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Researchjournali’s Journal of Human Resource Vol. 2 | No. 8 November | 2014 ISSN 2347-825X

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The Changing Nature Of Work, Jobs Of The Future, And Strategic Human Resource Framework

Dr. Haven Allahar

Adjunct Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Business, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago

Researchjournali’s Journal of Human Resource Vol. 2 | No. 8 November | 2014 ISSN 2347-825X

ABSTRACT There is universal concern by governmental administrations and private organizations about whether the rapid growth in the application of technology will displace people from the workplace in large numbers. The purpose this article is to identify and examine the current technological trends, the nature of future jobs, and the new skills or critical human skills required to meets the dictates of the transformed workplace. The approach adopted is futuristic and involves a clinical review of the latest thinking and research on how work was being transformed, and an assessment of the impacts on organizations and society of the changing workplace. The general conclusion is that, while all countries are not impacted equally because the spread of technology is not uniform, the viral nature of the new technology is rapidly spreading to even developing countries. In such a situation, the implementation of a strategic organizational policy approach is offered with suggestions for: a collaborative educational awareness; new learning programs; strategic policy actions; solving the talent-workforce imbalance; and promoting environmentally friendly behaviour in organizations. Keywords: changing nature of work, future occupations, HR strategies, jobs and technology, traditional occupations, workplace diversity

1. INTRODUCTION Employment issues continue to be a major preoccupation among administrations in advanced and emerging countries. The concern is defined by rapidly disappearing traditional occupations and relatively low-skill jobs in both public sector organizations, private businesses, and many non-governmental organizations (NGOs). According to Gordon (2013), this speed of change has led to a disconnect between the labor market and the aspirations of many people and “a structural disconnect between the skills of students and workers, and the rising knowledge of the jobs being created” (p. 43). This situation has generated an ongoing debate over the nature of jobs in the emerging future which is being shaped and re-shaped by rapidly evolving technology. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the rapidly changing workplace which has significant implication for public sector organizations, private businesses, and NGOs. The article is futurist in its outlook because it focuses on the continuing technological revolution which is transforming the workplace and the nature of work which is demanding new skills that require development because they do not currently exist. The implication is that both governmental and private training institutions have to prepare for creating these new skills if the quality of life objective of most administrations is to be achieved. The argument presented in the article is that targeted public policies are required to address the new workplace demands and the jobs of the future. The article draws on the current research produced by leading futurist thinkers and researchers over the past four years. Sampson and Reardon (2011) analyzed changes in occupations and asserted that “the transition

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from the industrial age to the information age has been accompanied by unprecedented change” (p. 41). The feature of this transition has been the deep impact of technology leading to fundamental changes in occupations with technology reshaping the workplace. Sampson and Reardon further observed that “occupations have become fluid and organizations are evolving rapidly, adapting their workforce to respond to a rapidly evolving marketplace" (p. 41). Sampson and Reardon (2011) also noted that basic jobs in areas such as construction, business, manufacturing, transportation, and education constitute the occupations that will remain intact. The authors highlighted the fact that work-skills such as: “problem-solving; written and oral communication; interpersonal relationship skills; manual dexterity; and creativity”, which Samson (2013) termed „highly human skills‟, “have remained constant despite rapid changes in technology” (Sampson and Reardon, 2011, p. 43). Snyder (2013), in citing Gordon, extended the skills requirement to advanced cognitive skills such as: systems thinking; problem analysis; teamwork; self-directed learning; cyber-literacy; and applied creativity (p. 53). Gordon (2013) argued that there exists a mismatch between the talent available and the supply of persons with the emerging skills requirements. This imbalance can only be addressed by providing for workers acquiring and maintaining high-level skills and career knowledge during the span of their working lives. In this process, the traditional occupations are disappearing along with new approaches to business and governmental activities in which online technologies are being incorporated especially in the field of education. The immediate impact of the occupational changes highlighted in this article will be declines in employment but this is a short-term impact while training and education systems begin to refocus on the nontraditional occupations. Thus, while many “traditional jobs will almost disappear in the future, the time is appropriate for consideration of what will constitute future jobs because, if we project current trends, the nature of jobs and careers will be dramatically transformed” (Allahar, 2011a). This is the background and context of the discussion on the changing workplace and future jobs which will examine: megatrends and global shifts in occupations; the manner in which work is changing; categorization of jobs; prospective new organizational and individual roles; technology and innovation; future world reshapers; the human skills that are highly honed; and policy considerations.

