emerged following CBRE's wide-ranging studies of the future of work and millennials in the Asia-Pacific region. By 2025, it's estimated that three of every four workers will be millennials. They bring a different mindset from their boomer predecessors, with evolving expectations for a unique work environment. While job security and loyalty were paramount to previous generations, millennials tend to be more focussed on the experience.

CBRE's workplace strategists envision working patterns to be more flexible to achieve a greater need for work-life balance. Flexible work contracts will be a certainty to enhance employee mobility. Employers will no longer rely on a single location to perform tasks; team leaders will be empowered to work with a highly dispersed team across a wide geographical area.

The workplace will be fully equipped with advanced technological and software solutions to help strip more of the administrative tasks out of their employees' work day; for example, the receptionist might function more like a concierge, responsible for problem-solving for employees and visitors. More and more, employees will be consulted in the design of work spaces. The focus on wellness and building community spirit will sharpen further as the war for talent intensifies.

Ronnie Tan President FranklinCovey Singapore & Greater China

TECHNOLOGICAL growth, and the accompanying changes in business models, make the continual adaptation of skillsets absolutely necessary to thrive in the intensely competitive and rapidly changing markets. Work in the future will be more interconnected and network-oriented as traditional roles become more digitised, networked and automated, and new roles emerge that call for expertise in multiple disciplines.

Companies would want to hire, retain and develop individuals who are agile, nimble and resilient. And with millennials expecting to comprise 75 per cent of the global workforce, companies will have to adjust their operational, compensation and development structures to engage their multi-generational workforce.

Karl Hamann Chief Executive Officer QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd

TECHNOLOGY continues to revolutionise the insurance industry. For example, artificial intelligence is getting better at recognising speech and language patterns and therefore has the potential to interact with customers to identify the right products. The level of insurance business being underwritten by tech-enabled platforms also continues to grow.

As for machines replacing humans, I tend to believe the experts who say that automation will affect parts of almost all jobs, but in the next decade few occupations will be eliminated entirely by robotics. Certainly when it comes to specialised insurance services, technology will, for the foreseeable future, continue to be a "means to an end" rather than "the end" in itself.

Axel Pannes Managing Director BMW Group Asia

OUR goal is to transform our company from the world's leading provider of premium vehicles and premium services into the leading individual mobility provider and tech company. In order to achieve this, I believe we need to embrace an integrated workforce that is focused on developing future technologies and services.

In addition to engineers, IT specialists and skilled employees, I expect we will also work closely with experts from non-traditional automotive backgrounds, such as retail. I also believe we will have more digital natives who are forward thinking and understand what our future customers will need and want.

Arleen Paulino Vice-President of Singapore Site Operations Amgen Singapore Manufacturing

BIOTECHNOLOGY is poised to change the world in the same way the Internet changed the world. The industry will continue to be profoundly transformed by new technologies and revolutionary manufacturing approaches such as Amgen's Next-Generation Biomanufacturing facility will continue to push biotechnology frontiers that are leaner, greener, more flexible and productive to provide high quality, reliable supply of innovative medicines at greater speed to patients.

As early pioneers of the biotech industry with a "startup" site in Singapore, Amgen aims to lead the push into the "Biocentury" and to create collaborative environments and workplaces which will inspire future generations of highly skilled, mobile talents grounded in science, an entrepreneurial spirit and innovative agility to join us in breaking boundaries in the biomanufacturing sector.

Jayaprakash Jagateesan Chief Executive Officer RHT Holdings Pte Ltd

IN future, algorithms may become your boss as more companies turn to digitisation and artificial intelligence not only to streamline operations and boost efficiency, but also to track and maintain employee performance.

The gig economy will also become more prevalent, spurred by a growing class of workers seeking to take control of their professional lives. Retaining talent thus becomes a concern as the way we do business changes.

If we could synergise technology with the trend towards a highly mobile workforce, there comes a point where we may be able to identify and match capable talent from any part of the world to specific needs, without being constrained geographically or by the need to work out of an office.

