Future Economic Prospects and Strategic People Practice

Covering Assessment Criterion 1.4 of 7CO01, this video focuses on how long-term economic trends bear on workforce strategy, employment patterns and management practice. The content moves across several interconnected forces — demographic change, technological transformation, the sustainability transition and globalisation — examining each through the lens of what it means for organisations and the people professionals who advise them. Rather than offering fixed predictions, the video treats economic uncertainty as a condition to be managed through adaptable thinking rather than single-scenario planning.

The demographic dimensions of the discussion include ageing populations in developed economies, pressures on pension sustainability and healthcare provision, and the tightening of labour supply as workforce entry rates shift. Alongside this, the video addresses artificial intelligence and automation as forces that may reshape employment patterns in ways comparable to earlier industrial revolutions, with attention to which tasks and human capabilities are most affected. The sustainability transition and its restructuring of carbon-intensive sectors also features, as does the emergence of new roles within the green economy — both of which carry direct implications for workforce composition, skill requirements and long-term workforce planning.

The international dimension of economic development receives sustained attention, including the organisation of globally integrated supply chains, recent shifts towards supply chain resilience, the growth of emerging economies and the competitive and talent-strategy questions these movements raise. The video also revisits themes from the wider unit — inequality, de-industrialisation, the rise of the service and knowledge economy, and macro-economic policy frameworks — situating them within strategic people practice. Throughout, the emphasis falls on economic literacy as an analytical capability: reading trends such as job and income insecurity through a workforce lens and translating that understanding into advice on talent pipelines, skill development and employment propositions.