How many times has your employer asked you where you see yourself in 10 years? It probably happens every time you have a performance review. Now, how many times have you asked your employer the same question? My guess is never. Thanks to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada, you don't have to.
The report, Navigating Through the Storm, outlines
the top 10 trends that are affecting today's businesses and predicts what we can expect from the workplace of 2020. The goal of the report is to let company leaders know what changes they should expect, so that they can effectively navigate these changes when the time comes.
Although the report is aimed at management, I think it's of interest to all employees. Doesn't everyone want to know what the future holds?
For one thing, 10 years from now we should expect to be connected to our jobs 24/7. Thanks to our BlackBerrys and iPhones, many of us already feel this way. It's no longer acceptable to return emails and phone calls only during business hours. Evenings, weekends, and holidays will all become company time in some way or other.
However, the same technology that will tie us to our jobs 24/7 will free us from our physical workplaces. The report predicts that more companies will have virtual locations, and more of us should be able to work from wherever we want. That's great news for those of us who would love to disappear to the cottage for the summer and work from the deck.
As more and more companies go virtual, we should expect fewer face-to-face meetings with our colleagues. In 2020, we'll meet and collaborate on projects through Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. If you're not already on those sites, get familiar with them now.
And with more and more employees working remotely, the report predicts that current top-down management models will become obsolete. Companies will have to find a new way to manage employees working at a distance.
Yes, change can be scary, but I think the workplace of 2020 sounds like a great place to be. I have just one question. Can I go there now?
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10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
What can be better than working at home and turning in huge profits? If you're sick of working 9 to 5, sitting in rush hour, and working on someone else's schedule, check out the top 10 businesses you can start, and run, in your pajamas.
From medical billing to graphic design, there are the hottest industries for home-based businesses.
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10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
What can be better than working at home and turning in huge profits? If you're sick of working 9 to 5, sitting in rush hour, and working on someone else's schedule, check out the top 10 businesses you can start, and run, in your pajamas.
From medical billing to graphic design, there are the hottest industries for home-based businesses.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
Selling homemade organic beauty products or customized T-shirts is no longer just a weekend hobby for earning some extra pocket change. In the age of e-commerce, a growing number of retailers are capitalizing on the Web to sell their products, and making more than a supplementary income in the process.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
Business audiences, support groups, and even government agencies are constantly looking for new sources of inspiration. Get paid to offer up the expertise you never got to share in the office. No special education required, just confidence in your speaking abilities and your message.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
As companies try to keep up with a changing workforce dynamic, human-resources professionals are more in demand than ever. Companies big and small need advice about structuring benefits that will woo the younger generation, as well as on creative ways to retain their seasoned employees.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
Like so many in search of work-life balance, lawyers are finding ways to spend less time at the firm and more time at home with the family. Established lawyers, who have spent years building a loyal client base, now have the luxury of branching out on their own with relative ease.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
If writing is your craft, penning lines for someone else is a good way to earn reliable cash flow. Websites like Guru.com now cater to hooking freelancers up with ghost-writing opportunities, with projects ranging from updating a company's Web content or compiling research in a white paper, to writing promotional articles for a company's newsletter.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
As more professionals and retirees seek home-based work opportunities, the need for big corporate firms to offshore jobs like customer service representatives or virtual tech support has decreased. Instead, companies are filling these jobs inshore with the likes of stay-at-home moms, seniors, and even the occasional burnt-out exec. Home-based employees are contracted and have the ability to set their own schedule.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
With a second phone line, a computer, and an Internet connection, you could be booking travel reservations from your home for companies such as JetBlue and Marriott Global Reservations. For several years now, JetBlue's reservation agents have been home-based and experts say that in the coming year, other bigwigs of the travel industry will follow suit. There are also opportunities for entrepreneurs with knowledge of the travel industry to start their own agency out of their home.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
Many people who start home-based businesses are doing the same jobs they did in the corporate world, but on a consultant basis -- and financial analysts are no exception. If you have the skill set to digest large amounts of information and present it in a way that is accessible to the public, you may be just as happy doing that at home as you would be in the office.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
Entrepreneurs who provide a service to companies or individuals continue to be some of the most successful in the home-based business sector. As businesses move to increase their Web presence, freelance opportunities for graphic designers are abundant.
10 Businesses to Start in Your Pajamas
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-26-2010 @ 9:13AM
Daniel said...
Great idea and make since for the employee, we get time to spend with our family.
Reply
4-27-2010 @ 8:37AM
Francis Omage said...
Strees free,better for the environment ,less traffic on the highway and best of all more time with family and friends.A dry crust with liberty is better than a king,s luxury with chain.
Reply
4-28-2010 @ 8:51AM
Francis Omage said...
It will be stress free indeed.You will be able to design your availability for work.I see both employee and employer meeting on the golf course or in leisure places to exchange ideas on projects at hand, instead of within the routine of the workplace.By so doing, thinking and creative process will advance to a new level of reasoning that is divine. One of the reasons for communication technology is to increase human interaction. This is likely to reduce ignorance,suspicion hate mongering and other negative thoughts towards others. The more we are together, the happier we shall be.
The liberty of the virtual workplace of 2020 will begin to usher most if not all the above into place for the benefit of society. Good day,my friends.
4-28-2010 @ 6:44AM
G R said...
"Evenings, weekends, and holidays will all become company time in some way or other."
Being on call 24/7 and being expected to respond on personal time does not equal a stress free life. In fact, it's quite the opposite.
Reply
5-03-2010 @ 4:56PM
crasspunk said...
I agree, it sounds like electronic slavery. I can understand if your job is also your passion and you love what you do, but most people work to make money so they can enjoy life and persue their personal interests. It is extremely important to me to keep my life and my work seperate. Again, unless you are doing what you love you are not your job. Sounds like garbage to me, I want no part of this future workplace.
4-29-2010 @ 4:08PM
tina said...
I agree.
It's stressful bringing your work home with you.
Besides what if someone doesn't have a family, or cottage,or anyplace better to be and likes going to work to meet new people and see friends.
6-25-2010 @ 2:00PM
Jenny said...
Yeah, it sounds like a bloody nightmare. I have no interest in being mandatorally available at all times. It does sound like electronic slavery.
6-25-2010 @ 8:50PM
Eric Silverman said...
Much to my chagrin I agree with the context of the message. However, there is no denying that much is lost in the spirit of collaboration when people are communicating in a virtual environment. How will this effect productivity will be seen in the many years to come. In the meantime I am an advocate of building trusting relationships which is easier done in person.
P.S. I "never" check out and I am glued to my email on my blackberry.
Reply
6-25-2010 @ 3:27PM
Jenny said...
I just want to qualify my previous comment: I am all for working from home and communicating electronically. I wish I could do more of that now. I am just strongly opposed to being on call at all times.
Reply