Divakara K. Udupa, E-mail: [email protected]
All major technological breakthroughs in the world such as printing, textile, steel, automobiles and telephones, brought out new requirements on education, skill levels and attitudes from work force. The same is true of computers, the Internet or any other future path breaking technological developments.
While we discuss the requirements from future work force, we have to bear in mind the focal issue: on a time scale, the window for development, implementation and penetration of new technologies to a large section of the global society is becoming progressively smaller. As a result, the requirements on the work force change more frequently than we have witnessed ever before. Let us discuss some of the important requirements from the work force in the information society.
There is no cradle-to-grave job scenario. The bottom line is that there are no job securities. Due to external and internal pressures, the government and private sector employees can no longer take their jobs for granted. The timing and the manner of downsizing will vary depending upon the circumstances and conditions. Every nation is facing pressures from taxpayers to reduce taxes. The taxpayers want to see some worthwhile results from the money they pay as taxes. This is the trend in developed countries.
In the private sector, the scenario is more striking. Stock market and quarter-to-quarter close scrutiny of the results is forcing ruthless actions. Shareholders do not give much time and there is not much scope for errors. Even top management is not spared. So, you can imagine the state of affairs in the private sector.
Let us be very clear about one basic point - there is no free lunch. All private sector and government employees will have to be productive and must contribute to the bottom line of a company or nation. It is very difficult to go contrary to the natural course. If one has the right positive attitude and be productive, one can survive in the private sector or government jobs.
Many future companies are going to be built from scratch by entrepreneurs with lots of vision, ambitions and expectations. The work force will be small. These entrepreneurs will work on models similar to Steve Jobs (Apple) or Bill Gates (Microsoft). These two entrepreneurs are very hard taskmasters and no-nonsense people. Most of the future companies are going to be small, flexible, lean and mean. The entrepreneurs pick the employees to suit their goals and future plans.
Specialists command a high salary. At the same time, they have a high-risk of their skills becoming outdated soon. So, they have to keep themselves up-to-date. They also need to keep their bio-data in their “back pocket.” They have to be flexible and adaptable. This includes willingness to relocate anywhere in the world.
Management experts point out that in future, at least there will be four to five job changes. They also predict that one has to go back to colleges after a few years for learning new skills and for honing old skills. Though not to the extent of specialists, the generalists also will have to keep themselves up-to-date and be flexible about the type of job they do. They need to be willing to be retrained and not stick to the job specifications. If required, they have to take demotions and pay cuts. Here, the important point is to keep learning and be very current. One cannot rest on past laurels for long.
In a global village, one should have very good communication skills. One should be able to adjust to different cultures and manage well among people with diverse backgrounds. Both written and spoken English are basic prerequisites.
As high tech related jobs are done in teams, it is very essential to be able to work in teams and still shine to move upwards. An employee has to be a productive member of a team and be a positive influence. It is essential to have a very positive and optimistic attitude. Very few companies can afford to have people with negative attitudes.
There are maximum chances of getting exposed in business meetings and discussions. First of all, display a positive attitude and contribute to the discussions during meetings. Other very important and often ignored point is - in work place, because of diversity of employees, keep away from controversial topics such as religion and politics.
Our skills must be marketable and be in demand. These two issues have to be important considerations while acquiring new skills or upgrading current skills. However, these “marketable skills” will continuously change to cater to new requirements of the work places. Ultimately, one has to answer the important question: at least, can I get as much salary as I am making elsewhere? If the answer is a resounding yes, then one need not be scared of losing one’s job!
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