Debunking some myths
4.1. The Pervasive Nature of Myths
We want to start this report by debunking some myths – myths which continue to cloud our view of the workplace of the future.
4.2. Myth One: We’ll Work Less in the Future
The Myth: John Maynard Keynes and Jeremy Rifkin are just two of the luminaries who predicted that we would work less in the future. These predictions were based on the notion that technological progress would reduce the effort required for commerce to prosper.
The Reality: The idea that we will all be creatures of leisure and that work will take up only a minority of our waking hours exists only in the realm of science-fiction. Technology has served to remove some of the numbing tedium from working life but has created new roles and jobs.
None of the experts on our Delphi Panel envisages a future world in which we’ll work less. Demographic changes and a looming skills shortage over the next ten years suggest that working hours are likely to remain the same although those hours may well be worked outside of the traditional Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm working week.
Our consumer research supports this view. Fifty nine per cent of all workers imagine that a move to more flexible working will mean that they work more hours rather than fewer.
4.3. Myth Two: Money is Everything
The Myth: In 2020 pay will be the most motivating part of a job.
The Reality: Pay isn’t everything now, and will continue to be a lesser priority when compared to job satisfaction for UK workers.
Our research indicates that pay is only the third most important factor for British workers today. Enjoying the job is rated first (48% of the sample), followed by deriving satisfaction from your job (38%) and then salary (30%).
Pay is more important to men than to women. Over a third (37%) of men state that salary is the most important aspect of their job compared with only a quarter (24%) of women. This can be explained by the male perception that they are still the main bread-winner which women continue to reinforce.
“What are the three most important things to you about your current job?”
By gender
Source: Friends Provident/The Future Foundation/nVision | Base: 1,000 respondents aged 16+, GB, 2009
It is surprising to discover that, even during this recession, 61% of our sample expects to get a pay rise every year.
There is a clear relationship between age and the expectations of annual salary increases – younger workers are far more likely to expect annual increments (72% of the 16-24 group expect an increase whereas only 58% of the 45-54 group have such an expectation). Those in lower social grades are also more likely to expect their salaries to increase every year.
“In my current job, I expect my salary to increase every year”
% agree or strongly agree, by gender, age and social grade
4.4. Myth Three: Gender Equality in the Workplace by 2020
The Myth: The steady progress towards employment parity for both sexes will have been achieved by 2020.
The Reality: Women will not have reached full pay parity with men by 2020.
Further incremental progress will be made as more women gradually achieve senior positions. However, it is the long term societal changes which will hold us back.
Among our Delphi panel of experts there was unanimous agreement that there will be greater flexibility in hours to allow for childcare by 2020 – which many believe will help achieve workplace equality. However, some new data from the European Social Survey shows some very traditional, even regressive, thinking among the population as a whole. Surprisingly, 37% of Britons agreed that; ‘a woman should be prepared to cut down on her paid work for the sake of her family’. One in eight Britons agree that men have more of a right to jobs when they are scarce. That these views still exist is surprising, the fact that they have the level of support that they do is, perhaps, shocking.
We also suggest that people are fatalistic about this. Looking at future expectations of pay equality, we see that, when asked to think ahead beyond 2020, only 65% of consumers anticipate that there will be equality. It seems that a sizeable group (over a third) of the population have accepted that wage equality is decades away.
“In 2030, women’s salaries will be equal to those of men’s...”
...for the same level of skills and experience”
“For each of the following, please tell me if in your opinion, in 2030 in the European Union? On average, women’s salaries will be equal to those of men’s for the same level of skills and experience”
Source: Eurobarometer/nVision | Base: 1,300 respondents aged 15+, UK, 2009