Jimmy Fitzgerald Vice-President and General Manager ServiceNow Asia-Pacific and Japan

THERE is no doubt that we are entering a new era of automation, one that will drastically change the workplace. In the ServiceNow State of Work survey, we found that two out of five days are misused on manual administrative work. Imagine this, if a company with 5,000 people automated those processes, they could get 4 million work hours back a year.

Intelligent automation is an opportunity to free employees from mundane and repetitive activities - allowing employees to unleash their creativity, letting them build stronger and more productive working relationships. Intelligent automation makes us more human, not less.

Anton Ravindran CEO & Founder Rapidstart

THE future workplace will be one where people work alongside intelligent machines and algorithms, where machines will not just be intelligent but will have personalities. The speed of the current transformation known as the fourth industrial revolution has no historical precedent as it is evolving exponentially rather than at a linear pace, correspondingly creatively disrupting almost all business models and industries. But in the coming years and decade as IoT and AI become pervasive, robots will not only manufacture cars but will drive them, 3D machines will print products like we print documents today while call centres will be handled by Watson and Siri, and the stockbroker will be a Bot.

This is a perfect storm that is likely to decimate many white collar jobs in a new era of "technological unemployment". This will soon lead to an hourglass-shaped labour market where demand will continue to increase for highly skilled individuals with skills in Big Data and machine learning while the "squeezed middle" workforce will see jobs disappearing, and the least-skilled workers will compete for "gig" positions, or job creation from the gig economy.

Helen Ng Chief Executive Officer General Storage Company Pte Ltd

I FORESEE a workforce adept at coding and harnessing different digital platforms, but I worry that our future workforce would still largely comprise doers rather than thinkers. Singapore needs to nurture problem solvers and disruptors. This is unlikely to happen as schools merge and class sizes remain large, leaving little room for fostering critical thinking skills.

Within the self-storage industry, roles such as customer service and operations will be automated in future. There will be openings for enterprising individuals with a knack for customising solutions for space-starved Singaporeans. The question is whether there will be anyone to fill these roles.

Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard Managing Director - Singapore Robert Half

THE future of the workplace is definitely exciting. The changes we forecast revolve mainly around job skills of the future and workplace flexibility. Automation and digitisation will only advance the workplace, so professionals will continually need to update their skillsets to meet changing job requirements.

Professionals who are technologically-literate are already in high demand - a trend that is only set to continue. Time spent in the office will also diminish as employers openly embrace workplace flexibility and become more understanding of the need for work-life balance.

Daniel Ng Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Cloudera

AT Cloudera, we believe that data can make possible tomorrow what is impossible today. In the next 10 years, we will continue to see this come to life. As Big Data-related, advanced technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence continue to take centre stage across all organisations today, employees need to embrace a data-first culture.

In less than 10 years, data skills will become a necessity for employees of all levels, businesses and industries, and our industry will continue to evolve to make these skills widely available. At the same time, employees will need to continue upskilling to stay ahead in the organisations of tomorrow.

John Keung Kam Yin CEO Building and Construction Authority

THE government is working with the industry to develop an Industry Transformation Map to accelerate the transformation of the built environment sector into one that is highly integrated and technologically advanced, led by progressive firms and supported by a skilled and competent workforce.

By changing the way we build through extensive prefabrication and advanced construction technologies, work sites will be cleaner, less noisy and dusty as most construction work is done off-site with a greater degree of mechanisation and automation.

In addition, good jobs with better pay can be created for the local workforce with the adoption of advanced technologies, including info-communication technologies to improve collaboration across the construction value chain.

Matthew Johnston Area Vice-President, Asean & Korea Commvault APAC

IN a rapidly evolving technological landscape driven by an ever-growing volume of data, we will see the rise of "data-first" organisations which are discovering the importance and value of data in transforming their businesses. This digitally savvy, globally connected workforce will be challenged to unlock the value of data, use and protect it as a strategic asset to drive competitive business advantage.

Such "data-first" companies will have a diverse workforce that embodies a data-first mentality and approach. Data that is cross-pollinated across all functions - from finance or business operations - will deliver business value to organisations of tomorrow.

