So far 2022 looks promising and it is predicted that this will be one of the most career defining years for people from all walks of life, be it renowned companies or the smallest of bussinesses, says RAMANUJ MUKHERJEE
Over the last two years, the way people work has seen some massive shifts and adjustments. Changes that would have affected work for the generations to come have happened in a short amount of time as the workforces from all over the world experience a paradigm shift. While 2020 was a year filled with speculation and doubt, 2021’s predictions pointed in the direction of hope. Now that we’ve stepped into 2022, it is predicted that this will be one of the most career defining years for people from all walks of life, be it big name companies or even the smallest of businesses.
Here are five very powerful global trends that are shaping the career of every professional in today’s world:
Abundance of capital: the private and public markets never had as much capital as it has - thanks to a middle aged global working class pumping in their savings in all kinds of investments. What are the industries and what are the businesses that will attract this capital? You would be better off working for those companies that are better positioned to attract this capital.
Economic populism - a new generation of bankers more worried about 'income inequality' and less about inflation are printing money to fulfil political objectives, and resulting asset inflation will impact all of our finances and careers. How you plan your finances should take this into account.
Nearshoring: as China becomes increasingly unreliable, politically hostile and under competitive as a trading partner - more countries like Japan and USA will be forced to bring some manufacturing back to their own countries or look for alternative manufacturing countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, and maybe even India. This has put a lot of economic equations in flux.
Remote work: this has created unprecedented opportunities for geoarbitrage in services (as opposed to international trade in goods). Till now, this was unthinkable for most organisations outside IT. In 2022, remote work is mainstream. These are early days, but as more organisations learn to work with remote talent and technical tools that enable remote work, the world will begin to look very different in the next 5-10 years. Most of us do not anticipate the sweeping changes that are on the way.
Shift to green energy: the most world changing impact will come from increasing global investment to finance the shift away from fossil fuel. Entire new industries of gigantic proportion are springing up. Entire economies will transform due to this shift. For example, India's fundamental economic reality will change as we shift to solar and nuclear energy from petroleum and coal. It would be like lifting a curse on the Indian economy, or cancelling a massive tax, which we pay due to currently being a huge net energy importer.
Also, a silent revolution has happened in the Indian economy already. As UPI transactions have killed a lot of cash - a lot more people have come under the tax net.
Number of people filing ITR has quadrupled. A lot more MSME businesses are within the formal economy today, paying taxes and complying to laws as they have adopted digital payments thanks to speed and volume. Even a local paan shop or juice seller can't operate without digital payments as consumers overwhelmingly prefer it.
As a result, tax revenue for the government has been rapidly & unprecedentedly growing in India. This augurs well for taxpayers and government spending capacity.
The world is changing. India has already changed. 2021 and 2022 are going to be remembered as the years the consumer and the workforce became aware of their surroundings on such a micro level, that they seeked out to fill in the gaps in their professional lives themselves.
We are on the cusp of great changes that most professionals do not understand or anticipate. And while the changes might seem overwhelming and unpredictable (especially with news of major stocks falling, lay-offs and major changes in people’s work habits), it is important to keep upto date with the surroundings and maintain a level headed approach to said changes.
Those of you who are reading signs on the wall and aligning your career with these changes stand to benefit greatly.
The Writer is Ramanuj Mukherjee, Co-Founder & CEO at LawSikho