Want your tech firm to remain competitive in the next few years? Here are the trends you need to look out for!

foundations. When properly integrated into your business strategy, these principles will help you achieve true wealth and value creation.

For today’s case study, we’ll take a look at RDS’ 2nd foundation:  Vigilance to forces of change .

Keep reading below to know why it’s important for businesses to recognize the trends that are shaping the tech industry.

CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

Want your tech firm to remain competitive in the next few years? Here are the trends you need to look out for!

For the past few years, the tech industry has undergone drastic changes. Both individuals and organizations have adopted new methods and technologies to improve productivity across the board. However, those aren’t the only alterations that made an impact.

The negative effects of overhiring, higher interest rates, and the possibility of a recession have forced businesses to institute layoffs, diversify, and do more with less resources.

In case you don’t know yet, more tech employees were laid off in 2022 than in 2020 and 2021 combined. Moreover, as of March 31, 2023, over 144,000 people in the sector have lost their jobs.

Aside from the massive layoffs, there are other trends that shape the future of work in the tech industry.

• Remote and Hybrid Work

  A few years ago, everyone was forced to work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some thought the trend would fade once the world opened back up again, that’s simply not the case anymore.

  Most companies allow their employees to work from home nowadays. According to  ConnectSolutions ’ study, 77% of off-site workers believe they’re more productive working remotely. Because of this sentiment, there has been clamor for more remote and hybrid work opportunities.

  Additionally, based on  FlexJobs ’ 2022 Career Pulse Survey, 65% of 4,000 respondents prefer a 100% remote work setup while 32% prefer a hybrid work arrangement. Moreover, 57% of respondents say they would look for a new job if they’re not allowed to work remotely.

  On the other hand, some business leaders have spoken out against these work setups because from their point of view, remote work caused productivity and mentorship to decline. As a result, employers and employees have been at odds with each other.

  It’s become clear that remote and hybrid work will dominate the labor landscape for the years to come despite the debate surrounding such setups. Enterprises who want to attract and retain top talent must craft policies that will provide professionals the flexibility they need in doing their best work.

• Worker Disengagement and Quiet Quitting

  According to new data from the  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) , labor productivity decreased by 2.7% in the first quarter of 2023 for the nonfarm business sector. This is the sharpest decline in 75 years.

  The culprit?

  DISENGAGEMENT.

  Zippia  found that 68% of the U.S. workforce is disengaged. This means workers aren’t enthusiastic and committed to their jobs; therefore, most professionals today are quietly “quitting” at work.

  So, what actions can organizations take to boost employee morale and keep disengagement at bay?

  The answer lies in personal life and work life integration, an approach that harmonizes an individual’s work and personal responsibilities rather than keeping them separate. In this setup, professionals are given the ability to freely manage their schedules and work duties.

  By embracing personal life and work life integration, organizations can nurture employee satisfaction, well-being, and productivity, as well as foster long-term stability in an uncertain labor landscape.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  For the past several months, AI has taken the world by storm because of its ability to aid humans in a variety of tasks.

  For example, ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, can generate written content like articles, blog posts, social media captions, and other types of text in just a few minutes. MidJourney, on the other hand, can generate visual outputs based on text prompts.

  AI isn’t limited to generating text and images as the tools it powers can also write code, develop programs, and process large amounts of data. Due to these capabilities, tech workers can complete projects in less time and fewer manpower.

  To maximize this new technological breakthrough, enterprises must enact initiatives that enable their employees to learn about the best AI tools and how to use them.

• Outsourcing

  Since more and more organizations are strapped for cash due to economic uncertainties, most of them have chosen to focus their time and resources on core activities. This means tasks that require specialized knowledge but aren’t essential to key business functions are being outsourced to specialists elsewhere across the globe.

  According to  Statista ’s projections, the revenue for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is expected to reach USD 129 billion in 2023. Moreover, information technology (IT) outsourcing is projected to grow by 5% globally.

  If an enterprise intends to fully maximize the advantages of outsourcing, it must do its due diligence when it engages with external personnel. In this regard, a project management office (PMO) might be of use.

  A PMO optimizes a company’s operations by aiding or improving existing workforce operations and achieving other business objectives. The office is also responsible for enabling organizations to efficiently engage external talent for specific projects.

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The trends and changes we discussed about the tech industry can be explained through Return Driven Strategy’s second foundation:  Vigilance to forces of change . According to  Professor Joel Litman  and  Dr. Mark L. Frigo  in the book,  “Driven” :

“Forces of Change can rock the business from all directions. Some forces of change are slow and predictable; some are sudden and unexpected. Others appear to be random. The fact is that Forces of Change drive the risks and opportunities of all businesses. How well management understands and manages these risks and opportunities will determine the firm’s success or failure.”

The tech industry is changing at a rapid pace, so if you want to stay ahead of the curve, take note of the trends we discussed above as these will greatly affect the workplace and organizations for years to come.

We hope you learned a lot from today’s  “Return Driven Strategy!”

If you’re looking to gain a better understanding of Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy, we highly recommend checking out “Driven” by Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo.

Click  here  to get your copy and learn how this framework can help you in your business strategies and ultimately, in ethically maximizing wealth for your firm.

Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.

Remote work is one of the biggest changes to the world of work since World War II. However, this setup is being held back by some disconnections between managers and staff.

Learn more about  ways to keep up with the restructuring in the work landscape  in next week’s article!