By 2020, temporary workers will span all industries and positions and we are anticipating recruitment consultancies will work at three levels. Talent agents for high fliers will be in demand like top footballers, high fliers in business will have their own talent agents. Agents will provide inside information on the jobs and experience they need to stay at the forefront of their market, actively promote them for upcoming top positions so they can move seamlessly from contract to contract and negotiate favourable packages with leading companies. Career managers will be needed for temporary workers at all levels giving advice on everything from the career path they should follow to the skills they need to increase their earning potential. Personal trainers will offer online training in business skills from the latest software packages to time management.
Graeme Leach, chief economist, Institute of Directors
For both employers and employees these are times of great change and we stand on the cusp of even greater change in the future. As part of the Tomorrows Work project, 150 companies were asked their views on the future of work and organisational change. Their responses were striking 61% asserted there would be significant organisational change and a further 21% expected the change to be massive. The message could not be clearer. Dont just look at the horizon, consider what might be over the horizon. If you rest on your laurels as a company, you may never get up again. Just because the contemporary labour market is still very traditional that is, not dominated by part-time employment, temporary workers, flexible working and teleworking it doesnt mean that it will always be this way. The workforce of tomorrow will be very different from today. By 2010 new forms of working will be much more significant. By 2020 we may look back and ask why we worked that way.
Barry Spence, CEO, Cubiks
I think were going to see the birth of the surfing HR director one of a small core HR team that will be able to access, select, tailor and implement e-based packages in every HR-related sphere. They will need to choose these e-applications in a way that does not de-humanise the company. The challenge will be to achieve this in an e-mail culture where people are more isolated. In recruitment, companies are likely to know everything they need to about a persons suitability by the time it gets to interview which will become the endpoint of the selection process. The most advanced companies, such as KPMG, are already making moves into online and real-time simulation exercises. This will reduce the time taken to find people by at least half. This will mean particularly good cost savings when assessing senior international executives. To compete with the fast-moving dotcoms, companies will have to break down into smaller consultancy-like units that encourage entrepreneurship and shared ownership by employees. The HR function will have to communicate this need to senior management and lead the process.
