Students predict what the workplace of the future will look like

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Consider the office worker of 1983. He wore a suit to work every day. When his boss said jump, he asked, “How high?” His primary means of communication was the telephone.

Thirty years later, this worker is nearing retirement. His office is filled with young employees who have very different attitudes, perspectives and goals than he did all those years ago. But nearly 30 years from now, the worker of 2040 will be vastly different from today’s young employeers.

But what will this future look like?

Students from across Canada are at McMaster this week, sharing their visions for the future of work as part of Focus 2040 – a national business competition run by the DeGroote School of Business. Focus 2040 challenges the leaders of tomorrow to put themselves 30 years in the future and predict what the workforce and workplace will look like.

The top 10 finalists – who represent McMaster, York, Western, Ottawa, Guelph and Ryerson – will deliver their final presentations to a panel of judges Thursday, March 28 at McMaster’s Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington. On the line is $10,000 in prize money, as well as internships with Ford, BPI group and McLean & Company.

The event is open to all students at McMaster. Participants will be able to attend workshops on job searching and networking, connect with sponsors and business leaders, hear from sponsor and keynote speaker Rob Parker (vice-president of human resources and corporate communications at ArcelorMittal) and watch as the Focus 2040 top 10 present their innovative visions for the future.

McMaster is well represented in the competition, with two commerce students, a student from the Arts & Science Program and a four-person team comprised of two commerce and two MBA students making the finals.

Mario Vasilescu from University of Ontario Institute of Technology won an internship with BPI Group in last year’s Focus 2040 competition. “BPI has been fantastic. I’ve been given the room to explore some really exciting and challenging work, and I’m quite grateful for it,” he said.

In the first stage of the competition, students were asked to predict how current and future trends would impact the worker and workplace of 2040. In the second phase, competitors proposed a new work system that would effectively address the trends and their implications identified in phase one. On Thursday, finalists will have to put their findings from phase one and two together and share their vision for human resources management in 2040.

ArcelorMittal’s Parker explains that the company’s support of Focus 2040 builds on their core philosophy that people are the strength of the organization. “We believe in leadership that is innovative, bold, and always looking for continuous improvement; these are all key elements of the Focus 2040 contest,” he said.

For more information or to register for the closing ceremonies, please visit focus2040.com.