Daniel Hua Senior Vice-President & GM (APAC) Juniper Networks

WITH the market shifting towards a hybrid consumption model - one where customers have both consuming and producing capabilities - Juniper Networks is modernising the go-to-market approach by adopting increased customer collaboration across APAC to enable the co-development of products and solutions. This means harnessing agile processes, automation and removing silos to enable greater workforce efficiency with our customers, all while empowering our teams with the right skillsets to succeed in this evolving business environment.

Such a transformation brings with it unprecedented opportunities and workforce capabilities for the future; where our employees, customers and technology interact in new ways to accelerate business growth.

Julian Quinn Regional Vice-President, Asia-Pacific Qlik

WITH the rise in the amount of data being collected, it's no surprise that we believe workplaces of the future will become data-driven. There was a time that reading and writing skills were exclusive to scholars and the learned community. Just as these skills moved beyond scholars, data literacy or the ability to utilise analytics tools to read and understand data, will become an important and common business skill for any member of staff within the organisation.

At Qlik, we strongly believe that the time is now for employees to start their data literacy journeys and are supporting organisations across all sectors as they navigate employee empowerment through data.

Jessie Xia Managing Director - Singapore ThoughtWorks

DIGITAL literacy will be critical to shaping the future of work, such that in 10 years, almost every role across industries will require some level of technical skill. And with more women enrolling in tech education, we anticipate that there will be more female tech professionals in the workforce. We hope this will help catalyse positive changes in organisational culture and encourage more women to step up in leadership roles.

Technology will also impact how the workplace of the future functions - for example, the recent development of connected "smart offices" which boost efficiency by encouraging interaction through apps and constant feedback on employee productivity levels from hands-free mind sensing hardware.

Another key trend that will shape the future of work is a mobile-first approach. Organisations can now tap a global workforce, and people can work from anywhere in the world. Flexi-work will likely become even more prevalent. The future of work is an exciting possibility to imagine, and we hope that the tech developments of today will help to shape a more equal society where everyone has greater access to work opportunities.

Lee Fook Chiew Chief Executive Officer Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants

TECHNOLOGY is changing how businesses operate, and the need to invest in technology to stay competitive will be the constant. Our co-worker in 10 years' time may not yet be a robot, but the individual will certainly be using more technology to enhance value creation and maximise business productivity. More mechanical or rule-based jobs today, such as data entry clerks, may be displaced and disappear in the future.

Therefore, to continue to thrive in a fast changing and highly disruptive world, accountants will need to acquire multi-disciplinary skills and knowledge such as critical thinking, creativity, predictive analytics, and an understanding of coding. More importantly, they will need to stay open-minded, be adaptable and take ownership of their own professional development and growth.

Amol Mitra General Manager, Asia-Pacific Aruba

THE advent of #GenMobile, what we define as those who prefer to be mobile for work and play, has transformed the world of work. According to Aruba research, 70 per cent of the workforce prefer flexible working hours and more than a third expect greater remote working availability.

I believe tomorrow's workplace will be tethered firmly to flexibility and connectivity, which have already been proven to empower workers and boost productivity. More importantly, it helps foster a collaborative environment - one that tears down geographical boundaries and drives innovation. As people's expectations evolve and their movements hasten, so must enterprise connectivity. What this means for companies looking to attract and retain the best of #GenMobile is simple: they need to be truly connected to be competitive.

Mark Billington Regional Director ICAEW South-east Asia

THE workplace has changed dramatically and will continue to develop rapidly in the next 10 years. As a result of technological advancements, the accounting sector faces an increasing need for IT competency among its professionals.

Accountants need to leverage on technology to raise their work productivity and be equipped with the IT knowledge and skills to address the challenges and opportunities brought about by new developments such as Big Data, data analytics, cybersecurity and block chain. To stay relevant, accountants also need to be committed to lifelong learning; be able to adapt and develop themselves as well as to reflect and learn; these qualities are currently and will remain integral to being a Chartered Accountant.

Pierre Veyres CEO BNP Paribas Singapore Branch

IT will be a fluid, connected, mobile, flexible workplace. Digitalisation has changed the way we work and will continue, we anticipate, to have a major impact in the workplace, going forward. At BNP Paribas, digitalisation enables us to foster collaborative work across departments and countries whenever they work collectively on a new project for instance.

