Preparing For The Future Of Work: Lenovo’s Jerry Paradise On The Top Five Trends To Watch In The Future Of Work

There have been major disruptions in recent years that promise to change the very nature of work. From the ongoing shifts caused by the COVID19 pandemic, the impacts caused by automation, and other possible disruptions to the status quo, many wonder what the future holds in terms of employment. For example, a report by the McKinsey Global Institute that estimated automation will eliminate 73 million jobs by 2030.

To address this open question, we reached out to successful leaders in business, government, and labor, as well as thought leaders about the future of work to glean their insights and predictions on the future of work and the workplace.

As a part of this interview series called “Preparing For The Future Of Work”, we had the pleasure to interview Jerry Paradise.

Jerry Paradise, Vice President of Global Commercial & Product Management at Lenovo IDG leads the team that is responsible for all of Lenovo’s commercial products outside the data center. Jerry is passionate about PC innovation and developing exciting new computing experiences for work, learning and play.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers like to get an idea of who you are and where you came from. Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where do you come from? What are the life experiences that most shaped your current self?

First off, thanks for having me. As a 16-year veteran of Lenovo, I’ve had an incredible journey at this company. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of the team that launched the world’s first foldable PC, among many other innovative products. I am originally from New London, Connecticut and have always been drawn to the STEM world. I studied computer engineering and electronics engineering at North Carolina State University and spent 12 years at IBM before joining Lenovo.

What do you expect to be the major disruptions for employers in the next 10–15 years? How should employers pivot to adapt to these disruptions?

As a technologist, I know how quickly things can change. There have never been so many new challenges across the world, creating unprecedented innovation opportunities. In the next ten years, I expect a mandate for sustainable materials and practices across industries. I also expect to see a completely new way of viewing the workspace — more of a concept and less of a physical place.

Employers will undoubtedly encounter challenges to adapting new sustainability mandates. It often adds expense, and changing materials and processes has supply chain impacts. But if you stay committed to learning and experimenting, you can find solutions that help your bottom line and the planet. For example, in recent years Lenovo has developed and implemented a low temperature solder process which reduces the temperature needed to solder components to motherboards. This requires far less energy to attach components thereby reducing CO2 emissions. This is just one example of where we are helping the industry reduce its carbon footprint. Small steps will add up to a significant change.

Employers also need to divorce from the traditional idea of an office to achieve the future workspace. Technology today allows team members to collaborate easily from around the world.

The choice as to whether or not a young person should pursue a college degree was once a “no-brainer”. But with the existence of many high profile millionaires (and billionaires) who did not earn degrees, as well as the fact that many graduates are saddled with crushing student loan debt and unable to find jobs it has become a much more complex question. What advice would you give to young adults considering whether or not to go to college?

The best advice I could give to an aspiring young adult is to have self-belief and plenty of grit. Achieving your personal goals are less about a degree depending on the industry you want to be in, and more about your drive, ambition, and grit. I work with many successful peers and colleagues who do not have college degrees, but the answer to the question is not a yes or no answer. Much depends on the individual and the career they wish to pursue. Take time to research, seek advice and speak to people and companies who have that experience.

Despite the doom and gloom predictions, there are, and likely still will be, jobs available. How do you see job seekers having to change their approaches to finding not only employment, but employment that fits their talents and interests?

The world of work is undoubtably changing as we embrace a more hybrid environment. This can prove to be a good opportunity for job seekers as companies expand their talent search beyond specific physical locations. Of course, companies will always seek experience, which puts many job seekers in a catch 22 situation of not having much experience and not much opportunity to get some.

I would advise those job seekers to not rely just on their CVs or, as discussed earlier, a college degree. Go above and beyond the education, look for internships and volunteer work to get experience and an opportunity to show off the commitment and passion that companies are looking for.

The statistics of artificial intelligence and automation eliminating millions of jobs, appears frightening to some. For example, Walmart aims to eliminate cashiers altogether and Dominos is instituting pizza delivery via driverless vehicles. How should people plan their careers such that they can hedge their bets against being replaced by automation or robots?

I would encourage people to embrace the change that technology brings rather than fear it. AI and automation can free up our time so we can focus on more complex “human skills’’ like creativity or problem solving and increase specialization. Technology advancements also open new job and training opportunities.

