7 work trends to keep an eye out for in 2024

In a year that's already buzzing with AI breakthroughs and global workforce shifts, we've leveraged our experience from onboarding thousands of workers worldwide to bring you seven emerging trends that are defining the future of work:

1. Airplane Mode: Like the idea of unplugging at work and letting all those email updates and Slack dings melt away for a bit? Well, it may become standard practice for employers soon. In order to foster “deep focus,” one company—Density—is suggesting employees turn on Airplane Mode for 100 minutes and use that time to read, brainstorm, or whatever else helps employees get in the zone.

2. “Skills-First” Approach: The days of the college degree being an extremely expensive box-to-check on the resume may end. Companies worldwide are getting on board with the idea that if you’ve got the right skills, then you’re suitable for the job, even if you don’t have a 4+ year degree (or previous job titles, for that matter).

3. Rage Applying: Maybe you were passed over for a promotion, or your boss is being overbearing. Or, you’re just generally feeling mistreated at your job. One reactionary tactic you might resort to is “rage applying.” In response to unhappiness at work, the rage-applier will fire off job applications as both an emotional release and a quick look to see if better options exist. While looking for greener pastures is often necessary, we’d recommend proceeding with caution.

4. End of the Five-Day Office Week: Who even made that rule anyway? Despite the push to bring workers back to the office, some amount of work from home is here to stay, and consistent data is showing that RTO policies need to be revised. Workforces and management are questioning other parts of the employment status quo, especially in the face of daily hassles and commute costs.

5. Queenagers: Meet a new worker category—women who began their careers as early as the 1980s and were forced, through sheer will and determination, to break the glass ceiling by becoming ambitious corporate dynamos. They are typically between 45 and 65 years old, have older kids, and have relatively high incomes. Let’s hope this trend just becomes the norm.

6. Social Side Gigging: To seemingly make up for the social vacuum that remote, officeless work has created, some white-collar workers are taking up weekend jobs that have a lot of social interaction or even as a creative outlet. Foodservice and bartending are a particularly common choice amongst this crowd.

7. Unfiltered Zooming: Ditch the digital backgrounds! In the past few years, there have been significant calls to stop the excessive use of social media filters and Photoshop. 2024 might see us apply this to our digital backgrounds to encourage an authentic remote work culture. Apart from the fact virtual environments never work quite perfectly, your actual backdrop is part of you, so try not to cover it up. Tidy up, though—a little professionalism goes a long way.

Spot a trend you've seen in real life, one that struck a chord, or something we missed? Share them with your team and on social and let us know what you think by tagging us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok (or all of them).