2. THE MEGATRENDS IMPACTING THE CHANGING WORKPLACE Three major structural trends were distilled from the literature based on experience of work in the West highlighted as: off-shoring of jobs to Far East countries such as China and India; technological advances in areas of manufacturing, mining and agriculture leading to greater output with less labor; increased employee costs in the developed countries. Johnson (2010) suggested that a “society needs to know which sectors are likely to offer the best hope for the future so that policy on education, taxation, zoning and welfare” can be directed.

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Sampson and Reardon (2011) however noted that “much of the current practice in educational and vocational guidance is the product of the industrial age. Old models of practice, based on ideas about occupations and work that have changed dramatically, need to change to reflect the demands of the information age” (p. 41). In an effort to better understand the megatrends that are impacting occupations, Frey (2014) surveyed the employment landscape and detected six fundamental global job shifts including: declining birth rates; rise of exponential industries; expanding individual awareness; increasing individual fragility; individual empowerment; and an overprotected generation. More recently, job shortages are fast becoming a major trend in developed economies as reported by The Conference Board (2014). 2.1 DECLINING BIRTH RATES Frey (2014) argued that fertility rates in India, China, Japan, and Brazil are declining rapidly which represent part of a global trend towards negative population growth. However, in spite of clear statistical evidence, some researchers are sustaining the view that “global population will continue to drive everything from environmental degradation and immigration to food and resource scarcity” (Frey, 2014). In attempting to reverse this trend, countries will face the significant challenge of the long lead-time required which will not bring positive results until somewhere between 2035 and 2040 (Frey, 2014). Hajkowicz et al. (2012) observed a definitive trend towards aging populations in the advanced and several emerging countries and suggested that, while countries can tap the skills, knowledge, wisdom, and mentoring abilities of the elderly, there are challenges of meeting health care requirements and funding retirement plans especially with extended life spans. Changing demographics is reflected differently in separate regions of the world with the more advanced countries experiencing the impacts of an aging population due to higher life expectancies and falling birth rates. “This phenomenon is leading to an increase in the proportion of elderly people in many regions and challenges the stability of social welfare systems, including pensions and healthcare” (Allahar, 2014a; 2014b; 2014c). The National Intelligence Council (NIC) (2012) views unprecedented and widespread aging as a tectonic shift and points to the cross-border issue of migration which is drastically changing the demographic composition of countries 2.2 RISE OF EXPONENTIAL INDUSTRIES Frey (2014) explained the concept of exponentialism as “the science behind digital technologies far-reaching influence on innovation and the exponential cost-performance of the three basic building blocks of our digital world, computing power, storage, and bandwidth, have started to affect every other business, sending jolts of performance opportunities through these industries”. Frey concludes that exponential industries can create confusion, insightful thought, and mystery simultaneously, because they can engender change without warning.

