This weeks Time Magazine’s cover story is titled “The Future of Work”. “Throw away the briefcase” it says, “you’re not going to the office”. It goes on cheerily with the news that “you can kiss your benefits goodbye, and your new boss won’t look much like your old one”. Just for good measure it tells us that “there’s no longer a ladder, and you may never get to retire”.

Shocking news to the average corporate citizen! Ah, but according to Time, there is a silver lining – “… there’s a world of opportunity if you figure out a new path.” – Sounds like Time are laying down the gauntlet for change managers everywhere!

We seem to be going though a sea change! In a recent Pew Research Center survey, about half of adults (50%) say that today’s children will grow up to be worse off than people are now. A third (34%) say they’ll be better off and most of the rest say they are not sure. Well, whatever is going on it looks like we need to be prepared for some corporate white water rafting! This sea of change is likely to hit every level of corporate life, from the C Suite to the lowest rungs on the corporate ladder!

So, what is fact and what is fiction in the Time article?

“Throw away the briefcase” they say, “You’re not going to the office”. This will probably come true for many people. Telecommuting will become much more prevalent given web 2.0 and beyond. IBM has been closing office buildings and having people working out of their houses for years. It saves a lot of money and employees love it.

“You can kiss your benefits goodbye too”. Yep, they seem to have got that one right. Pensions, health insurance, and even vacations are under severe threat.

“Your new boss won’t look much like your old one” – probably true – you may even meet your new boss when you look in the mirror.

“There’s no longer a ladder” – welcome to the world is flat! Well not quite – the ladder will probably have two rungs – the “them” rung and the “us” rung.

“And you may never get to retire” – well I am having too much fun anyway.

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Quote of the Day

Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present. ~ Rudy Giuliani