The Future of Work

Lean In Barcelona decided to dedicate its traditional and international annual event, inviting leaders from Lean In Networks to discuss the important topic of The Future of Work, A topic that evolves and changes at the same speed as our society does, and, for women, it has a high impact on its future and wellbeing.

The event took place online, this past October 4th, and this time we invited four powerful women who are leading Lean In networks in several countries: Debra Albert, Lean In Network New York leader, with more than fifteen years of experience in professional development, sales, and marketing and passionate about the Future of Work.

Giada Vegnaduzzo, Lean In Network Milano leader, who has a degree in Sociology and is an expert in market investigation. Giada was awarded for her thesis regarding gender inequality in the Italian market.

Also joined us Lenka Hlinkova, leader of Lean In Slovakia, and writer of “Female Algorithm”, the first book published in Slovakia, on motivation and education. Lenka Hlinkova is an enthusiast in helping girls and women to work in the technology field.

And, last but not least, Joanne Merecido, leader of the Lean In Food for thought Network in London. She is the Head of Group Marketing and Business Development, and her passion is to help women to push boundaries in their careers.

It was not a new topic. But we know that The Future of Work is particularly relevant to women, to whom being in the workforce, or even the ones coming back to it, has been a struggle after the pandemic, as our guests shared during the event. Because women lost jobs at a higher rate in the pandemic, as pointed out by Merecido, the importance of fostering and engaging in a network became even more important.

During the session, we covered several topics related to the theme, from the view of each of them about the current situation in their different countries, to the trends we see and how they might impact women. We talked about the adaptations required by this new way of working, such as working from home, which although can be a blessing, for bringing flexibility and helping to reduce bias, can also work against us when it makes us less visible in the office and by our peers and leaders.

We also talked about some of the issues that we now face during work, as mentioned by Debra, that is the increase of the use of bossware, or software that allows the company to monitor the productivity of their employees, which translates as a lack of trust between employer and employee, something that need to improve and that will be important permanently.

Regarding this, Giada brought us some of the reasons why we see the rise of movements like the Quiet Quitting, which is happening mostly because of bad leadership that needs to improve on soft skills and share more. Covid changed our priorities and emotional health is as important as technical skills.

In addition to this, Lenka shared some of her experience in Slovakia, where she believes that IT education should improve to be more inclusive for girls and women, as most of the numbers still show that it is a male-dominated area and we cannot afford this any longer.

The event reminded us that everyone is responsible to eradicate gender bias and there is, still, a lot to do. The bright side is that the new generation is learning from us and wants to have a better career and improve society as a whole.

The questions raised by the audience were great and we could have been for hours. This is a topic we will bring back to our events. In the meantime, watch the replay if you missed it or want to watch it again, and below you will find the list of recommendations about the topic from our guests.

Find also below the great cloud word we created among all with your one action to succeed in the Future of Work.