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The Future of Work Is Grey
THE FUTURE OF WORK IS GREY: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce will be published on May 5, 2026, and it’s Dan Pontefract’s sixth and arguably most important book yet.
An age revolution is reshaping your workforce. Are you ready to lead it?
A massive demographic shift is reshaping the world, one that is permanently altering how we work. People are healthier, living longer, and redefining the concept of retirement.
The Future of Work Is Grey, by award-winning author Dan Pontefract, reveals the critical ways we must rethink work in an era of demographic, economic, and productivity upheaval.
For decades, leaders have clung to outdated models that assume younger workers will always outnumber older generations, that retirement at sixty-five is an unshakable norm, and that older employees have little left to offer.
This mindset has left us working and leading in a period of “age debt”—the workplace equivalent of the climate crisis.
It is the cumulative burden organizations face as our populations age, birth rates plummet, middle-aged workers become overwhelmed, internal skills gaps widen, multi-generational issues intensify, and various economic structures fail to keep pace.
In this robust exploration, Pontefract uncovers how we reached this tipping point of age debt and what organizations and leaders need to do next. He also reveals how leaders must seize the most significant opportunity of our time, the “experience dividend”—the value gained by integrating the skills, insights, and mentorship of employees across all age spectrums into a revised workforce strategy.
Central to this vision is his framework of Rivers, Rocks, and Rubies—three age archetypes that reflect the evolving strengths of workers at every stage of life.
An emergency siren to future-proof your organization’s success and security, The Future of Work Is Grey gives you the imperative actions leaders need to take NOW. By reframing age as a powerful asset, leaders can avert a growing crisis, redefining work and—equally important—what it means to work.
The future of work will most definitely be grey, yet it can also become a future of resilience, innovation, and hope.
Pre-order details are coming soon.
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May 5: 2026 – THE FUTURE OF WORK IS GREY: The Untapped Value of Age in the Workforce
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Dan Pontefract
DAN’S PURPOSE
We’re not here to see through each other; we’re here to see each other through.
For 20 years, Dan held senior roles at SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects, leading corporate culture change, leadership development, employee experience and overall performance improvement.
Ever since, he has worked with organizations worldwide, including the likes of Salesforce, Amgen, Virgin Media O2, State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, Manulife, Nutrien, City of Toronto, BMO, D2L, among many others, either on retainer, as a consultant, or as a facilitator and keynote speaker.
Dan possesses on-the-ground experience to improve your leadership and corporate culture.
Dan is the award-winning author of five leadership books: WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT and FLAT ARMY.
A renowned leadership keynote speaker, Dan has presented at four different TED events and delivers roughly 50 keynotes per year. Download his speaker/facilitator overview document.
In addition to keynotes, Dan facilitates workshops as well as small or large consulting engagements. He writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review and is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business. Download his short or long bio.
Dan also hosts the popular Leadership NOW program; interviews in audio, video, and Forbes column formats. Dan is always in pursuit of what makes leadership better… now.
