The Workforce Futurist Newsletter
The Workforce Futurist Newsletter was started in 2020 as the world of work was being transformed in the Digital Covid age. My Book proposal on building a preferable future of work was put on hold as the world changed more quickly than the book publication cycle which can take a couple of years.
The newsletter on Substack enabled me to put out ideas more frequently and get feedback to hone my arguments. I still plan to publish that book!
In 2024, I started writing with Matteo Cellini who published Work 3 Newsletter and we posted out content every week on both newsletter. From March 2025, we combined now publish weekly on Work 3 Newsletter exclusively.
Feel free to browse the Workforce Futurist Newsletter archive, but for fresh new insights into the World of Work - make sure you subscribe to Work 3 Newsletter!
Any new subscribers to Workforce Futurist Newsletter from March 2025 will automatically be added to Work 3 Newsletter subscriptions.
Who writes Workforce Futurist and can he really predict the future?
Andrew Spence writes Workforce Futurist Newsletter. An experienced management consultant, having worked on over 30 global transformation programmes over more than 20 years.
There is no one future of work. It is impossible to predict the future with all the swirling entities. I try to highlight emerging work trends, cut through some industry truths, and provide some encouragement for building a better future for work.
I can’t predict the future but will share three things about me,
I learnt AI programming languages as part of my Masters in the mid-1990s. AI is not new, I was inspired by its potential as a teenager.
I wrote the 1st industry paper on the impact of blockchain on work in 2017, from user-owned work-matching platforms to verifiable credentials. You can download this paper as a PDF here.
In July 2015, I made a prediction in a tweet that Donald Trump and Boris Johnson would both be elected leaders of their respective countries. At the time, bookmakers rated this outcome at 1%. The rest is history. I am less proud of this one.
What Readers Say
Outstanding speculation on the future of work Hung Lee - Recruiting Brainfood
I’ve known Andy Spence for a few years and his thinking is consistently a few years ahead of the vast majority of analysts and consultants in our space. David Green -People Analytics leader
This article has really made me think about the next normal of how work will be done and how the workforce and society will come together to add new value to what is now seen as today's broken model. Hélène Stanway Global Head of Technology Innovation AXA
Why am I writing?
My passion is to make work better. Much better.
I have been lucky to see great ways of working where teams of people are empowered to achieve great things.
I have also seen too many sad cubicles, organisations doomed to fail and under-utilised talent.
I believe we can make work better to enable more people to reach their potential.
Top articles to kick things off
Here are 5 of the most popular articles :
Unleashing the Decentralised Workforce - the first article is a long-read about redefining work in the Digital Covid Age.
Blockchain and the Decentralised Workforce - building a new infrastructure of work with Web3, self-sovereign identity, digital credentials, and DAOs from start-ups to Workday.
Why The Four-Day Week Is Not The Answer - more robust and radical solutions needed.
24 Fast Growing WorkTech Unicorns🦄 - what’s behind the great work technology bull run?
The New Technology of Teams - how organizational network analysis can increase team collaboration.
More on how Web3 will change Work:
Why You Don’t Understand Web3 - and possibly nor sociology, economics either…
NFTs and the Tokenization of Work - What crypto creators tell us about the future of work.
What Has the Internet Ever Done for HR? - the internet has brought us great benefits for the last 20 years, but what happens in the next iteration?
More on Digital Transformation:
The Quantified Worker - the potentially large benefits for employers who use technology to empower their workers and build trust
The Golden Age of Digital Technology - what the five technology surges in the last 250 years tell us about the future, and how Web3 fits in.
Five Principles for Using Technology To Build Successful Organisations
Don’t Be Just Another Person With Data - Making better organisational decisions – asking big questions, cognitive bias, the rise of people analytics and enabling smarter teams
More on the Changing Workforce:
How Work Will Rebundle Into Decentralised Teams - Platform cooperatives, digital guilds and DAOs
Preventing the Great Burnout - Improving wellbeing in the workforce
The History of Remote Work - A quick look back before we zoom too far into the future.
The Campaign for Meaningful Work - in a decentralised workforce with digital nomads, freelancers working alongside those with contracted jobs, we still need to provide meaningful work. But what is it and how do we design it?
What are the BIG Questions driving this newsletter?
What happens when we ditch the CV/resume and workers own their career data and can exchange their time and skills directly with employers?
What on earth are playbourers, modders, live streamers, slashies and data labourers and how are they making money in the decentralised workforce?
Blockchain in HR! Who are the main players building this workforce infrastructure?
The gig economy is broken in places, what do we need to make it work?
What is a DAO, a platform cooperative, a data trust, a job marketplace, a digital guild and what will organisations look like in the 2020s?
What does this all mean for society, welfare, education, careers and YOU!
Who am I?
Keynote Speech, RST Forum, Shanghai, 2019
My passion is to help build the next generation of work, making it much better and collaborating with like-minded people.
I advise organisations, foundations, start-ups/scale-ups in different industries.
I gained an MSc in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Birmingham in the UK, long before Ms Siri and Mr Watson.
I have worked on many global transformation programmes in a variety of settings from gothic psychiatric hospitals and prisons in London to vast train depots in Berlin and survived exponential visioning sessions in Los Angeles.
My research has included “Blockchain and the CHRO” with Don Tapscott, and I have recognition in the HR and Technology industry.
Before the pandemic, I spoke to more than 12,000 people at Global events in Australia, Russia, Singapore, USA, UK, France, Netherlands, China and Italy.
My Future of Work Speaker Profile
It is an honour to have my work recognised, for example, Top Key Opinion Leaders in the Future of Work from Onalytica.
It would be great to connect with other Workforce Futurists on LinkedIn and Twitter
Here is my info page with links to my research, videos and other resources.
Thanks for reading!
