After a wildly tumultuous start to the decade, it feels risky to posit predictions for 2021. What we can say confidently is that COVID-19 spurred a massive shift in where and how employees work, and  how companies attract and engage talent  — and many of these changes are likely to endure long after the threat from the pandemic has passed. 

In mid-2020, McKinsey described this moment in time as “The Quickening.”1 It observed that in 90 days beginning March 2020, the world jumped forward 10 years. From ecommerce and mobile engagement to telehealth and remote work, COVID-19 hastened us into the future and laid bare the gap between those who have embraced digital transformation and those who lag far behind. 

We have collected the very best future-looking research to help talent leaders understand how COVID-19 has reshaped the world of work, and the most important trends and innovations that will flow from that disruption.