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2.3 EXPANDING INDIVIDUAL AWARENESS The ubiquity of the Internet is creating greater individual awareness daily leading to increasing interaction with “digital personas, avatars, and entertainment” providing a look into the future awareness of people, places, and things (Frey, 2014). The following statistics on the use of the Internet were presented by Frey which showed that “every 60 seconds there are over: 2 million Google searches; 205 million emails sent; and 900 new websites created”. In this regard, Frey argued that this intense use of the Internet will create a mindset that is aware of minute bits of information that will “guide our decision-making, our ability to adapt, and our ability to function in our increasingly fluid work environments” (2014). 2.4 INCREASING INDIVIDUAL FRAGILITY Individuals are becoming increasingly fragile due to a new technological dependence which makes people subject to panic in cases of outages which disrupt work, transit facilities, eating places, and critical medical services. Dependence on an electric grid precludes the necessity for providing backup electrical services which heightens the fragility of individuals. Fragility is also exemplified in such instances when cell coverage, Wi-Fi, water, cable, or Internet is absent. 2.5 INDIVIDUAL EMPOWERMENT According to KPMG 2013, there is wide agreement that the most important global megatrend is empowerment of individuals because it is directly linked to: expanding global economic activity; rapid growth of developing countries; and widespread exploitation of new communications and manufacturing technologies. Individual empowerment is facilitated by easier access to “global education, health, and technology the result of which is increasing demands for participatory democracy, broadly defined, including involvement in public decision-making” (Allahar, 2014a; 2014c). While individual empowerment creates the potential for solving global challenges, the NIC (2012) points to the danger of small groups accessing disruptive technologies such as cyber instruments and bio-terror weaponry to indulge in large scale violence. In fact, Frey (2014) draws attention to the increasing shift of power away from organizations to individuals who have the ability either to cause havoc among industries, change lives, or even transform societies. A critical element of individual empowerment is the worldwide increase in women empowerment which Singh (2013) considers a significant social trend and argued that female empowerment will see women postponing child birth while becoming more active in business and politics. 2.6 AN OVERPROTECTED GENERATION A new trend in the West is children remaining in their parents‟ homes for extended stays which Frey (2014) described as “an overprotected „nerf‟ generation”. Frey quoted statistics that confirm that children in the US are remaining in their parents‟ homes at an age of over 29 while in Italy it is up to 35 years of age. Frey suggested that this trend “will have long term implications on tomorrow‟s job market, both in terms of

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maturity, employability and overall resilience” to adversity. Frey concluded that while the complexity of the job market is not fully understood, individual empowerment must be taken into account because persons who feel betrayed by employers may openly attack those they deemed responsible for their life situation. 2.7 LABOR SHORTAGES The Conference Board (2014) highlighted the issue of job shortages which can be viewed as a megatrend impacting some regions of the world mainly developed countries. The Conference Board utilized a unique technique to analyze the level of labor shortages in countries, industries, and occupations in the US and Europe. The Conference Board developed a unique predictive index based on the factors of shortages in a labor-market and demographic trends in order to predict future labor shortages. The Conference Board concluded that the developed countries will experience severe labor shortages which will cause major organizational and human resource problems for business and governmental agencies over the coming longterm. The Index was applied to select countries resulted in Germany being predicted to be at the greatest risk of future labor shortages compared with 32 countries while several European countries were also vulnerable. A comparison with other countries showed that the Mediterranean countries were likely to encounter labor shortages by 2025 while Italy and the Asia-Pacific region will be seriously threatened. The prediction for the US, the U.K., France, and Canada were ranked as moderate risk of future labor shortages (The Conference Board, 2014). The issue of job shortages was also the subject of a review by Snyder (2013) of the book „Future Jobs‟ authored by Edward Gordon in 2013 which viewed job shortages as a crisis impacting the United States (US) as well as other developing and emerging countries. A deficiency in the highly developed skills necessary for the high-growth and technology related jobs in the digital information era was determined to be the major human resource gap. The book review pointed out that there are vacancies in the US of four to five million that currently cannot be filled in the face of millions of persons who were either unemployed or underemployed (Snyder, 2013, p.52). The Conference Board (2014) also pointed out that the data from Europe confirmed that labor shortages were also projected for areas such as the social sector, health care, and lower level trade positions. The solution offered was collaboration among national governments, educational institutions, and the private business sector in order to launch massive retraining programs for employees, including low-skilled, to address the future shortages (The Conference Board, 2014). To aid in the understanding of the potential job crisis, Gordon (2009) identified three major socioeconomic forces driving job shortages: demographic declines mainly in the industrialized countries magnified by shifts in generational values; a skills gap which is particularly acute in the US where only 25 percent of students who begin post secondary education complete full certificates; and a cultural bias against acquiring the training to design, repair, or manage the technology associated with modern computer and hand-held devices

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as opposed to using the devices (p. 37-38). These issues are relevant to emerging countries which have to be addressed by a wide range of stakeholders in the societies of the respective countries.

