Archives for Research

In 2017, we may look back and laugh at the primitive nature of today’s work. Women will shatter the glass ceiling. Racial and ethnic minorities will get further ahead and working conditions will improve for the ‘average’ person. These are among the key findings from a BusinessWeek “Future of Work” survey of 2,000 optimistic managers.

Meanwhile, technology will bring profound changes, pledges BusinessWeek. The Apple iPhone we lust after today will shrink “down to the size of a credit card,” says one writer. Offices will be healthier, greener and safer.

And in the coming decade American workers will become more global savvy. One proxy for this knowledge suggests BusinessWeek is first-name knowledge of foreign workers. Are American managers on a first name basis with someone who works in India? According to BusinessWeek’s survey, eight percent said yes, they are; in a decade expectations rise to 30 percent.

No one speculated on how these American managers would start relationships with Indians, or why, but I take it as a positive sign that so many people view it as inevitable.

Echoing the substance of some of our blog posts, BusinessWeek writes “The hard part for multinationals is getting people to work well together, especially given that day-and-night collaboration across the globe is growing.”

If you like gazing into a crystal ball and pondering where your career is headed, BusinessWeek’s pre-Labor Day “Future of Work” issue is a must-read. The editors did a good job of identifying key issues such as managing globally dispersed workforces and also discussing cultural differences in how we collaborate with global customers, suppliers or co-workers.