The Future Of Work

While taking my son, Ben, for a haircut this afternoon the latest issue of Time jumped out at me as I sorted through the stack of magazines on the table in front of me... as I frantically looked for something male-oriented (ESPN The Magazine, US News & World Report) to pass the time.

This particular issue of Time grabbed my attention because of the title on the cover, The Future Of Work, and the creative corresponding photo. For the first three years we have lived in Raleigh, NC (it's hard to believe it's been four years now) I worked as a recruiter and then a branch manager for Kelly Services, a fortune 500 company and a global leader in temporary staffing and outsourced human resource solutions. In my time there I was trained to be a student of the ever-changing job market and the state of employment in our city and beyond.

Even though that's not the world I am in today I still have a special interest in the shifts that are taking place in the workforce.

The feature story in Time addresses "Ten Lessons For Succeeding in the New American Workplace", and covers a wide variety of issues such as technology, corporate integrity, benefits, the absence of the traditional "corporate ladder" climb, the increasing influence of women in the workforce, and my favorite "The Last Days of Cubicle Life", which is written by Seth Godin the author of the best-selling book, Tribes (side note... I highly recommend watching the video below of a lecture given by Seth Godin).

I think corporations, organizations, churches, employers and employees would do well to be students of the shifts taking place in our world today. It's almost a necessity to recruit, retain... and more importantly to engage in meaningful relationships through the work we do.

From the cover of Time magazine:

"Throw away the briefcase: you're not going to the office. You can kiss your benefits goodbye too. And your new boss won't look much like your old one. There's no longer a ladder and you may never get to retire, but there's a world of opportunity if you figure our a new path."

What are your thoughts? Maybe it's time for you to pursue that new path?