Entering 2024, small and midsize businesses are again facing heightened uncertainty fueled by global conflicts, environmental impacts, emerging technologies and the prospects of an economic slowdown. Business trends 2024 can help CEOs make informed decisions based on these challenges.
Although the growing business trends of 2024 include green energy, clean energy, climate technology, construction, fintech, health-tech, personal services, information technology, EV, autonomous vehicles & e-commerce, the top strategic technology trend is a frame work of digital solutions that drives environmental, social and governance outcomes.
Business trends 2024
There are four business trends for next 10 years that can help CEOs in their business:
- Ecological
- Technological
- Economical
- Social
Let’s explore each of them:
Ecological trends for 2024 and beyond
The increasing frequency and magnitude of large-scale weather events cannot be ignored. The ever-changing weather conditions are literally the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the financial impact and human toll of climate change.
Future of energy
While there are calls to accelerate the adoption of cleaner energy, it won’t be until after 2050 that renewables will outpace petroleum as the primary energy source in the U.S. One of the business trends for next 10 years is future of energy
ESG and sustainability goals
As ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices are taking form, many companies feel a greater sense of responsibility and a need to satisfy the expectations of their stakeholders, who expect them to deploy, track and report environmental impacts. ESG is surely an emerging business trends that companies should adapt.
EV growth
Western governments have banned the sale of gas-consumption engines by 2035, a critical component of the net zero objective, with projections suggesting EVs will need to be about 60% of new car sales by 2030. Future business trends going into 2025 is adoption of EVs will hinge on battery manufacturing, storage, and access to critical mineral supplies, some of which could result in a bottleneck that could choke the supply chain.
Technology trends for 2024
One of the business trend for 2024 is technology. Today it is evolving at a rapid pace, enabling faster change and progress, causing an acceleration of the rate of change. However, it is not only technology trends and emerging technologies that are evolving, workplace trends for 2024 is also changing. And that the future of work trend is changing rapidly. The employees role will not stay the same in the contactless world tomorrow.
Generative AI
Generative AI, a cutting-edge technology, has revolutionized various industries by enabling machines to create content that resembles human-generated work. It encompasses a wide range of applications, from text generation to image synthesis and even music composition.
Computing Power
Computing power has already established its place in the digital era, with almost every device and appliance being computerized. And it’s here for even more as data science experts have predicted that the computing infrastructure we are building right now will only evolve for the better in the coming years.
Smart Devices
Artificial intelligence has played an essential role in making our world smarter and smoother. It is not just simulating humans but going the extra mile to make our lives hassle-free and simpler. These smarter devices are here to stay in 2024 and even further, as data scientists are working on AI home robots, appliances, work devices, wearables, and so much more! A
Datafication
Datafication is simply transforming everything in our lives into devices or software powered by data. So, in short, Datafication is the modification of human chores and tasks into data-driven technology. From our smartphones, industrial machines, and office applications to AI-powered appliances and everything else, data is here to stay for longer than we can ever remember! So, to keep our data stored correctly and securely and safely, it has become an in-demand specialization in our economy.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has already received a lot of buzz in the past decade. Still, it continues to be one of the new technology trends because of its notable effects on how we live, work and play are only in the early stages. AI is already known for its superiority in image and speech recognition, navigation apps, smartphone personal assistants, ride-sharing apps and so much more.
Extended Reality
Extended reality comprises all the technologies that simulate reality, from Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality to Mixed Reality and everything else in-between. It is a significant technology trend right now as all of us are craving to break away from the so-called real boundaries of the world. By creating a reality without any tangible presence, this technology is massively popular amongst gamers, medical specialists, and retail and modeling.
Economic trends for 2024
Some are wondering: Have we already entered a long-term debt cycle revolving around a wage-price spiral, persistent inflation and higher bond yields? Others question whether the recession is really canceled. Here’s a look at the economic predictions for 2024.
Decreasing inflation
Over the past 18 months, predictions regarding the future of the US economy have varied considerably. Many experts believed the country would land in a recession in 2023 but that didn’t happen. The latest predictions say inflation will continue to decrease throughout 2024, prompting the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
Real estate growth
Low inventory and high-interest rates have plagued the real estate sector for the past several months. If the Federal Reserve does lower rates this summer, more buyers could enter the market for single-family homes.
Impact of climate change
The impact of climate change is accelerating. NOAA’s data shows that Earth’s temperature has risen by 0.14° F per decade since 1880. However, the rate of warming increased to 0.32° F per decade in the years since 1981.
When discussing the effect of climate change on economies, researchers caution it’s already having an adverse impact on a local, national, and global scale.
Climate change has been linked to all sorts of extreme weather events: blizzards, heat waves, hurricanes, wildfires, and others.
Social trends for 2024
Listed here are the social issues that business leaders are facing today and impacting business in 2024.
Health care costs
Employers are bracing for a 5.4% increase in health care costs in 2024, only because they will adjust benefits to reduce expenses. In the absence of such adjustments, the average cost is expected to go up 6.6% (about the same as last year). Chronic conditions and catastrophe coverage comprise 41% of increases.
AI and wage inequality
Income inequality is already a polarizing issue, and the gap is only widening.
As we have written extensively, the prospects of AI eliminating jobs in the near term have been overstated. What’s more likely in the next 10 years is that AI will depress wages for unskilled workers (a pattern known as Engle’s Pause). However, the same companies who disrupt markets typically accelerate skills acquisition for low-wage workers.
Diversity, equity & inclusion
As we covered in our Ecology post, most DEI efforts today have fallen under a broader definition of ESG (environmental, social and governance).
Even well-intended private companies have had difficulty implementing such programs at a speed that would satisfy their proponents. While many companies have customers such as government contracts that require DEI policies, few provide clear definitions or guidelines, leaving it up to their vendors to originate suitable policies.
