June 2009
The New Way of Work
There are many who are predicting that after this downturn in the economy the workplace will look different from the one we've known. Peter Weddle, a job board expert and writer on career topics sees a workplace with fewer permanent workers.
Weddle says that employers are hit with a depressed bottom line as well as rapid changes in customer tastes and needs. To respond to both in a cost effective way these employers see that they will need only a core of full time employees. He says that only the most talented workers will have those full time jobs.
Other workers will have short term project assignments and will be hired with the full understanding that the job ends on a particular date or at a specific occurrence. These too will be highly qualified and talented workers but they will have no guarantee from the company of long term employment.
If you would like to read the full article entitled Micro Careers
you can read
it on his website.
Use your current job search as a model for the future
Those of you who are unemployed right now are probably groaning at this prediction. Actually however some of the necessary steps in your current job search will help you in the future. The whole job search process is something you will need to get good at. Now is the time to:
- Take an inventory of your own skills and determine the ones that will be important in the future.
- Use the company research you've done for your job search to understand the trends in your industry
- Learn where the opportunities are and where they are likely to be in the future
- Get additional training in skill areas you determine will be needed in the future
- Build your network of contacts for current and future use
What changes will you have to make?
How will this change impact you in the future? The majority of workers will have to do many job searches. This may mean having 10-15 job changes over the course of your work life. What will that mean for you in terms of:
- Learning new skills?
- Paying for your training?
- Saving for the future?
- Understanding and using trending information?
- Marketing and branding yourself?
- Having Health Insurance?
While the Weddle article puts these ideas into the present economy, I wrote an article similar to Peter's in 2001 entitled Your Career Is Your Business. You will find it here. We have been moving slowly in this direction for the past 8 or 9 years. The economic downturn and the failure of many large well established companies makes this kind of change even more likely now. The time is right for this new way to work. Will you be ready?