Decade of research: ten-year milestone for WORKTECH Academy
To mark its tenth anniversary as an independent research voice for the global workplace, WORKTECH Academy has published a new report on ten big ideas that are shaping the future of work
Launched in September 2016, the WORKTECH Academy research platform and member community celebrates ten years of delivering trends, insights and thought leadership to a global network of workplace professionals this autumn.
To mark this major ten-year milestone, the Academy has published a new report, Ten Ideas Shaping Work, which draws on its research collaborations with clients, partners and members around the world.
Over the past decade, WORKTECH Academy has produced more than 150 collaborative papers and reports as well as issuing its own quarterly trend report (40 in total) and an annual World of Work review of the year ahead.
This body of work, which is accessible to members via WORKTECH Academy’s Innovation Zone, provides the basis for capturing the ten ideas shaping the future of work discussed in the new report.
Tumultuous decade
WORKTECH Academy founder and former director Jeremy Myerson explains: ‘When we launched in September 2016, our aim was to be an independent voice bringing the latest scientific evidence, academic research and trend analysis to the frontline of practice.
‘We anticipated an evident need from the workplace community for round-the-clock knowledge content, but what we didn’t anticipate was what a tumultuous decade lay ahead – ten years of restless innovation bisected by the global pandemic of 2020, which has caused seismic shifts across work and the workplace.’
Naming and framing
The ten ideas shaping the future of work are those that WORKTECH Academy has helped to name, frame or develop. Controversial aspects of workplace policy and planning can be seen in such ideas as Culture Warriors, Omnichannel Working and Hybrid Thinking. Other ideas explore how attitudes to employees have pivoted in the years since the pandemic, for example Radical Inclusion, The Green Arc and Precision Wellbeing.
Advances in technology are inevitably reflected in Evolving Intelligence, which looks at the impact of AI, and Self-Adapting Office, which explores smart use of data. The importance of place in a digital world is emphasised by such ideas as Super-Experience and Desk to District.
‘The ten big ideas we have highlighted aren’t intended to be a comprehensive capture of the past decade but instead points of light in a complex landscape that is constantly changing,’ explains Jeremy Myerson. ‘It has been thrilling ride staying abreast of new developments in the field over the past ten years and making sense of them. We expect the next decade to be even more unpredictable, which is why WORKTECH Academy’s original mission from 2016 is just as relevant today.’
The report was launched in London on 24 September 2026 with a special party hosted at the Apex, a new development in Camden designed by Area, part of WORKTECH Academy’s longest standing global partner Fourfront Group.
WORKTECH Academy’s upcoming Trend Report explores these 10 ideas in more detail and what they mean for the future of work and workplace. For more in-depth research coverage, read WORKTECH Academy’s Innovation Zone – exclusive content for members and partners – here.
Join WORKTECH Academy as a member here.
