What Is the Future of Work?

Some 30 years ago, it was believed that technology would change the way we work: more automation, more part-time jobs, the paperless office, etc.

Of course, these changes are nearly always more evolution than revolution and often don't turn out quite in the way originally envisaged.

However, a few large companies have pioneered new ways of working and many more appear to be following suit.

What has changed?

Social and technological developments have contrived to create a situation where workers both want to change the way they are expected to work and have the tools available to achieve this.

With the family model of only one parent (mainly the father) at work being thrown into disarray by the Second World War, women have increasingly taken their place in the workforce. Our economy has grown with this development to reach a stage where many families could not survive without two salaries.

For some time, many parents have put up with this, but younger generations coming into the workforce are rightly saying there has to be a better way. They want to work more around their partner's and children's lives and create a balance that is good for them and the family as a whole.

Employment law has also evolved to protect women at work and provide far greater flexibility in relation to childcare. The final missing link was the technology to enable and empower a more mobile, flexible, autonomous workforce.

The technology at work

First, came the internet. It took a while to develop, having been around since the 60s. Then we had mobile phones - although the first devices stretched the term 'mobile' to the limit. Networks and electronic engineering developed rapidly, however, and we now have near ubiquitous coverage and pocket sized phones.

Similarly, wireless networks and the cloud (again, not new, but newly modified) have given us more choice about where we can work and how we can access our work.

The workforce can now work from home, from cafés, hotels, client premises, trains, planes and automobiles.

Is this the end of the office?

Humans are social animals. For the most part, we need physical contact and work better as part of a group. The office is not going to go away, because it is a convenient base for administrative functions, planning and meeting superiors, colleagues, clients, etc.

However, there is no need to be there at set times, in set places, to perform set tasks in set ways.

The technology now enables us to work from smaller interfaces: laptops, net-books, tablets, mobile phones and from many more locations: anywhere there is wireless and/or mobile network.

Now, a typical flexible worker might work for a couple of hours in the morning, before taking the children to school, after which they put in a few more hours before meeting friends for lunch and doing a bit of shopping, Skype with the team, enjoy late afternoon and early evening with the family before checking emails and getting a couple of jobs off their 'to-do' list after supper.

They might have meetings in the office once a week or month, chat with colleagues about projects via telephone, video conferencing, Skype, social media, etc. and perhaps hot-desk in the office now and then.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7338179