2023 was the year when Barbenheimer became a cultural phenomenon, AI hit the mainstream and everyone over the age of 25 had to Google what ‘rizz’ meant. The tragic tale of the Titan submersible had news audiences gripped and global temperatures broke records – once again.

In the world of business, we teetered on the edge of a financial crisis as Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse collapsed. Elon Musk captured headlines when he rebranded Twitter as X and we said goodbye (and hello again) to high-street favourite Wilko.

Here, Raconteur explores some of the trends and stories that helped shape yet another year of flux for business.

AI’s breakout year

It may have been the biggest technological breakthrough of 2022 but 2023 was the year that the generative AI race really took off. Tech titans Google, Meta and Microsoft all launched their own AI chatbots to compete with OpenAI’s market-leading ChatGPT. Despite numerous warnings of the dire risks the rapidly advancing technology poses for humanity, AI is here to stay. Businesses and their staff will have to continue to figure out how to work alongside it in 2024.

The return-to-office battle heats up

The year began with BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink declaring “remote working has not worked”. He was clearly not alone in this assumption, as 2023 saw companies pull out all the stops to try and get staff back to HQ. In a true sign of the times, even Zoom, the company that paved the way for the remote work revolution, called its workers back to the office.

Influencing this decision was the fact that many companies’ buildings were sitting half-empty. Office vacancy rates crept upwards in 2023, reaching levels not seen since the financial crisis. This led the likes of Meta and HSBC to downsize and it’s a trend that’s likely to continue in the year ahead.

UK’s four-day-week ‘breakthrough’

The results of the UK’s four-day-work week trial were released in February. Organisers described it as a “breakthrough moment” for the movement, as the majority of the 61 participating companies opted to continue with the new arrangement. Although it’s still rare for companies to offer it, there are signs that employers are warming to the idea. Some are predicting 2024 could be the year the four-day week hits the mainstream.

The back-to-work push

In March this year, UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt declared his spring statement the “back-to-work” budget, as the government sought to plug the gaping hole in the labour market by persuading the economically inactive back to work. Many companies duly obliged, tailoring their recruitment drives towards older workers, parents and those with long-term illnesses, as they looked to fill record numbers of vacant positions. 

These actions appear to have worked as the number of vacancies tailed off in the second half of the year. However, the UK labour market still bears signs of sickness, with a record 2.6 million working-age people reporting economic inactivity because of ill health in 2023.

Peak inflation passes

Business leaders have been keeping a keen eye on inflation after rates spiralled upwards in 2022. Thankfully, consumer price index inflation has cooled since its October 2022 peak of 11.1% and in November 2023 was down to 3.9%. Interest rate cuts from the Bank of England are likely to follow in 2024.

Wages, meanwhile, followed the opposite trajectory, rising faster than inflation in the second half of the year as workers demanded inflationary pay rises and companies were forced to compete for talent. This has gone some way to alleviating the cost-of-living crisis but, unfortunately for employees, wage growth appears to have passed its peak.

Companies collapse at record rates

Several household names fell into administration this year as the number of corporate insolvencies reached levels not seen since the global financial crisis. The increased cost of debt, reduced consumer demand and the long-lasting economic impacts of the pandemic made 2023 a challenging year for businesses. 

Among the lengthy list of companies that called in the administrators were high-street staples Wilko, Paperchase, Hunter (of wellington boots fame) and Cath Kidston. But we have not seen the last of these brands yet – all have been given a second lease of life after they were acquired by The Range, Tesco, Authentic Brands and Next, respectively. 

Workplace misconduct scandals

A number of corporate scandals punctuated the year. Reports of a toxic culture, including allegations of sexual assault, caused the UK’s largest business group, the CBI, to dismiss its director-general in April; Tesco Chair John Allan was forced to step down in June after claims of inappropriate behaviour; and July saw McDonald’s admit it had “fallen short” in its handling of sexual harassment, racism and bullying claims from staff. 

Even ITV faced accusations of bullying and discrimination following the news of This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s affair with a much younger colleague. These stories exposed the distressing cultures that have been tolerated at some of the UK’s biggest employers. These toxic behaviours need to be eradicated from the workplace in 2024.

Businesses get caught up in the culture wars

Culture wars dominated the discourse in 2023 and a number of businesses found themselves tangled up in these online conflicts. American beer-drinkers boycotted Bud Light in May after AB InBev dared to feature trans TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney in its social media marketing; Mars was branded “woke” after swapping its M&M mascot’s high heels for flats; and NatWest’s CEO stepped down after the bank closed an account belonging to the right-wing politician and I’m a Celebrity contestant Nigel Farage.

These cautionary tales show that a growing group of consumers want businesses to stay out of politics – and they aren’t afraid of upsetting the applecart if they don’t.

ESG grows evermore important

The UN’s warning that the world is now on track to warm by nearly 3°C this century served as a stark reminder of businesses’ urgent need to address the climate crisis. A surprisingly productive COP should help the planet to start correcting its course but another positive can be found in the growing number of B Corporations.

The B Corp movement, which requires businesses to meet high social and environmental standards, now counts more than 7,880 companies globally among its ranks. And Raconteur was proud to be among the 2023 intake.

Brands became the new Hollywood stars

Barbie broke box office records and ended the year with nine Golden Globe awards. But it wasn’t just Mattel’s pink plastic doll that graced the silver screen this year: Nike’s Air Jordan trainers were the stars of Ben Affleck’s Air, the Hasbro-owned Transformers and Dungeons & Dragons both graced cinema screens and even PepsiCo’s ‘Flamin’ Hot’ Cheetos snack got the feature-length treatment. It meant 2023 was the year that brands really were the new Hollywood stars.