The future of work… through the rearview mirror

A teenage girl balances bricks on her head as she trails her mother across a construction site. Her sandals are worn, her steps practiced. She adjusts her dupatta, hums a tune from an old Bollywood film, and glances at the sun to guess the time. A few miles away, another girl, same age, same country, is attending a virtual design sprint, debating user flows on Figma with a team that spans time zones. Both are building. Only one is seen as the future. Only one is seen as talent.

Different pin codes. Same timeline. Wildly unequal clocks.

We talk about the future of work with urgency and ambition. Artificial intelligence, automation, agility, and adaptability. Even in 2025, the future still arrives first for those who were already ahead. The starting line is still staggered. For many, it is still invisible.

The conversations in leadership rooms across the world are rightly focused on transformation, yet the risk is that we continue to build a future for the prepared few, while the rest watch from the margins.

Who Are We Designing For?

We say, “Dream big.”
But for millions, dreaming is not a right. It’s a luxury.

Digital access, safe environments, skilling opportunities, healthcare, mentorship. These are not benefits. These are the minimum conditions required for ambition to survive.

Globally, one in five young people is not in employment, education, or training. In India, nearly 75% of the workforce is informally employed. And in rural areas, girls still drop out of school at twice the rate of boys. These are not just social statistics. They are signals of economic potential left unrealised. Without intervention, the future of work may simply become a smarter version of the past. More tech, same exclusions.

Brilliance does not reside only in privileged places. It blooms everywhere: in forgotten villages, underserved towns, and systems that have long been broken. But brilliance needs scaffolding. Without access, ecosystems swallow potential before it can be seen.

Are we preparing the world for work, or just preparing the lucky to win again?

What We Must Do

Inclusion is not a downstream initiative. It is the upstream foundation of a truly transformative workforce. Equity must sit at the very heart of every talent strategy.

We must build early learning pipelines in communities that have been left out for too long. We must create access to meaningful work through grassroots upskilling programmes.

We must cultivate pathways for women, first-generation professionals, and learners from under-represented backgrounds. We must mentor and invest in talent others may not even see yet. And this cannot be framed as charity but as a competitive strategy.

The vision is clear. Inclusive innovation creates better businesses. Equitable workplaces build stronger economies. When we design with intent, growth is not only faster, it is fairer.

The World Economic Forum estimates that more than 1 billion people will need to be reskilled by 2030. If we only prepare those already positioned to succeed, we will lose far more than potential. We will lose relevance.

Rearview Reflection

Think of someone who didn’t make it—not for lack of talent, but for lack of time, money, or maps. A quiet brilliance, erased by systemic silence.

Now imagine a world where they are part of the story.

Where the girl on the construction site joins a remote-first skilling programme designed for her reality.

Where her mother is part of a community-based digital upskilling programme that leads to stable employment. Where talent is no longer a postcode privilege.

Where leaders measure success not just by growth, but by how widely that growth is shared.

That is the world our industries must strive to create. It may not be perfect yet, but it is possible, and that possibility is worth every effort.

We all love to talk about what’s next.
But maybe the more urgent question is: Who’s next?
And what are we willing to do to bring them in?

The future of work will be built.
The only question is: who gets to build it with us?