Tales From the Future…of Work

Posted on | August 27, 2007 | No Comments

Much has been made of the “future of work”, this farscape where time clocks, traditional working hours, cubicles, hierarchy, and showing up in the flesh are near extinction. In this brave new world you and I will work together from our respective home offices in collaboration with team members from far-flung places around the globe on a project of our own choosing that includes only creative, innovative work (because all of the boring stuff will be outsourced) for a company we’ve deemed socially responsible during only those hours we’ve seen fit to tear ourselves away from the beach, environmental activism or our families.

That’s the Second Life of work lovingly rendered by futurists, academics, HR professionals, writers, creatives and Gen-Yers alike. According to our optimistic friends, work will cease to be a burden that we have to organize our lives around; work will now be worked into our lives among the family time, the yoga and meditation, the backpacking trips through Europe and the online MBA you’re working on.
What a wonderful world.

BusinessWeek’s “Future of Work” Special Double Issue (August 20 & 27, 2007) offers a peek inside the new world of work through the windows and eyes of organizations and workers across career fields and countries. The issue features interesting survey results, commentary and spotlights on futuristic working models. The issue is certainly worth a read for anyone who is trying to figure out where their career and job is going next, and what they need to do in order to capitalize on the changes (or at least avoid being downsized, laid off, “Bangalored” or “Shanghaied”).
So, what can you expect from the Future of Work? Here are a few of the ideas, trends and pioneering practices from BusinessWeek (and a few of my own).

• Working conditions for the average person will improve
• Businesses will cater to talented women (more perks, more leadership positions, better pay and opportunities)
• Jobs will require more and more education, though pay may not keep pace
• U.S. firms will compete with Indian, Chinese and other foreign-based firms for management talent
• More U.S. workers will seek work experience abroad to meet demand for international business experience
• Staffing will be flexible and fluid, contracting and expanding, grouping and un-grouping, based on business need
• Workers will work for more than one company in order to do work they enjoy
• Telecommuting technology–video conferencing, collaboration software, etc.–will continue to evolve, making it easier, cheaper to allow workers to work from anywhere
• Companies that can’t offer telecommuting will beef up “on-campus” offerings (i.e. daycare, freebies, fun, concierge services)
• Companies will offer more management training and high-profile projects to talented new hires and new grads (a grow-your-own strategy)
• Routine, repetitive work will be outsourced; doing professional, creative, customer-facing work will be key to job stability
• Companies will offer personalized benefits–both needs- and performance- based
• Manufacturing will continue to be off-shored
• Older workers will become an important part of every company’s staffing or talent management plan
• Business travel will increase for workers at every level, not just executives
• Where you live and where you work may not be related (i.e. live in Canada, work in the U.S. and Europe)

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