The workplace

A view from Friends Provident

Friends Provident is delighted to present the first of our ‘Visions of Britain 2020’ reports. Working with the Future Foundation, we aim to paint an insightful and realistic picture of British society ten years from now.

Why 2020? By the end of the last decade, the UK had undergone profound economic and social change since the Millennium celebrations. For most of it, we prospered like never before, as the global economy boomed and British business flourished. Then came the great recession and the shattering of the illusion that growth would – somehow – never end.

If the last decade brought great change, there are very good reasons for thinking that the next decade will have an even bigger impact on our society, our daily lives and our financial futures.

Think of the questions which now face us. How quickly will we recover from the global recession, and what does that mean for real incomes a decade from now? What opportunities and threats will British workers face from the continuing globalisation of the world economy? What new skills will we need to really prosper in high-growth knowledge-based industries?  If we have to make cutbacks in social spending, what does that mean for personal healthcare and provision for the growing elderly population? Will we be happy to continue working and earning way beyond the age of 65?

Despite current economic problems, we at Friends Provident believe that the next decade will present great opportunities for the British people. As we will demonstrate in our reports, with careful planning and consideration of the choices available to us, there is every reason to believe we will have more freedom than ever before to shape our own destinies.

We hope the fascinating insights within ‘Visions of Britain 2020’ will help guide you in these choices.

We start with ‘The Workplace’.

Trevor Matthews, CEO, Friends Provident