3. KEYS TO THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK Austin (2012) the Vice President of Gartner, reviewed the issue regarding the „changing nature of work‟ acknowledging that some researchers were preoccupied more with the speed of change as it impacted existing organizations, while others focused on future trends. Nevertheless, both scenarios pointed to the need for planning for future changes in the environment of work. In this regard, Austin highlighted the significant changes anticipated in the work environment which will add greater value to organizations as: 

De-reutilization of work: Human creativity and innovation constitutes the real value of what can be contributed by people in the workplace.



Swarms: Swarming is characterized by bee-like activity from all members working in teams and adding value.



Weak links: “Navigating one's own personal, professional and social networks helps people develop and exploit the strong and weak links that will be crucial to surviving and succeeding with swarms” (Austin, 2012).



Working with collectives: Informal groups develop autonomously within organizations and are viewed as collectives because they have interests in common which are not predetermined by the organizations. Organizational managers have to develop the skill of operating in an environment in which they lack direct control but can benefit from understanding how these informal groups and interests of their members.



Sketch-ups: For the short to medium terms, the process models utilized will continue as informal tools and be no more than sketch-ups which will be devised as required.



Spontaneous work: Work will be oriented towards the proactive search for opportunities the viability of which will require design changes and feasible models.



Simulation and experimentation: Simulations of workplace behavior will become a prominent approach, utilizing a variety of data capable of being manipulated by persons, while the technological inputs will be employed to assemble and compose the relevant materials.



Pattern sensitivity: Special work teams will be assigned to identify new trends, conduct trend analyses to assess the likelihood of occurrence, and to formulate future scenarios focusing on the potential for disruptive impacts



Hyper-connectivity: Increasing connectedness is already a feature of the modern environment which is reflected in the creation and growth of networks which reside outside the control of organizations. This connectivity feature is facilitated by information technology which is transforming how, where, and

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when work takes place. Work will increasingly be conducted by informal groups which do not respect formal organizational boundaries and which will involve activities such as telecommuting and working from local centers rather than head offices. 

My place: Increased connectivity will also heighten the trend towards virtual offices which allow for meetings and discussions to be conducted using conference calls, and facilities like Skype, and computer aided interaction without any face-to-face contact. Virtual workplaces will facilitate strangers “working in swarms to tackle rapidly emerging problems” (Austin, 2012). The new workplace will be homes or computer centers where people can occupy private space with work conducted as if located in a head office. As the experience of home-based business demonstrated, working in this fashion blurs “the lines between personal, professional, social and family matters” (Austin, 2012).

4. FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION DRIVEN JOBS Many new jobs are being created through innovative technological developments in a wide area of activities and the pursuit of very advanced innovation. These developments have led to the application of robots to perform both simple and complex tasks while the information revolution is generating a host of new jobs. 4.1 THE ROBOTIC REVOLUTION The robotic revolution is transforming activities in several areas from manufacturing to health care and even extending into home management. In this scenario, Grantham (2011) identified occupations of robotician, autonomous vehicle operator (AVO), and healer which are required for repairing both our bodies and machines. An increasing trend that applies to both households and businesses is the use of robots to perform routine tasks and this will create the position of “robotician” who will be skilled in servicing the various components of robots. Such a person will combine “mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering skills” focusing on “the assembly and maintenance of robotic devices” used “for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes” (Grantham, 2011, p. 39). The use of automatic vehicles has gained prominence with the introduction of drones in everyday societal activities such as crime fighting and geographic data collection. Grantham (2011) argues that persons with the capacity to project themselves into a virtual environment developed from the gaming world are prime candidates for the occupation of AVO. The healer represents the evolution of the medical profession into a highly trained group of community providers who blend Western and Eastern medical traditions. This process is already entrenched with the widespread acceptance of herbal products for treatment of illnesses (Grantham, 2011, p. 40).

