‘The future of work’ is a 6 minute video created by oDesk Corporation which points out some shocking facts about the competitive, ever-changing world of work, and investigates prospective jobs, emerging industries and hiring trends that will shape the future.
The video begins with a truth that is rarely considered yet accurately reflects the rate at which the global village is changing. ‘Those who work in web programming, online marketing or mobile phone industries have jobs that did not exist 20 years ago’. Many seemingly critical functions in industries are fading away to make space for new jobs and a new, dynamic workforce.
The people out of work today will soon find jobs, but the work won’t be the same.
The future of work is competitive
‘The future of work is competitive’ this is true for both the employed and unemployed workforce. ‘No one is going to pay you for having a degree’, as the number of graduates increases every year so does the pool of qualified applicants. ‘College is the new high school’ and for those who cannot afford a college degree technology has made informal education more accessible than ever.
During July 2010 the Guardian online reported that ‘ graduates are facing the most intense scramble in a decade to get a job this summer, as a poll of employers reveals the number of applications for each vacancy has surged to nearly 70 while the number of available positions is predicted to fall by nearly 7%.’
Become more marketable
This means that the way we look for work is also changing. In the past when jobs were hard to find job seekers would make more calls or apply for more positions. But these sobering statistics reveal that there are large numbers of people with the same qualifications, applying for the same job. Therefore the answer is not to look for work more aggressively but to become more marketable.
Broadening your skills set and scope of experience will become essential to obtaining and maintaining employment in future, especially as ‘competition for jobs is no longer limited to where you live’.
Outsourcing and ‘contract relationships’ will become common place and companies will move away from lifetime employment contracts.
To stay employed in the workplace of the future you need to stand out.
The future of work is competitive, universal, dynamic and highly skilled; the future of work is here.
By Cindy Payle