Beyond the basics such as video-conferencing and shared drives, artificial intelligence tools are increasingly allowing us to delegate repetitive work to machines so our people have time away to connect with others, from the office or remotely, be creative and deliver value-added solutions.

This ongoing evolution is consistent with the trend of lifelong learning and provides an extra motivation to our staff who will less and less want to be tied to a particular location or type of job.

Michael Smith Managing Director Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia

THE workplace of the future will be highly influenced by the increased collaboration between the private, government and education sectors. Continued learning will be a major focus with the increased half-life of skills brought on by the growing speed of technological evolution.

Ultimately the workplace will be one with a highly adaptive workforce capable of adjusting to new requirements of their roles quickly and efficiently. As technology evolves, new jobs will be created and we still have yet to see how this takes form, but people will still need to play a part.

Ron Goh President, South-east Asia and Korea VMware

DIGITAL transformation and demographic trends are dramatically shaping the workplace of the future and are set to massively impact employment and skills across all levels and every industry. With technologies such as Artificial Intelligence becoming more mainstream, we are going to witness the birth of a new workplace that is connected, intelligent and agile. New roles and disciplines will need to be created to optimise the best results from IT.

In addition, as 5G (Five-Generation) workplaces start to become a norm, business leaders will have to overhaul their talent acquisition and retention strategies to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and multi-generational workforce.

Edwin Khew Teck Fook President The Institution of Engineers, Singapore

DIGITAL will prevail in the future workplace. Digital technologies such as Big Data and cloud are already transforming workplaces. In a decade's time, we will approach the peak of physical and virtual convergence. It will be the norm for engineers to build virtually using reality models and predictive analytics before physical implementation. Augmented reality, robotics and machine learning tools will be the standard in next-generation factories.

The workforce will primarily constitute "digital natives" who are driven by ideals of sustainability and collaboration. Amid this digital revolution, engineers and tech specialists will thrive, especially those with distinctive abilities to harness disruptive technologies to innovate and create.

Heng Wui Liang Country Head, Singapore BankBazaar

BEING an online marketplace for financial products, we constantly push the boundaries of innovation and are already seeing the increased reliance on technology in our workplace. We spearheaded the use of technology to deliver a paperless experience and have started moving away from using human labour to complete transactional tasks.

Having said this, we don't see technology replacing human experience and passion in helping us achieve our vision to be the dominant marketplace for instantly issuing financial products. Our human employees are irreplaceable assets who will merely shift their focus from servicing customers to creating technology to serve customers.

Patrick Sim Senior Vice-President Orange Business Services Asia-Pacific

MILLENNIALS continue to represent an increasing share of the workforce. Being digital natives, there is an expectation that the smart technologies, and collaborative digital tools that they use in their personal and social life will be available in the workplace. Therefore, the workplace of the future will not only have to be outfitted to meet their needs, but will also need to be further enhanced to take advantage of artificial intelligence, smartbots and other innovative technologies. What this means is that there will be a greater demand for mobility, flexibility, and collaboration in the workplace in the next 10 years.

At Orange, we strongly believe in the need to be digitally transformed not only outside with customers, but also inside with employees. Businesses can enjoy significant productivity gains by empowering employees with collaborative tools to work together more effectively. The digital workplace is already a reality, and the only question that companies face now is how and when will they transition toward it.

Laletha Nithiyanandan Managing Director Behavioural Consulting Group

ARTIFICIAL intelligence will play a bigger role in our workplace and take on more jobs. The future worker will be one who is responsible for his or her own learning, pay and hours. There will be more socially driven causes that may be crowdfunded. Organisational structures will be flatter and there will be more transparency on contribution to earnings. For example, the future worker could be 50 per cent marketing consultant, 30 per cent mindfulness coach, with 20 per cent dedicated to self development, and will value freedom over being tied to any one employer.

Peter Hamilton Vice-President and Regional Director APAC Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group

GIVEN today's new labour dynamic with increasing impermanence of work, businesses need to evolve their human capital strategies. The automation of work, disruptive technologies, and Singapore's economic restructuring have already changed the way we work. Companies that have already adopted an optimal mix of talent with both permanent and contingent workers will find that they are not only able to attract the best talent, but also gain workforce agility. Technological advancements have also enabled the workforce of the future to include virtual teams.