Through our ThinkReality work, we’ve seen that AR/VR can enhance worker training and thus worker experience. Assisted by AR/VR tools, workers can learn skilled tasks more quickly, increasing employee engagement and retention, while allowing employees to train more often and improve knowledge retention as well. ​

Smarter technology can also benefit workers who spend extended amounts of time online. For example, Lenovo PCs intelligently and intuitively recognize the user, enable gaze-based interactions and promote digital wellness by reminding users to take breaks.

These AI and automation technologies require specific people talent and skillsets to create, develop, install, and manage.

Technological advances and pandemic restrictions hastened the move to working from home. Do you see this trend continuing? Why or why not?

Yes, I do believe hybrid work is here to stay. According to Lenovo’s own customer surveys, 90% of businesses plan to keep a hybrid model in place where at least some of the workforce is remote. Workers have grown accustomed to flexibility over the last 19 months and have shown that productivity can be maintained regardless of location.

With advancements in managed IT services, today’s IT team can successfully manage a distributed workforce by remotely addressing device issues, pushing software updates, and securing endpoints to ensure that hybrid work is both sustainable and safe in the long term.

In saying that, flexibility is key when it comes to remote or office work. Giving individuals the freedom of choice, within a defined set of boundaries will make that company more attractive to retain and attract the best talent.

What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support the fundamental changes to work?

While the shift towards cloud-based collaboration and productivity was already underway, the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation initiatives across so many functions.

Strengthening cybersecurity practices is critical to supporting the future of work. Previously, with employees onsite, 80% — 90% of people were inside the firewall within the corporate network. If you entered your company’s building with your security badge, you were inside the VPN and deemed safe to access the network.

Now, 80–90% of employees are outside the building at least some of the time and are often using their own devices on potentially vulnerable home networks or remote hotspots without suitable VPN protection.

At Lenovo, we’re taking a multi-layer approach to security to make the hardware design as secure as possible — from supply chain integrity to endpoint protection for the end user.

On a broader level, we expect changes to be incremental rather than radical, but all with the common goal of boosting productivity and personal well-being. Social interactions will continue to be encouraged, both remotely and office-based. Reducing commute time and stress will benefit employees and businesses as they reap the benefits of additional productivity. There should be discipline in ensuring that work/life balance is not impacted by extended working hours.

What changes do you think will be the most difficult for employers to accept? What changes do you think will be the most difficult for employees to accept?

With Gen Z entering the workforce, employee expectations are changing rapidly. A recent Gallup poll cited concern for employee wellbeing, ethical leadership and diversity as corporate traits that both Gen Z and millennial workers look for in an employer. Moving forward, I see employees and employers working closely to achieve a sustainable balance for work satisfaction and productivity.

For example, as companies implement more rigorous cybersecurity practices to enable the continuation of hybrid work, employees may express concern for the limitations for corporate oversight infringing on their personal privacy. Employers should offer transparency and resources for employees to understand what is being asked of them, and why, when corporate security is at risk. It’s important to note however that protection from cybercrime is not just about technology, it’s a mindset change. We need to change the “It won’t happen to me” thinking.

The COVID-19 pandemic helped highlight the inadequate social safety net that many workers at all pay levels have. Is this something that you think should be addressed? In your opinion how should this be addressed?

There is no real “going back” to the way things were pre-COVID. We believe in cooperation between government and businesses to address important societal issues impacting their local communities, such as closing the worker skills gap, generating new job opportunities, and addressing systemic inequality.

Despite all that we have said earlier, what is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?

Lenovo recently hosted its annual Tech World conference focused on “smarter technology for our next reality.” The event left me inspired and optimistic about our current transition to hybrid working models. We are just starting to see the next generation of devices that can better understand the context of the user experience.

For example, when developing smart enhancements for the PC, we need to consider the user’s environment — whether they’re in a room with other people, sitting outside, having a side conversation, moving their device while talking, and more.

By reducing background noise and improving video quality, I can focus on listening to the person on the other end. These enhancements to the remote collaboration experience ultimately make it more natural for the user. I am excited to see how teams deepen their collaboration when they don’t have to think about the technology between them.

Historically, major disruptions to the status quo in employment, particularly disruptions that result in fewer jobs, are temporary with new jobs replacing the jobs lost. Unfortunately, there has often been a gap between the job losses and the growth of new jobs. What do you think we can do to reduce the length of this gap?

