2026年职场世界：20大职场趋势

THE WORLD OF WORK IN 2026 THE TRENDS HUMAN THE WORLDOF WORKIN 2026 Welcome toWORKTECHAcademy’s surveyof trends andideas that willimpact work andthe workplace inthe year ahead The fourth and final cluster oftrends centres around the idea ofgoing ‘Back to Basics’. Trends 16to 20 highlight the desire to find anew baseline for work expectationsand productivity – and then startbuilding from there. These trendscover employees’ sense of belongingat work, the pushback on return-to-office policies, and of what peoplewant from a workplace experiencetoday – spoiler: it’s not more andmore amenities. look at the workplace as a living,evolving system where spacesbleed into each other and arecentred more on adaptabilityand function than aesthetics. Inthis context, digital blends intophysical, fixed spaces are quicklybecoming obsolete, and newmetrics are required to understandhow space is performing. Despite causing major disruptionto the labour market, AI will alsohelp create new entry pointsfor graduate workers, createopportunities for new jobs, andoffer efficiencies to clear a path forgreater innovation. While AI haslargely been the catalyst of changein 2025, this year it will take on amore supportive role to plug thegaps it has exposed. As we look to 2026, this yearmay not completely overturn orrevolutionise everything we knowabout work. But these trendssignal incremental changes thatwill slowly start to change ourperceptions, the way we design, andour expectations of work. We lookforward to hearing your thoughts,and we thank our contributorsfor their diverse and expertperspectives on the year ahead. These trends consider where weare today – and how we will adaptin the future. In analysing submissions to thereport, we recognised that therewere four ‘megatrends’ emerging.The 20 trends outlined in thisreport show that 2026 will be ayear of enhanced performance,sustainable growth, adaptivebest-in-class design, and areturn to basic human needs. The third cluster of trends exploresthe idea of ‘Sustainable Growth’.Trends 11 to 15 tackle this themefrom different vantage points –economic, environmental, andthe labour market – moving frommicro-innovation hubs where localproduction ecosystems are createdfrom underutilised real estateassets to the resurgence of biophilicdesign to support neurodivergentemployees, and the emergence ofa new category of sky-blue collarworker. This megatrend exploreshow the current landscape of workis broken. In order for it to renewand grow, change needs to happenthis year. The final trend in this reportsignals a message that featuredin our annual WORKTECH AcademyInnovation Day, held in November2025. The idea of ‘The FutureMundane’ stems from the work offutures designer and author NickFoster, whose new book plays intothe theory that we ‘overestimatethe impact of change in the shortterm and underestimate it in thelong term.’ The first cluster of trends can becategorised by the megatrend‘Human Performance Reset’. Trendsone to five explore how offices areshifting from productivity theatresto performance enhancers –focusing on human capability, skillsgaps and human-centred design.Our first trend focuses on managingthe impact of AI ‘Workslop’ – theword of the year for 2025. You’ll notice that AI does notfeature as a megatrend for 2026.This is because its influencethroughout 2025 means that AI isnow embedded throughout thesetrends – it is not a single behemoththat will dominate conversationsthis year, but a layer that underpinswhat work will be about. Althoughseemingly contradictory, AIassistance will help us highlightwhat it means to be human andshine a light on our basic needsand expectations. What will the landscape of worklook like in 2026? We invitedmembers and partners in theWORKTECH Academy’s globalnetwork to contribute theirpredictions and included a few ofour own for good measure. What’semerged is a broad spectrum oftrends that we believe will helpshape what corporate occupiers,developers, designers and techinnovators do in the year ahead. Kasia MaynardHead of Editorial & Research,WORKTECH Academy The second cluster of trends fallinto the megatrend of ‘WorkplacesWithout Walls’. Trends six to 10 Findings from Leapsome’s 2026Workforce Trends report show thatone in four employees remain intheir role primarily to avoid risk,while more than half say they arenot staying because they enjoytheir work. Across the UK, US,Germany and the Netherlands,employees cite reduced flexibility,shorter contracts and rapidlyevolving skill requirements asbarriers to movement. entry-level development pathways,while more than half of HR teamsreport not backfilling departures. Ascareer pathways become less visible,employees orient toward preservingstability in the present rather thanpursuing uncertain futures. No 2 RETENTIONPARADOX In this environment, theworkplace becomes a criticalsignal. Where organisationsoffer visible developmentpathways and credible futures,workplaces reinforce participationand b