WORK TRENDS

In terms of workforce composition, the trend is for a shift toward a more balanced distribution by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. A large proportion of the U.S. population and workforce have been growing older as the baby-boom generation ages; put another way, the workforce has become more evenly distributed across age groups. Also, steadily increasing female labor force participation rates, combined with declining male rates, have brought the labor force closer to gender balance. ("The Future at Work — Trends and Implications")

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB5070/index1.html

They're young, smart, brash. They may wear flip-flops to the office or listen to iPods at their desk. They want to work, but they don't want work to be their life. This is Generation Y, a force of as many as 70 million, and the first wave is just now embarking on their careers — taking their place in an increasingly multigenerational workplace. (USA Today)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2005-11-06-gen-y_x.htm

Many analysts support the position that X-ers and Y-ers came out of a different history and with a different set of coping skills and expectations than earlier generations. (Gen-X Meets Gen-Y Youth Perceptions and Concerns about the Future)

http://www.stonehill.edu/cs1/sa/Generation%20Y%20review%20of%20literature.pdf

If most Americans aren’t very hopeful about today’s rising generation, it’s because so many of them figure that history generally moves in straight lines. They assume the next batch of youths will follow blindly along all the life-cycle trends initiated (30 and 40 years ago) by Boomers and confirmed (10 and 20 years ago) by Gen Xers. These trends point to more selfishness in personal manner, more splintering in public purpose, more profanity in culture and daily discourse, more risk-taking with sex and drugs, more apathy about politics, and more crime, violence, and social decay. (Millenials Rising, The Next Generation)

http://www.millennialsrising.com/aboutbook.shtml

Americans are embracing virtual work at an unprecedented rate, according to a national study recently commissioned by WorldCom. Fueled by technological advancements, cross-functional collaborative teams and a competitive job market, alternative work practices (including virtual project teams, telecommuting and remote management of geographically dispersed employees) are helping to improve job satisfaction, save costs and boost corporate productivity. More than two-thirds of American workers surveyed have engaged in virtual work. Nearly half (46 percent) are involved in virtual work at least once a week; 14 percent do so daily.("Virtual Work Tends")

http://www.effectivemeetings.com/technology/virtualteam/mci10.asp

Many of the fastest-growing job opportunities in the future will require some form of post-school education or training. Jobs are, on average, becoming more skilled, driven by changes in technology and demand for sophisticated services.("Work Trends - Skills, Education and Training")

http://www.dol.govt.nz/PDFs/WorkTrendsSkillsEdTraining.pdf

There is a prevailing attitude among employees today to abandon the belief that “a job is for life” and to go for several jobs within their working lifetime. There is a growing trend towards people making strategic career moves after approximately four or five years in a well paid job. ("Work trends of the future")

http://azaz.essortment.com/worktrendsfutu_rrgq.htm

Interesting job and career trends have recently emerged in the workplace:

• Job assessment methods:

Although qualifications remain a significant indicator of ability, companies no longer assume that, by taking on a university graduate, they are going to get someone of high calibre and intelligence. Personality and communication skills are becoming increasingly important in the workplace. Many employers now use psychometric assessment tests as a selection tool. These tests have proved to be an effective method of measuring a candidate’s degree of motivation, values, problem solving ability and communication skills.

• Freelancing: There is a definite trend towards outsourcing, short term contracting and freelancing. Permanent staff, as a percentage of the workforce, are decreasing in number. As a result, the traditional sense of company identity and loyalty is, in some cases, being sacrificed in the name of cost-cutting advantages and long-term efficiency.

• E-mail “overload”: Workers, today, are becoming inundated with e-mail communications. The more e-mails we receive, the greater the distraction and the faster we tend to work to try and make up for lost time. It is frequently impossible to reply to all messages and to weed out the junk e-mails. E-mail “overload” leads to frustration and mental fatigue. Workers’ health will become increasingly affected by this worrying trend.

• Domestic commitments: Wise employers are latching on to the advantages of offering their employees the opportunity of carrying out electronic domestic jobs from their office. For instance, on-line shopping or e-mailing friends and family regarding domestic arrangements. In the long run, it saves the company time and reduces phone bills.

• "Desk rage": This is a recent development. Computer power has unleashed an unpleasant element into the workplace. Arguments, irritability and a sense of being out of control are all affecting stressed-out staff to some degree or another. A recent business study suggested that rudeness and the effects of desk rage were a major source of stress at work.

• Confidentiality and staff monitoring: Many companies have sophisticated staff surveillance equipment installed in their offices. There is a trend, nowadays, towards employers routinely monitoring their staff and as a result, weaker employees are being confronted about their poor performance. E-mails are also monitored in many firms, making confidentiality a significant problem.

• Aggression in the workplace: For whatever reason, today’s workforce is becoming increasingly aggressive in its attitude, in general. The positive effects of assertiveness training, so popular in the early ‘90s, are now being eroded to a certain degree and assertiveness is being translated, in some cases, into aggression.

Employees, nowadays, identify less and less with corporate image and feel very little sense of loyalty. There is a strong trend, instead, towards looking after number one, first and foremost and if that doesn’t work, employees will have no qualms about moving on.

("Work Trends of the Future")

http://azaz.essortment.com/worktrendsfutu_rrgq.htm

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