March 2026: Meaningful Work, Taxing Jobs, Global Human Capital Trends - Corporate Governance - United Kingdom - Mondaq

Welcome to the March edition of the Future of Work Hub newsletter - a snapshot of the latest thinking on the changing world of work.

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MARCH'S FUTURE OF WORK ROUND-UP

Welcome to the March edition of the Future of Work Hub newsletter - a snapshot of the latest thinking on the changing world of work.

As the world of work continues to evolve rapidly, our monthly newsletter brings you the latest thinking on emerging trends and how employers can best respond and prepare.

In this episode, Lucy chats to Barry Schwartz, TED speaker and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College. They discuss how fostering meaningful work and autonomy offers significant opportunities for organisations to unlock better outcomes and why trust, rather than rules and incentives, is the foundation of effective leadership.

As organisations face mounting cost pressures and AI takes on many entry-level responsibilities, this CIPD podcast explores the need to redesign work, opportunity and progression to prevent capability gaps from emerging in succession pipelines, performance and long-term organisational resilience.

In an era of AI-driven disruption, we examine whether reducing or eliminating tax on employment could help protect jobs and what lessons can be learned from low tax employment models in countries like Denmark and New Zealand.

Writing for Forbes, Bain & Co’s Sarah Elk argues that most AI programmes stall when technological transformation outpaces workforce change. She emphasises the importance of unifying technology, HR and operations by investing in smart teaming, strategic workforce planning, reskilling and redeployment.

Harvard Business Review discusses new research revealing how certain patterns of AI use are driving cognitive exhaustion among employees. It recommends specific management, team and organisational practices to reduce burnout and mental fatigue as AI work intensifies.

The LSE argues that while public debate often focuses on whether AI will replace workers, the more immediate and economically significant effect lies in how firms are restructuring work and emphasises the role of corporate governance frameworks in guiding this transformation.

In an economy defined by disruption and transformation, Laetitia Vitaud, writing for Fast Company, explains why women over 50 are among the most underused sources of resilience, intelligence and practical capability in the labour market.

Our pick of this month's reports:

Deloitte’s 2026 report explores the choices organisations need to make now to adapt in an AI-driven, rapidly changing world. It reveals that the two most important drivers of success are accelerating how people and resources are orchestrated for work, and increasing their workforce’s ability to adapt at speed.

PwC’s 2026 annual Women in Work index tracks female participation, employment and progression across 33 OECD countries and considers how this is shaped by ongoing geopolitical volatility, economic challenges, demographic changes and the impact of AI.

BCG’s recent report emphasises HR’s central role in enabling organisations to thrive amid uncertainty and change. It highlights aligning people strategy with business strategy, leading the digital and AI transformation, building workforce and leadership capabilities and adopting a robust change-management approach as key areas of focus for CHROs.

You can access more reports on the Future of Work Hub.

Peer-to-Peer with Richard Vanner

A key theme this month is how organisations are responding to an environment of constant change and unpredictability. So this month we revisit our recent podcast conversation with Richard Vanner, HR Director at WTW, who emphasises that how change is delivered matters just as much as what is implemented.

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