Why the Future of Work is on the Blockchain
With dizzying new innovations coming out every day to further disrupt the market, many analysts have been deeply misled about the future of work. Looking at impressive nascent technologies like artificial intelligence, these speculators of the future wrongly predict that clever machines are going to take over the future of work, rendering it useless for humans to even hold down day jobs in the era of automation. In reality, however, other technologies are going to be more important to the future of work, with blockchain in particular standing out for its notable potential.
Here’s why the future of work is on the blockchain, and why companies everywhere will soon learn to love this decentralized ledger technology.
Negotiating contracts will never be the same
Perhaps the most notable way that blockchain services will reshape the future of work is by changing the way that we negotiation contracts. Speculators have been mulling the idea of automated “smart contracts” for years now, but only recently has technology actually advanced at a sufficient rate to make such ambitions a reality. Over the past couple of years, we’ve gradually seen the introduction of smart contracts into a diverse set of industries, illustrating that the future of work will be heavily shaped by contracts that can adjust themselves in real-time.
The impressive promise that smart contracts hold for the future of business will only grow more impressive in the near-future as blockchain services that make such clever agreements possible in the first place become more advanced. Businesses will rely on smart contracts for a wide number of reasons, but nowhere will they be more important than when it comes to negotiating complex agreements with other businesses. These companies will cut the costs of working together by removing third parties from the equation, as smart contracts will be able to manage and adjust themselves with minimal to no human oversight.
Changes to the supply chain, too, will be easier to manage with smart contracts that are powered through the blockchain. We’re going to witness more efficient supply chain management in the foreseeable future than we’ve ever enjoyed before, especially since the secure nature of blockchain technology helps build trust amongst those using it. This means that companies will be able to forge firmer relationships with their suppliers and other business partners thanks to the security and real-time updates that blockchain based contractual agreements offer.
Blockchain is also changing recruitment
Another reason that you can be confident the future of work is on the blockchain is that this technology is also changing how businesses go about recruiting the top talent in their industries. This self-sustaining public ledger is attractive to businesses who need to verify the credentials of their employees, as institutions like universities can upload qualifications to a blockchain which can be securely accessed and utilized by anyone else who has wallet access to that blockchain.
Better work history verification than companies have ever before enjoyed is also coming thanks to blockchain, ensuring that employers can guarantee candidates aren’t lying about their previous experience before hiring them to an important position. All in all, the myriad of ways in which blockchain technology is bolstering recruitment like few other recent innovations should help prove why it’s so crucial to the future of work in general.
The final reason that blockchain can be considered the future of work is that this technology is reshaping HR to a massive extent. HR professionals around the country have been swamped lately; a rapidly changing “gig economy” has reshaped what it means to hire and retain workers in the long-term. Blockchain’s tumultuous disruption of HR has ultimately proved to be a boon to the experts working there, however, as it’s enabling them to cut the costs of doing their jobs while simultaneously boosting their cyber security.
Far too often, business owners and analysts are counting HR out when it comes to determining the future of work, yet human resources will grow ever-more important in an economic era where digital machines take on new responsibilities and free up humans for other deeds.
The digital age needs blockchain
It should go without saying that the digital age needs blockchain to succeed, yet many business owners still aren’t paying enough attention to the way that the future of work is being determined on the blockchain as we speak. Whether it’s radically overhauling the way that employers can vet their potential hires or changing the way that HR departments operate on a daily basis, blockchain technology is disruptive in all the right ways and clearly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Those who are focused on other nascent developments like AI should pause and consider the still-developing potential of blockchain. The future is largely uncertain, but one thing that’s increasingly indisputable is that blockchain services will be in wide demand for the next few years.
via https://www.ohnocrypto.com
Chris Porteous, Khareem Sudlow