A lot has been said about the future of work, but no one knows for sure what things will really look like. The best companies have constantly evolving strategies that incorporate talent management, human resources, and analytics. To start a conversation about the future of work, consulting giant PwC, led by Toni Cusumano, created three different scenarios for the future of work, which they broke down into worlds. These visions aren't to say that one scenario is better than the other, but rather to encourage organizations to consider what they would do if the workforce looked different and how they would adjust their strategies to stay relevant and successful.
The first world is the orange world, where small is beautiful. This world is run by companies that are broken down into collaborative networks of smaller organizations. Instead of huge conglomerates, the orange world is run by specialized smaller companies that operate on a low impact/high technology model with a goal to maximize flexibility and minimize cost. In the orange world, big businesses and corporations start to decline and are replaced by smaller, flexible organizations that provide workers with autonomy and a variety of ways to work. Instead of employees taking traditional career paths and staying with the same company for years, the orange world is ruled by a large contract workforce. This world is supported by PwC's research that found that two out of five people believe traditional employment won't be around in the future. The orange world is also reflective of the growing amount of Millennials in the workplace.