The Future of Work

Every New Year’s Eve, at exactly 11:59pm, the Times Square Ball descends 141 feet, in 60 seconds— along a specially designed flagpole.

Just like watching the sand of an hour glass slowly trickle down, one second at a time, one grain at a time, New Yorkers and countless tourists from all over the world would gaze at the lighted crystal-paneled ball as if looking into the future. And they are mesmerized.

Perspectives change over time, just like careers. They evolve, and each year, we evolve.

In 1920, a 400-pound wrought iron ball replaced the original ball made of wood. In 1955, an aluminum ball, weighing only 150 pounds, replaced the iron one. In the 1980s, new neon lights, rhinestones, and strobes were added. The ball went through another revision in 2000 and then in 2007, it became the magnificent work of art the world sees now; a crystal ball made up of almost 3000 crystal triangles illuminated by over 30,000 LED lights. In each triangle lives a story of heartbreak and hope, chased away by the lights of a new horizon.

Beneath that resplendent ball, we make our New Year’s resolutions and promises to loved ones, but above all, to ourselves. It’s where some dreams end, and others begin.

There, below, close by, I recall a magical place, where the manifestations of these resolutions are realized. Students and alumni loved this place. There, they entered with hopes and dreams, with embers of fear, but left with aspirations of self-reinvention. It was called the Career Design Lab. A sanctuary of self-reflection which now lies empty.

As the former Inaugural Executive Director of Industry Relations and Career Strategies for Columbia University’s Career Design Lab, I recall striving to build a new future for students and graduates. We planted seeds in the hearts of change agents, in the heart of New York City. Outside its tall doors—Times Square, once full of energy and passion, now lies vacant and empty. Your voice now echoes alone through its distance, where once the power of voices would fill the sky with promise. But now, all career center doors across the United States are closed.

Career disruption and impact

Career disruption preceded the pandemic, and now it has magnified and accelerated the change we are all trying to get ahead of. The future of work is uncertain. In our current economic landscape, we see people questioning their careers more often in search of meaningful work. Prior to the lockdown, for the first time ever, more people voluntarily were leaving their jobs, than were being laid off. They were also seeking purpose-driven organizations that foster engagement, commitment, and the motivation to make an impact. Is the secret ingredient of extraordinary companies, purpose? This aspect will not change and only become more important with time.

Now, however, unemployment has reached 14.7% in the United States, the worst since the Depression era. Returning to “normal” is not an option, it will be a new normal. Things will never be the same, and careers will also never be the same.

In my book, How to be a Career Mastermind: 7 “YOU Matter” Lenses for a Life of Purpose, Impact, and Meaningful Work, I redefine the word “career.” There are thousands of careers, both traditional and non-traditional, not to mention the wealth of niches. Many of them require extensive education and training. Many others require little to no experience. And now, with more project-based work, we are seeing new career trajectories we never envisioned in the past.

The future of meaningful work, now and post-pandemic, is about defining and developing “the new career”—mastering diverse occupations with the new success skills (soft skills) of the future, positions that haven’t even been created yet, among new industries – roles that can’t be reduced to a single title or trajectory— they surrender only to genuine merit.

What are some of these success skills of the future? Well, creativity is one of them. According to the World Economic Forum, creativity was ranked number ten in 2015, but now, in 2020, it has risen to number three. Along with emotional intelligence, which wasn’t even listed in 2015, cognitive skills dominate. But with the pandemic, this list needs to be reimagined as well, as COVID-19 has shined a spotlight on digital skills and digital literacy.

Career and Life Design

My new role is the Executive Director of the Career Center at UCLA. I no longer call it a “career center” or “career services.” What we do extends beyond that, it’s really career and life design. We do much more than career services. As careers have changed, and like many others, my position is a career with an expiration date. Longevity at an organization is no longer 20-30 years. Careers are also no longer linear. We each have our own expiration date and must not just keep up with new trends, but stay above them. But, this is not a story about my work at Columbia University or at UCLA. If you take anything away from this, take this:

• This is a story about being a storyteller with no end in sight.
• This is about not just aspiring to just be a storyteller, but to be a story-maker and a story-changer.
• Take command of your career before someone else does.
• Write your story, and don’t be shy!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

We all get asked the question, what do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor, lawyer, engineer? And today, how many of us are where we imagined we would be 5, 10, or 20 years ago? Our youth will have at least 15 careers over their lifetime. Now, many will have multiple careers at the same time. With a new gig economy, people will have multiple projects at the same time too.

What hasn’t changed is the need to be emotionally connected to your work. Research from Gallup showed that in our pre-pandemic global work force, only 13% were happy with their jobs. Imagine how each of those felt who were in the 87%? And when we looked at those that were happy and study why, it was because that 13 percent crafted their way forward.

My little nephew Ziya has embraced Zoom and technology like it was his long lost twin. Yes, you guessed it, he is in this happy category. He is creating, what I call, his “Career Bucket List, the name of my next book.” If he can do it, you can too. He is designing his life and already built his own video game and app! It’s called, “YouMePlay”.