“Τhe future of
work in a post
Corona world”
A virtual roller coaster ride on how
the future employee will look like
after COVID-19.
May 22, 2020 - University of Georgia

Who we are.
Angeliki Sakellaropoulou
People Operations Consultant
Stéphanie Skrindaj
People Operations Intern

Who is
Reborrn?
We are a hybrid of consultants
and makers, helping visionary
organisations and institutions
thrive in the digital economy,
through strategy, organisational
design, advanced analytics and
experience design.
While doing that, we challenge
how a modern consultancy
should look like in the 21st
century.

What this
presentation
is about.
“We want to share with
you insights on how to
navigate through the
uncharted territory of the
post-corona work arena.”

If 2020 had a trailer:

If you were in an
apocalypse what is
one thing you would
want to have an
unlimited supply of?

Movies copy life
or life copies
movies?

COVID-19
Outbreak.

Flashback
to the 2009
crisis:
Impact on students
& fresh graduates.

● A “crisis cohort” who continued to face
higher unemployment, lower pay and
worse job prospects up to a decade later.
● Lower-paid jobs for graduates – Graduates
had a 30% higher chance of being in a
lower paying occupation one year after
graduating, and remained more likely to be
in low-paid work a full 7 years later.
.
The Resolution Foundation
study on the 2008-09
recession identified:
Public Education had
a clear surge:
● The 2 most active years for starting
businesses in the US recently were
during the peak of the great Recession.

Current
reality of
work.

The unemployment rate
spiked to 14.7% in April.
20 million jobs lost during
the lockdown.
April was the worst month in
American history.
(Goldman Sachs)
A fragile
Economy.

McKinsey study:
50% of medium & small sized
companies have shut down
or laid-off employees
86% of vulnerable jobs are
paid less than $40,000 a year
The crisis has
affected those
who can least
afford it.

Most affected
sectors.
High
Low
Profitabilityimpact2020
Short-term liquidity impact
Source: Roland Berger
Financial
Services
Pharma &
Medtech
Construction
Mechanical
Engineering
Retail
Oil & Gas
Airlines
Tourism &
Travel
Automotive
Logistics
High

“The suddenness of this shift
has been incredibly disruptive.
While we might have expected
our working environments,
processes, and routines to
evolve over time, we've been
thrown directly in the deep end.”
- Ben Rogers, National Research Group (NRG)
Acceleration
of Change.

Increased investment in automation
to handle a surge in online shopping
demand.
New Jobs: Amazon and Wal-Mart
hired more than 100,000 people.
Digitization of economy: 13% of
consumers said in early April that
they were planning to browse the
sites of online retailers for the first
time.
Boom in
e-commerce.
5.6% 6.4% 7.2% 8.0% 8.8%
9.7%
10.7% 11.8%
13.2%
14.4%
16.0%
27.0%
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Apr
2020
8weeks
10 Years
U.S Ecommerce Penetration (% of Retail
Sales)50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Source: Bank of America, U.S. Department of
Commerce, ShawSpring Research

The future
will always
be uncertain.
But there is one thing that we can
certainly do: To work on ourselves, so
that we are ready no matter what the
future has in store.

Revised
opportunities
for students
& graduates.

1.38 billion learners were impacted
worldwide by the shutdown of schools.
The debate of public vs. private
education has heated up.
Change of college plans: 63% of students
said they will change their top college
priorities.
The crisis has not
only impacted
work, but also
education.

Prospects for
graduates.
More than 3.9 million people graduate from
college this spring in the United States.
McKinsey: jobs of young workers—those aged
24 and younger—are at significantly higher risk
in the crisis.
BUT situations that upend the status quo can be
ideal—ultimately—for career development.

How has the new reality affected
your career plans?
Question in
plenum.

New realities
require new
mindsets.

Top 3 focus
areas for
companies.

ROI focused &
Data backed Ideas
Start-up approach
Bold Ideas
Breaking down silos
Value-driven
Innovation.
“The economy will eventually
create new opportunities for
entrepreneurs to launch the
next wave of “world-changing”
businesses: China’s Alibaba
emerged from the 2002-2003
SARS epidemic to become one
of the world’s biggest
e-commerce companies.”
- Mark Cuban, Entrepreneur

Agility.
Decentralization
Self-management
Fast testing & decision
making
Flexibility
Failure as a learning
opportunity
"We are seeing another
trend in the world of agile
work, which is growing
beyond software
development into
operations, marketing,
finance and others, with the
concept of self-organizing
teams."
- Shawn Dickerson, Senior
Vice President of
Marketing @KeyedIn

Constant
Re- & Upskilling.
Digital Mastering
Skills > Titles
Diverse skill-sets
Hard + soft skills
“This topic of reskilling is
more relevant than ever.
Digital transformation is
happening as we speak.
Organizations need to be
open about the impact of AI
and automation on jobs,
and redesign lifelong
learning.”
- Gregg Passin, Senior
Partner @Mercer

So, that was what
companies need.
Now, what do you
need to thrive in
this new era?

Digital Native
Resilient & Adaptable
Continuous Learner
Self-driven
Entrepreneur
Virtual Networker
How is the
employee of
the future?

Be tech-driven
Developing a Virtual Presence
Finding new ways to boost
Socialization
Managing the “always on”
expectation
Digital
Nomad.

Tolerate Ambiguity
Recover quickly from difficulties
Adapt to new environments
Transition to new roles
Resilient &
Adaptable.

Have a growth mindset
Develop a learning muscle
Own & strategize your learning
Mix & Match Skills
Continuous
Learner.

See opportunities where others
see problems
Launch a side-project
Self-direct your career
Embrace unorthodox sources of
inspiration
Self-driven
Entrepreneur
.

Virtual
networker.
Invest in building a robust
network
Foster a strong virtual presence
Join communities & industry
groups
Visit virtual career fairs

We’re not
watching a movie.
We’re writing one,
together, until the
end.

Your
questions.

Thanks!