- within Employment and HR topic(s)
- with Senior Company Executives, HR and Inhouse Counsel
- with readers working within the Retail & Leisure industries
FEBRUARY'S FUTURE OF WORK ROUND-UP
Welcome to the February edition of the Future of Work Hub newsletter - a snapshot of the latest thinking on the changing world of work.
As the world of work continues to evolve rapidly, our monthly newsletter brings you the latest thinking on emerging trends and how employers can best respond and prepare.
FUTURE OF WORK HUB 2026 REPORT
Future @ Work 2026: Building for future readiness
Based on insights from nearly 700 organisations, our 2026 report explores how businesses are adapting to continuous disruption and the growing need for change. Our report offers practical recommendations to help leaders build the agility and resilience needed for the future.
Download the report and watch our summary video here
NEWS AND INSIGHTS
AI's labour market impact
Writing for the WEF, Oxford Internet Institute's Fabian Stephany discusses how AI's transformative economic impact hinges on whether workers and organisations can acquire and apply the skills needed to make it productive. He explores the implications for wages, job quality and hiring decisions.
Reshaping early careers
Writing for the IFOW, Professor Abigail Marks urges employers to play a central role in tackling the UK's long standing youth unemployment challenge, highlighting how mismatches between education, training and labour market demand persist despite policy efforts.
AI workforce transformation
Recent BCG research reveals that only 5% of companies are unlocking major financial gains from AI. These "future-built" organisations recognise that value comes from how they empower their people to capitalise on technology, investing in leadership engagement and holistic, structured upskilling to drive transformation.
What makes work meaningful?
Writing for the IFOW, Professor Ying Zhou explains why cultivating meaningful work can give employers a powerful competitive advantage. Drawing on insights from the UK Skills and Employment Survey 2024, she highlights what organisations – and society more broadly – should be doing now.
Learning at work
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, writing for Forbes, explains that in an era of less linear careers, constant change and longer working lives, learning works best when it happens in everyday moments – in meetings, conversations, challenges and transitions – rather than being deferred to formal settings.
REPORTS
Our pick of this month's reports:
In-Demand Skills 2026
This Upwork report explores how AI skills are reshaping existing roles, finding a trend towards job recomposition rather than mass replacement. While AI is often framed as a force that unilaterally reshapes work, it argues that its real impact is inseparable from the people who use it, the organisations that deploy it and the policies that govern it, and provides a roadmap for how businesses can adapt.
CIPD Labour Market Outlook
The CIPD's latest Labour Market Outlook finds that employer confidence remains subdued, with hiring intentions at historically low levels outside the pandemic. It reveals that employers are increasingly concerned about rising employment costs, with three-quarters expecting the Employment Rights Act to increase these, intensifying pressures on recruitment and workforce planning.
You can access more reports on the Future of Work Hub.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
Future @ Work 2026 webinar
Hosted earlier this month, our webinar explored the emerging trends shaping the future of work, the most significant themes from our Future @ Work 2026 report and outlined a practical roadmap for long-term resilience and future readiness. If you missed the session, you can catch-up here. Access spotlights on specific sectors and regions here.
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