Particularly in Singapore where there is a tight labour market and steep competition for the best talent, approaching talent management from this holistic perspective enables companies to respond more nimbly to evolving business needs and more importantly, dependably access the right skills at the right time and for the right value. This in turn ensures that an organisation's core business goals, or drivers, can be met.

Leading the charge to innovate workforce strategies is the job of both the CEOs and CHROs to ensure that their workplace policies can allow contingent workers to be integrated seamlessly into current work culture and models.

Daniel Soh Managing Partner Leadership Advisory Inc

ACCORDING to research by PwC, millennials are set to form 50 per cent of the workforce by 2020. With that shift in demographics, employers will have to adjust and adapt to a greater mix of skills. The workforce of the future is wired very differently and will also operate differently.

Human capital management (HCM) will play a significant and challenging role of engaging and enabling a more diverse workforce through tailored learning and development. Smart, instinctive and connected HCM is required to facilitate the reskilling and right-skilling of workers to meet the organisation's future needs. With these changes, business leaders need to step up in the game and be agile and adaptable to manage remote teams, and be a step ahead at all times.

Toby Koh Group Managing Director Ademco Security Group

IN 2027, Ademco Security Group will no longer have the traditional security guards. We will monitor all our clients' premises from our Central Monitoring and Command Centre (CMCC) system. Autonomous robots and drones will be deployed. Video analytics and sensors will be able to detect intrusion and unusual activities with pinpoint accuracy.

My security officers will perform high-value tasks from our CMCC or from the comfort of their homes. Outsourced managed security services will be the norm for all organisations. Similarly, my talent search will span globally to find the right skillsets. Language skills will no longer matter with instant language translation engines. Most of my team will work remotely from anywhere across the world using high-speed connectivity.

Henry Tan Managing Director Nexia TS

FOR a glimpse of the future workplace, I think we can imagine it to be certainly a place where there are more collaborations among workers, robots will work among us, and companies will continue their digital transformation. Millennials will be the majority in the workforce and most workplaces will be places of fun as well as for work.

More people also will become independent agents rather than employees as on-demand help becomes the norm. Average employee tenure at any one company will further shorten. Big data analytics usage will increase further and hence there will be more tailored solutions for customers and clients. Fees for services and products will decrease and this requires heavy usage of technology to drive efficiency and productivity.

David Leong Managing Director PeopleWorldwide Consulting Pte Ltd

THE workforce engagement model is slowly evolving. Permanent employment on long-term tenure will become uncommon. An ordinary job seeker may have about five to six jobs in his entire working career interspersed with contract engagements either as a contract worker or independent contractor. This will be the new norm in the next eight to 10 years.

The economy may be spinning faster with shorter boom-and-bust cycles and because of the highly volatile, fluid and uncertain environment, employers cannot accommodate a large permanent workforce. The workforce will therefore be balanced between a fixed permanent core and a flexible contingent contract work pool. This contingent work pool will be the augmenting team that will scale up and down according to the fluid demands of businesses and the economy.

It's called "gig economy" now but in 10 years' time, gig will be the new norm.

Lionel Ch'ng Managing Director HP Inc Singapore

OVER 70 per cent of Asian employees already work from more than one location, and the desire for workplace flexibility and mobility will only increase with millennials entering the workforce. Workstyles will also evolve to become highly collaborative regardless of location, time zones and device type. Yet, as workspaces become more open and mobile, vulnerabilities to cyberattacks also increase.

Technology can help companies to stay ahead. The HP Elitebook x360 for example combines power, thin and light stylish design, with enterprise security and durability as well as battery life up to 16 hours and 30 minutes. The HP Elite x3 further enables a Windows continuum that facilitates a seamless transition across the mobile, laptop and PC experience. Such innovation can help companies ride on the shift to new workstyles and workspaces while empowering their workforces to be more productive.

Robin C Lee Group COO Bok Seng Group

IN the years to come, having a large headcount will no longer mark the success of a company, much like the trend of not having a whole lot of hard assets.