As a technology solutions provider, our goal is to help companies maintain business continuity in times of disruption so they can retain their workforce. To mitigate impact on employment we would encourage individuals and companies to train and re-train. Be prepared and embrace future developments and offer employees opportunities to expand and extend their skillsets. Businesses who are better prepared for disruption will thrive, while others will always be playing catch up.

Okay, wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Top 5 Trends To Watch In the Future of Work?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. It’s not ‘hybrid’ or ‘remote’ work — it’s just work, no matter where you are located. We now know that hybrid work is here to stay and productivity hasn’t suffered in the long run. In fact, Lenovo’s Future of Work research found that a majority (67%) of employees and IT teams believe their company’s productivity improved during remote work. The majority of employees also now view their work location as irrelevant and want their compensation to be tied to job skills — not impacted by regional location.
2. Contextual AI is going to enhance your job experience, not make it obsolete. According to a new report from Stanford University, AI is developing in ways that improve its ability to collaborate with and support people, rather than in ways that mimic human intelligence. Thus, we are now entering an era where our devices, particularly PCs, can learn our behavior and adapt in real time to optimize for productivity and connectivity while offering a more personalized user experience.
3. Cybersecurity will be a priority for every employee, not just the IT department. As our work lives become increasingly digital, unfortunately so do security threats. According to Cognyte, the first half of 2021 witnessed nearly as many ransomware attacks as the whole of 2020, which had already seen a record number of attacks. Cybersecurity is at the forefront of employer priorities, especially as the workforce is increasingly dispersed physically. Securing device endpoints from external threats will require active participation from every employee. Employers may tie performance incentives to strong cybersecurity habits, ensuring digital hygiene is a part of everyone’s job requirements.
4. Worker wellness comes first. The global work revolution has meant longer hours and more time spent on our devices for many. A recent survey found that 41% of workers have experienced burnout during the past few months, and the average American is spending up to 13 hours per day in front of digital devices. Technology can play an important role in helping workers maintain healthy and sustainable habits to prevent further burnout. For example, Lenovo’s PCs offer blue light filters to enhance eye comfort and can also send notifications encouraging breaks from screen time or to adjust posture after extended periods of screen use.
5. We are entering the era of the “XPU”. Computers no longer have a monopoly on chips. Everything from cars and planes, to phones, TVs and refrigerators are embedded with powerful processors now. We are quickly moving beyond CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit) to develop highly specialized, custom chips — an XPU, where the X stands for that particular chip’s function. This could include a specialized gaming chip focused on superlative performance for live streaming, or a collaboration chip focused on real time image processing for smoother video and audio clarity. In the future, we won’t need a “one size fits all” chip for all applications.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how this quote has shaped your perspective?

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” by T. S. Eliot

Throughout my life I have found that significant progress and breakthroughs are inseparable from uncomfortable risks. This holds for personal and professional growth, relationships, technological breakthroughs, and business success. Professionally speaking, many of the biggest product and business breakthroughs that I was a part of at IBM and Lenovo came with real potential to fail. You must accept that it’s part of the process and push on.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would choose to have breakfast with Larry Ellison. Larry is one of the most profound innovators and risk takers in two areas that I am most passionate — technology and competitive sailing. Larry came from humble beginnings and is now one of the most successful innovators of our time in the world. He ran Oracle, had storied battles and victories with industry tech giants, and he brought that same passion to competitive sailing, ultimately leading Oracle Team USA to win the America’s Cup in 2013 with a historic 8 straight win finish. We would have plenty to talk about.

Our readers often like to follow our interview subjects’ careers. How can they further follow your work online?

You can find me on LinkedIn and Twitter — and you can keep up with Lenovo on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.

About the Interviewer: Phil La Duke is a popular speaker & writer with more than 500 works in print. He has contributed to Entrepreneur, Monster, Thrive Global and is published on all inhabited continents. His first book is a visceral, no-holds-barred look at worker safety, I Know My Shoes Are Untied! Mind Your Own Business. An Iconoclast’s View of Workers’ Safety. His most recent book is Lone Gunman: Rewriting the Handbook On Workplace Violence Prevention listed as #16 on Pretty Progressive magazine’s list of 49 books that powerful women study in detail. His third book, Blood In My Pockets Is Blood On Your Hands is expected in March followed by Loving An Addict: Collateral Damage Of the Opioid Epidemic due to be released in June. Follow Phil on Twitter @philladuke or read his weekly blog www.philladuke.wordpress.com