There were changes taking place in culture, society, and technology even before the big events of 2020 and 2021 took place. As a result of the epidemic, those shifts were expedited and intensified, and in some cases, they were completely thrown into disarray. What are we to expect in 2022?
Whether it’s technology or health or money or transportation or home or family life, we can be sure of one thing – things are changing quickly. From now through the end of CES, the following five trends will continue to dominate and be talked about in 2022:
First and foremost, COVID-19 and the future of healthcare.
As soon as the World Health Organization said there was a pandemic in 2020, few people thought it would result in years of shutdowns, social distancing, and many unforeseen events. In mid-2021, things seemed to be returning to normal, but then the Delta version (and eventually the Omicron variation) triggered new shutdowns.
Is COVID-19 going to become prevalent in the year 2022? Asia, for example, has long encouraged people to wear masks in public when sick or immunocompromised as a show of respect to those in the vicinity.
When there’s a pandemic, health care won’t be the same afterwards. If you see a lot of people using video calls for health visits now, you can expect them to become more and more common. And the COVID-19 vaccine will permanently revolutionise the way vaccines (and possibly other therapeutics) are developed. There are usually vaccines that take a long time to make, but these were made in just 10 months thanks to genetics and mRNA technology. A medical breakthrough of this magnitude may be on the horizon.
Second, the Hybrid work mode of the future.
During the pandemic, work and school were two of the things that were most affected. Schools have returned, but work has taken a long time to get back to normal. There are a lot of people who think that working from home is better for their work-life balance. Many people have moved closer to their families or moved away from city centres to have more space and fresh air.
As a result, many businesses have been enamoured with the productivity advantages of remote work and the possibility to reduce the size of their commercial real estate holdings for significant cost savings.
If you look at what’s going to happen in 2022, the Great Resignation is going to keep getting bigger. More people are giving up their jobs and rethinking their lives than ever before. The Great Resignation is just one example of how these changes are coming to life.
Thirdly, Inflation, the future of crypto-currencies and your personal finances.
The world of money and personal finance is still undergoing seismic shifts. There was the highest inflation rate since 1982 in November. It was 6.8%, the highest since 1982. In 2022, the prices of real estate and cars will be closely watched. In 2021, they were so high that people were shocked. Investors seem to be keeping interest rates low, which means the stock market’s rise is likely to keep going. But the stock market is becoming more volatile. Whether tech and other growth stocks have run out of steam or are getting ready for another run is a big question.
Cryptocurrencies have been making new highs and getting more attention as a result of their growth. Coinbase was the most popular app in Apple’s App Store a few times in 2021. It passed TikTok and YouTube to become the most popular app. There are some people who think that Bitcoin is a good way to protect against inflation. In 2021, politicians, athletes, and other people started getting paid in Bitcoin. Whether or not your company will give you that option in 2022 is something worth thinking about.
Forth, the future of the internet, space travel, and global communication.
2022 is going to be a big year for the new space race. Both China and Russia are working together to build a moon base and land a robotic asteroid in 2030. (in 2024). When NASA announced its next 10 future astronauts in December, they had plans for a trip to the Moon in the future.
There were three private space companies that sent people into space in 2021: SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic. All of them are taunting a future where people can go on trips to space. In 2022, their goals will get bigger. This year, SpaceX plans to launch its Starship rocket and spacecraft for the first time, making it possible for them to go into space.
Also in 2022, SpaceX’s StarLink will send thousands of low orbit satellites into the atmosphere. Blue Origin and Amazon’s Project Kuiper will send even more into the atmosphere. It’s good that they want to bring fast, reliable broadband internet at a reasonable price to every corner of the world. But, the side effect is a lot of space debris that could damage telescopes, crash into spacecraft, and make a lot of space junk. There is a good chance that they haven’t seen the movie Wall-E.
Lastly, Electric vehicles have arrived—and they’re here to stay.
The year 2022 is going to be a big one for electric vehicles, or EVs, after a lot of great things happened in 2021. In September, the Tesla Model 3 became the best-selling car in Europe. This is a good thing for people who drive fossil fuel-burning cars. Slowly the world will stop buying gas-powered cars. It is projected that by 2040 nations around the world will put an end to fossil fuel cars.
We don’t know what’s going to happen
Whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic is finally over, the changes that are taking place on Earth will not slow down in 2022. The last thing you should know about in 2022 is the metaverse. This is something you’ll hear a lot about then as well.
During the pandemic, there was a big rise in the number of people playing online games. We should keep our metaverse hopes low for 2022. Work must be done to make better virtual reality headsets and build a network of truly immersive virtual worlds, but it will be worth it in the long run. In 2022, if we obtain even a few hopeful views of the metaverse, we can consider ourselves very fortunate.
