The workers' compensation industry will look and feel dramatically different in 10 years. Changes in the evolving workforce, along with rapid advancements in technology, are forcing us to ask pivotal questions about our future:

• How will we attract the next generation of stakeholders?
• What will the workers' compensation "office" of the future look like?
• How will we communicate with injured workers?
• What impact will technology have on the way we do our jobs?

Those are among the questions we posed to our distinguished panelists during the most recent Out Front Ideas webinar, which was recorded at WCI's 2018 Annual Workers' Compensation Educational Conference this past August. Our guests were:

• Chris Watson, chief operations officer, One Call
• Susan Emerson, general manager, Claims Management, Disability, Leave and Workers' Compensation, Delta Airlines
• Thomas W. Warsop, III, chairman and CEO, York Risk Services Group
• Wesley Hyatt, senior vice president & manager, Workers' Compensation Commercial Insurance, Liberty Mutual

People

Attracting and retaining talent to the insurance industry, and to workers' compensation in particular, has been a persistent challenge. With estimates that half of our workforce will retire in the next 10 years, the need to attract younger employees becomes even more urgent. At the same time, we also need to preserve the knowledge base held by the aging baby boomers who will be leaving.