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4.2 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED INNOVATION In examining the critical issues that impact individuals directly, and by looking at advanced technological development, Frey (2011) compiled a long list of potential occupations of the future focusing on emerging technology and advanced innovation. The expanding world of technology is generating many new jobs, and advanced technology is opening a new world of occupations that were not conceived in the recent past. Frey (2011) presented a collection of such jobs focusing initially on the growing networks of data and the continuing information revolution, and subsequently on critical issues to be addressed and the catalytic innovations that will create new industries of the future. In the information era, Frey (2011) argued that “a new breed of workers, equipped with über-geek data-capturing tools, are about to usher in a whole new information era” and the persons who will design systems to monetize the information are the “terabyters” (p. 35). Terabyters will serve as human information nodes and, being immersed in a world of data, will produce more than a terabyte of new information daily. Frey indicated that terabyter gear is already available but crude and as improvements take place the gear will become more wearable and networks of terabyters will emerge (Frey, 2011, p. 35). Current technological development, as indicated by Frey (2011), is opening up new jobs in the drone industry, 3-D printing, the Internet, and driverless vehicles. A commercial drone industry is developing which will create jobs designated by Frey as “drone standards specialists, drone docking designers and engineers”, and environmental minimizers who deal with sound diminution and visual aesthetic reduction (2011, p. 6). One of the most disruptive innovations is 3-D printing more professionally called additive manufacturing which ushers in a new reality of customizable, one-off production. At the home level, persons will print things like jewelry, replacement parts for appliances, create art, and make toys for their children. With the availability of many types of metal, plastic, glass, and other materials, including gold and silver, most things can be printed. With the development of bioprinters, human tissue for both pharmaceutical testing and eventually entire organs and bones, will be printed. In the field of architecture and construction, 3D-printed models of complex architectural drawings are currently created quickly and inexpensively, and eventually entire buildings will be created with a 3D printer. In this context, Frey (2011) foresees future jobs such as “material experts, design engineers, and organ agents for 3-D printed organs” (p. 6). We have entered the age of the “Internet of Things” and Frey (2011) cites Morgan Stanley as foreseeing 75 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020, creating a need for positions Frey labelled as: “lifestyle auditors, efficiency consultants, augmented reality architects, and avatar relationship managers” (p. 6). Driverless vehicles will be well established by 2020 and used for delivery of packages, groceries, and fast mail leading to occupations such as: “delivery dispatchers, traffic monitoring systems planners, designers, and operators; automated traffic architects and engineers; driverless ride experience designers; and emergency

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crews” (Frey, 2011, p. 7). Over the longer term future, Frey (2014) projects that there are certain jobs that will emerge as a result of advanced future innovation which are still at an early developmental stage such as: 

Bio-factories will arise as applications of living systems creating occupations of “gene- sequencers, treatment monitors, and bio-factory doctors, strategists, and developers” (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Future agriculture will create industries that require “bio-meat factory engineers, urban agriculturalists, and plant educators – trainers who will work with intelligent plants which will be capable of reengineering themselves” to cater to changing market needs (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Extinction revivalists who will bring previously extinct animals back to life.



Robotic earthworm drivers used to “mine the landfills and replace whatever is extracted with high-grade soil” (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Avatar designers who will create the next generation of avatars who will “emerge from the computer and appear as visual beings walking around among us (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Clone ranchers who will operate like cattle ranchers by selecting a clone and downloading a personality which then elevates the selected clone to “human status” (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Body parts makers will arise when we are able to efficiently “produce our own organs” on a large scale (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Global systems architects will be responsible for transitioning national systems to global systems



Space-based power system designers will be required when earth‟s resources for generating power no longer exist and we are forced to secure and distribute power from space in a more effective manner than current sources.



Amnesia surgeons who will remove “bad memories or destructive behavior” from persons (Frey, 2014, p. 8).



Memory augmentation therapists who will create better memories thereby enhancing human life



Geoengineers, weather control specialists who will move beyond “the age of meteorology and climatology” to actually controlling weather patterns (Frey, 2014, p. 8).



Brain quants who will combine the skills of the “stock market manipulators of the past and the brain manipulators of the future to usurp control of marketing” (Frey, 2014, p. 7).



Nano weapons specialist who will emerge because of the infinitively small size of future weapons



Compressed air engineers who will “compress streams of air as they pass through our existing atmosphere” creating opportunities for non-surface based housing and transportation and other experimental goods (Frey, 2014, p. 8).

