In the first half of the 2020s, two developments emerged with major implications for knowledge work.
The first is virtualization that is deemphasizing when and where it’s performed. The social distancing public health measures of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a tipping point for the longer term trend of information and communications technology (ICT) advances connecting knowledge workers outside of co-located office settings, effectively obsoleting the daily commute.
Then in 2022-23, another ICT development emerged: generative artificial intelligence accepting plain language queries and largely replacing traditional web searches, synthesizing and greatly speeding up access to online information. On its heels came agentic AI that can analyze data, set goals, and take independent actions at the direction of knowledge workers.
Both developments have the potential to profoundly alter knowledge work as we know it, which has been traditionally defined by doing defined tasks while present in a centralized, commute-in office during scheduled work hours.
One likely outcome is knowledge work will be more defined by outputs and deliverables rather than inputs and presence in an office. That could mean dispersed, small project teams that form up for the purpose of completing a project and disbanding when it’s accepted by the sponsor as complete. They may meet up in a co-located setting. Or not, depending on project needs and the team’s preference.
For the knowledge workforce, the implications are similarly sizeable. Less permanent employment by a single knowledge organization. More projectized contract work arrangements where specific subject matter expertise and experience is required. These contractors may work independently or as part of a professional services firm.
This points to a decline in employment in the conventional sense where knowledge work is defined by the terms and conditions of the employer: when, where and how work is to be done.
That in turn has implications for medical care finance in the United States where employers are mandated by state laws to pay for medical care arising from job duties and for large employers, medical benefit plans for non work-related care.