In future, people will have their own “brands” and sell their skills to organisations on a case-by-case basis, according to a report looking at the future of work in 2022 by accountants PwC.

It’s one of a handful of findings implying that traditional office environments could become a thing of the past, while the number of people working as freelancers will grow.

Better internet access and smartphones have already caused a big increase in people working for themselves. According to official data, 183,000 people became self-employed in the first quarter of 2014 alone.

In other findings from the PwC report, which is based on conversations with 10,000 workers and 500 HR professionals globally, just 14 per cent of people want to work in a “traditional office environment” in future.

One in five said they would prefer to work in a virtual organisation, logging on from home or shared workspaces instead of at an office. Meanwhile, a quarter said traditional employment structures won’t exist in future.

Jon Andrews, UK HR consulting leader at PwC, said: “It’s clear from our research that traditional nine to five office working could soon become resigned to history for many workers.

“People feel strongly that they no longer want to work within the constraints of the typical office environment and advances in technology mean that workers no longer have to be shackled to their desks.”