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5. THE FIVE KEY FUTURE WORLD RESHAPERS The persons who have exerted the greatest influence on the directions the world has taken include “politicians, military commanders, regulators, economists, or scientists” (Hejazi, 2011, p. 40). The question was posed about which category of persons will “shape the world of the future whether in positive or negative ways” and Hejazi (2011) identified five key future world shapers labelled as: grassroots researcher; universal ethics proclaimer; wiki writers; financial technologists; and post-normal jobs counsellors. Hejazi argued that the world will soon be led by persons who create and “own knowledge” while the users of knowledge will be mere followers (Hejazi, 2011, p. 40). Further, “true democracies will encourage their people to be active partners in research, and research projects will be done by” ordinary grassroots researchers (Hejazi, 2011, p. 40). Hejazi (2011) views universal ethics proclaimers as persons who strive to find a way out of religious, tribal, regional, and international conflicts based on the promotion of universal ethics as a form of brotherhood. The issue of poor ethical practices in many areas of human activity including business, government, religion, and sport constitutes an ongoing debate which can broaden the scope of the universal ethics proclaimer as perceived by Hejazi (p. 40). With respect to wikis, Allahar (2014) noted that “wikis are playing an increasingly vital role in recording and retrieving general knowledge which will give rise to the position of wiki writer”. “With the new generation of wikis which are embracing multimedia and interactive capabilities, opportunities will be created for Wiki writers to launch new projects” (Allahar, 2011b). In turn, “wiki writers will be a very active community producing” a vast range of articles to meet the needs of clients and users leading to the creation of “increasingly popular places to share information and knowledge” (Hejazi, 2011, p. 40). Hejazi (2011) observed that information and communications technology is impacting and transforming the area of finance demonstrated by increased capital flows to the financial technologies market. Accordingly, these flows are stimulating development, demolishing access barriers, and reducing transactions costs significantly. This scenario will create the position of financial technologist who will facilitate the establishment of an environment in which to lower income earners and small businesses can benefit from smaller mutual fund units and insurance policies. The post-normal era was described by Hejazi as a time of new uncertainties which will impose difficulties for persons to identify new possibilities which will lead to the occupation of post-normal jobs counsellor whose specialty will be to identify viable opportunities in the marketplace (Hejazi, 2011, p. 41).

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6. IMPACTS OF THE CHANGING WORKPLACE The changing workplace will present many challenges to society and public and private organizations. This article restricts its analysis to the human impacts, and the future positions in which persons will operate as organizational members, and new individual personal and community service occupations. 6.1 HUMAN IMPACT ISSUES Frey (2014) identified certain human impact issues that will lead to the invention of tomorrow‟s jobs including: transportation problems; water shortages; new business models; application of big data; alternative financial systems; skills training; and specialized housing for seniors. The rapid urbanization of developed and emerging countries and the growth in the use of motor vehicles have created a critical transportation problem for many societies. Frey (2014) sees the problems posed by transportation systems in developed and emerging countries will lead to the creation of personal rapid transit systems which will employ millions of people in positions which he designated as: “station designers and architects; traffic-flow analyzers; command centre operators; and construction teams” (Frey, 2014, p. 6). There are ongoing international disputes over water sources and there are forecasts for serious potable water shortages worldwide. As such, harvesting water from the atmosphere is becoming as a potential solution which will create jobs such as: “site collection lease managers; system architects; and purification monitors” according to Frey (2014, p.7). Corporations will explore opportunities for sharing creating new business models based on sharing of other peoples goods and assets leading to “shareability auditors people who analyze homes and businesses for shareable assets” and “corporate sharing managers” (Frey, 2014, p. 6). The increased use of big data for measurable information will generate “opportunities for quantified self-assessment auditors, data contextualists, deficiency analyzers, and guardians of privacy” who will address individual failings (Frey, 2014, p. 6). At the organization level, the various aspects of data will need to be managed which will create jobs for “data interface mavens, opportunity spotters, and waste data managers” for streamlining data storage to eliminate duplication (Frey, 2014, p. 6). The financial system currently uses crypto currencies which will create alternative financial systems generating positions of “crypto currency bankers, regulators, lawyers, ... anonymity advocates, and theft recovery specialists” (Frey, 2014) p. 7). The expansion of training in modern skills offered at community-type colleges are emerging as full-immersion skill-training centers and will create new positions as “school designers, career transitionists, and goal counsellors” (Frey, 2014) p. 7). The issue of ageing populations currently challenging developed, and, increasingly emerging countries, will create opportunities in the area of senior living for “lifestyle housing designers, life-stage attendants, memorial designers, and legacists who manage people‟s legacies” (Frey, 2014, p. 6).

