I received the following post this morning from fellow blogger Jim Kissane. For those of you who have been following, these reflect many of the trends I’ve written about in the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0.
With the retirement of the baby-boomer generation, we will see a radical shift in the way work is viewed in our society. Author, researcher and teacher Floyd Kemske, a really smart guy and a voracious writer, provides some great insights into what we will see happing in this respect and how it will influence the "future workforce"
- Family and life interests will play a more prevalent role in people’s lives and a greater factor in people’s choices about work–there will be more of a "work to live" than a "live to work" mentality.
- Employees will demand increases in workplace flexibility to pursue life interests.
- Dual-career couples will refuse to make the sacrifices required today in their family lives and more people (not just women) will opt out of traditional careers.
- Families will return to the center of society; work will serve as a source of cultural connections and peripheral friendships.
- Workers will continue to struggle with their need for work/ life balance, and it will get worse.
- Integration of work with quality-of-life initiatives will create solutions to problems formerly seen as the responsibility of government.
- Community involvement and social responsibility will become part of an organization’s business vision.
- "Cocooning" will become more popular as workers look to their homes for refuge from the pressures of a more competitive workplace and depersonalized society.
- Just as defined-contribution plans have begun to take over from Social Security, companies will take on responsibility for elder care, long-term care and other social needs through cafeteria-style benefits programs.
- Those people who refuse or are unable to adapt to new technologies will find they’re working harder and accomplishing less.
