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spindoctor
May 23, 2005, 06:42 PM
Excerpted from http://careers.asia1.com.sg/st_recruit/r20050508.html

The future of work

How would you like a workplace where workers are no longer tied to the office, or even to the employer?

IMAGINE a future where you call the shots, where companies are falling over themselves to train you and help you achieve work-life balance, and where following your own career agenda is perfectly acceptable.

This may sound like pie in the sky, but according to recruitment and HR consultancy Hudson, this is the future reality of the working world — and it may not be as far off as you think.

“The way in which we work is set to change considerably, and in many instances, the transformation is already underway,” said Mr Javier Carrasco, one of the directors of the firm. “A new, more democratic and “organic” workplace is set to become the standard business model for the 21st century.”

New research by Hudson reveals a snapshot of the future — where members of staff are the ones with greater control over their own career paths, and have a bigger say in how they want to develop within their company’s structure.

Flexible and collaborative employers who are more reliant on attracting and retaining an evermore demanding and autonomous workforce, will be commonplace.

Overall, the study, which used a combination of analysis, as well as the quizzing of leading thinkers on workplace issues, predicts a dramatic change in the way staff and companies interact. The study also forecasts the death of traditional business hierarchies.

So, does this spell the end of long hours and hard slogs through monotonous work that some of you neither enjoy nor benefit from, apart from the obvious cash incentive?

Will you be saying goodbye to dull offices and organisations that have poor values and offer no staff benefits?

According to Hudson, it is possible. The shift towards more open and democratic ways of working will largely be driven by the emergence of a new and more demanding generation of so-called ‘Millennials’ — people born after the mid-1980s who are determined to negotiate their own working patterns, and are less likely to stick with a career they aren’t happy with.

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Sounds too good to be true. (Well, at least in the Philippine setup.)

pro_tempore
May 23, 2005, 07:12 PM
read a similar article a long time ago. it's called "the future of work: an 'apprentice'-style office". the author is david kirkpatrick and i believe he referenced a book by thomas malone...

er... i can't seem to find the article again. i do remember my friend had a blog post about this, though:

http://www.offshoring-digest.com/outsourcing/5.html

i believe that all nations intent on creating a highly competitive global workforce is set to achieve this future. india is already fast on its way; russia and china are too. the philippines may take longer (actually, at the pace we're going, a LOT longer) but if we persevere with our current ICT goals, we will definitely get there.

the fact is, we have a largely competent technical workforce. information is largely available to our working populace, and our young professionals are making an effort to accumulate marketable knowledge through their own efforts, makes us a uniquely promising ground for technological progress.

factors like terrorism, corruption and small-mindedness are truly inhibiting forces, but really -- what developing country isn't held back by this? the drive of the workforce to overcome these factors, to demand better working conditions, is what matters in the end.

ah, technocracy -- gotta love it.