I foresee businesses employing fewer people while getting more tasks accomplished through better processes, automation and even robotic applications.

No doubt, the millennial generation will start taking up key roles and positions while the Gen Z will be entering the workforce with a very different set of work ethics and aspirations which all businesses would have to deal with. Our workforce will no doubt be better educated with focused skills, be more tech savvy and hopefully be doing a lot more and faster with less.

Lim Soon Hock Managing Director PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd

OFFICE space will shrink when working from home - or anywhere - becomes the norm. Technology such as augmented reality will evolve to create virtual immersive environments that mimic the real physical office for people to be connected and to interact with others in the physical office or elsewhere. Offices will evolve to become venues where teamwork is required, for example carrying out lab work, manufacturing a product, or for the celebration of events, and so on.

Robots with artificial intelligence will learn from employees and be able to assist them based on what they learn and what they can find in the next generation of the Internet, which would now not only be able to provide information, but together with the robots, create choices for an employee to make decisions, based on cognitive learning.

Employees who are not tech savvy will be at a disadvantage. With wide access to information and robotic assistance, the employee of the future will likely be multi-disciplinary in skills and knowledge.

Zaheer K Merchant Regional Director (Singapore & Europe) QI Group of Companies

CHANGE is as good as a rest. But it brings its own challenges including anxiety and resistance. In 10 years' time, we foresee that our workplace must break with monotony to reinvigorate interest in our employees by refocusing their energy in a variety of new responsibilities, apart from their main scope of work.

We envisage a big proportion of our workforce will comprise millennials. It is critically important we cater to this generation (and the next) in the workplace who are highly educated, opinionated, achievement oriented and socially conscious. This requires us to adapt and revamp work in the form of continuing education or skills enhancement, flexible scheduling, a collaborative work environment, and a meaningful work purpose that allow our employees to align their values and interests to the company's continued success.

Lee Siang Chief Executive Officer Dyslexia Association of Singapore

AS part of the education industry, the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) advocates using educational technology to improve our workplace and quality of work. Currently, some educators still prefer traditional methods of teaching and learning while those using technology mostly harness it as a substitute or with some augmentation to improve learning experiences, with reference to Dr Ruben Puentedura's SAMR model.

Our workplace may look very different in the future if educators can advance to the point of modification or redefinition, to effect a transformation in class design and approach. It is important, while embracing technology in education, for the "heart" of the educator to remain as the centre of all positive learning experiences.

Dora Hoan Group CEO Best World International Ltd

IN 10 years' time, offices would probably adopt an open concept for management and staff. There might be no specific desk for workers. They could sit anywhere to do their work. Some could even work from home. It would be a warm and relaxed lifestyle feel.

Technology will pave the way for work with overseas offices to be conducted via tele-conferencing, Skype or other hi-tech channels anytime and anywhere. Staff need not be tied to a computer to do their work as the reliance on tablets and mobile phones becomes more popular and convenient.

Derrick Chang CEO PSB Academy Pte Ltd

AS digital transformation takes centre stage in the economy, educational institutions such as ours must evolve to capitalise on new opportunities to build the talent that the future workforce needs. We have formed and continue to foster strategic alliances with industry partners from institutions such as IET Singapore and IPRS, to facilitate student-industry collaborations that can be conducted at the nexus of innovation and change.

We and our university partners have become more nimble with these developments - our position as a private institution allows us sovereignty to implement and scale new ideas that can enrich the student experience. In our Academy of the Future, we hope to draw and invest in both teaching and operational talent that can help instil leadership skills, creativity and adaptive thinking and emotional intelligence in our students as key attributes for success on top of academic excellence - through new learning technologies, teaching pedagogies and connections to industry game-changers.

Uantchern Loh Chief Executive Officer Black Sun Plc

THE Biblical verse "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do" (Romans 7:15) gives us a glimpse of the future of the workforce. The existing structured educational pathways and learning institutions will evolve into lifelong learning ecosystems as the workforce adapts to an economy where jobs are not forever. Workers will continually "understand what they do" as jobs will be known as gigs.