Randstad, together with the University of San Andrés (UdeSA), conducted a study among mostly university graduates and middle to high-ranking employees in organizations, among whom 66% believe that, in the future, they will work less hours.
Talent specialist Randstad presented the results of a study conducted in conjunction with the University of San Andrés (UdeSA) based on a survey of nearly 700 people with university or higher education levels and middle and high-level hierarchical positions within organizations .
The questions are about the future of work, 20 years from now. As a result, the report reveals that 66% of respondents expect to work fewer hours in the future , 21% expect to work the same as now and only 14% are inclined to think that in the future they will work more than now.
In line with this scenario, 56% of respondents believe that they will work only 4 days a week . Looking deeper into the number of hours that people believe they will dedicate to their jobs in the future, most respondents agree that they will work less time, but still maintaining a work schedule of between 4 and 5 days a week (85%) . However, at the opposite extreme, 10% believe that they will work between 6 and 7 days a week, but with less hours each day.
When analyzing the expectations regarding the number of hours to be worked according to the size of the company in which the study entrant work, it emerges that, whilst the majority of respondents believe that they will work fewer hours in the future, people who work in larger companies tend to be more bullish and think that they will work fewer hours in the future than those who work in smaller companies.
Regarding these results, Andrea Ávila,
CEO of Randstad for Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, stated: “This study seeks to explore the possible scenarios that the world of work has in store for us in a 20-year horizon, which is complex in itself, taking into account that we are today in the midst of a technological revolution that is happening at a pace never seen before, which makes imagining what work will be like in the future an exercise that generates more questions than answers. People’s perception of a possible reduction in the working day, whether with fewer working days or fewer hours and the same number of days, and the role they assign to flexibility in future scenarios, give us clear clues about the trends that we must closely follow .”
In this sense, shaping the characterization of work within 20 years in organizations in our country, the vast majority of people (80%) consider that work will be different from what it is today.
Furthermore, contrary to what some voices in the public debate on the future of work maintain and what the expectation of a reduction in the time spent at work in the future might indicate, the possibility of rushing to work as the main means of subsistence for people is not seen , since 80% of those surveyed agree that work will continue to be the main means of subsistence for the next 20 years.
Flexibility and hybrid work
When it comes to visualizing what work will be like in the future, a majority of 84% of Argentines perceive a scenario with greater flexibility than what exists today , in contrast to 8% who believe that flexibility will remain the same in the future and another 8% who see work environments with less flexibility.
Similarly, 70% of people perceive that in the future the dominant work format will be hybrid , while 24% consider that it will be completely remote. At the other extreme, only 2% of respondents believe that the dominant work scheme in the future will be in-person.
Hiring methods
Most respondents consider that the future of employment will be dominated by independent and part-time work (88%) as a salient feature , with 70% of people leaning towards working independently for different companies in different parts of the world and on a part-time basis . Meanwhile, 18% consider that in the future the preferred form of work will be independent work for multiple companies – but only at a local level – and also part-time.
According to these results, the employment relationship would cease to be the preferred mode of employment relationship for the majority of workers . In this regard, only 9% of those surveyed in this particular segment of the population believe that people will choose to work in a large corporation as an employee and full-time, and a minimum of 3% would prefer to work as an employee and full-time, but in a SME.
Older, more independent work
Analyzing the age breakdown of preferences regarding the ideal type of employment, it is clear that the youngest segment, ranging from 26 to 35 years old, visualizes more than the rest that people will work in an employment relationship in large corporations. However, as the age of workers increases, people are more inclined to the option of independent and part-time work in different parts of the world .
“While much of the focus on the future of work is on the impact of technological advances and digitalisation, due to the great impact this phenomenon has on the world of work today, this study aimed to go a little further in exploring scenarios to expand the focus to issues related to work mode preferences, the link with organisations, commitment and other factors,” said Andrea Ávila. She added: “ The widespread belief that employment will cease to be the predominant mode of hiring in this 20-year future that people imagine is one of the results that escapes the trends that are seen in the short term .”
Future of Work Forum
This study is the result of the work promoted by talent management professionals and experts from the Randstad Forum, the Future of Work Forum, within the framework of the meetings held during 2024. Through inputs, ideas and reflections, the members of the forum co-created the idea of this project, which the team from the University of San Andrés (UdeSA) took to shape and design the study whose main results and findings are presented here.
Randstad Forum, the Future of Work Forum, was born in 2023 as a long-term initiative that brings together human capital managers from the most important companies in Argentina to collaboratively address the major challenges that the future holds in relation to the world of work.
Read also: The keys to retaining talent in the face of organizational growth