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6.2 FUTURE ORGANIZATIONAL POSITIONS The categorization of future jobs outlined above, provides a tool for persons to explore opportunities for creating new occupations. Futurists also use trends observation as a technique for developing alternative scenarios, and such observations have identified “prospective jobs both at the organizational and individual levels for which people and training institutions need to prepare” (Allahar, 2011a). At the organizational level, new occupations were identified by Ware (2011) as: “personal brand manager; talent aggregator; office concierge; global sourcing manager; and organizational quartermaster” (p. 37). Ware (2011) argued that large organisations will downsize focusing on “core functions” while relying on outsourcing non-core tasks to “contractors, outsourcers, and contingent labourers” (p. 37). The position of “talent aggregators” describes persons who will “maintain databases on thousands of independent “free agents” assembling, often on short notice, the talent that is needed for any given project much in the same way the film industry assembles casts” (Ware, 2011, p. 37). The development of portable communications devices has facilitated the mobility of labour which is leading to the transformation of commercial office space. This trend is leading to increased use of home-based offices, shared office accommodation, and short-term rental space in corporate facilities. These new arrangements create the position of office concierge who Ware (2011) foresees as acting, not merely as “a space reservation clerk, but” more as a facilitator of “managers and teams” by looking after all office and technology needs. The concierge will also source critical resources needed for items such as meals, facilitators and technical support services (Ware, 2011, p. 37). With the increasing globalization of business, organizations will require a “global sourcing manager” who will function as a “logistics expert who understands supplier relationship management, energy costs and tradeoffs, international customs requirements and other legal factors, overall cost considerations, and project deliverable timelines” (Ware, 2011, p. 37). The role of the organizational quartermaster is to ensure that all the office, technology, and training services required to have work produced efficiently and effectively are available. Ware likened the quartermaster‟s job to that of a “military quartermaster” with the job combining “what we know today as end-user computing, work-place services, employee training, project management, talent management, and purchasing, for starters” (Ware, 2011, p. 38). The changing workplace, highlighted by Ware (2011), will also generate three critical occupations which were identified by Gioia (2011) as chief experience officer (CExO), holodeck trainer, and residence technician. A CExO “will report to the chief executive officer” and will have operational responsibility for the business operations and, in particular, “for all of the experiences offered, to both employees and customers, and for the outcomes” (Gioia, 2011, p. 38). Gioia believes that the reason for creating this position

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is the importance of job experience in future organizational dealings because emotional experience will determine which companies prosper (Gioia, 2011, p. 38). Digital games are now a dominant trend among young people and the use of games for educational purposes and creative explorations, not just entertainment, will lead to environments where gaming activities can proceed in virtual reality. This practice will create the occupation of the holodeck trainer whose task will be to assist persons in learning the gaming skills even within corporate environments (Gioia, 2011, p. 38). The role of residence technician is to ensure that all of the electronic and utility systems used within a building are fully functional, and the skills required are a combination of an “appliance repair person, alternative energy capture, electrical, air-conditioning, and medical equipment technician” (Gioia, 2011, p. 38). Gioia views this wide responsibility as extending to “monitoring the health statistics of the residents and controlling the ventilation of the building, especially ensuring that the solar panels and other alternative energy systems are in good working order” (Gioia, 2011, p. 38). 6.3 NEW INDIVIDUAL, PERSONAL, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE OCCUPATIONS At the individual level, emerging jobs will be created which relate more to factors such as community mobilization, personal financial security planning, and individual care. Godin (2011) identified the position of online community organizer which requires the skills of online community building, and creating and maintaining “a virtual world in which” the key players form part of an integrated whole (p. 39). Community organizers must “understand the capability of technology”, possess good writing skills, and “have the ability to” convince reluctant participants to join the group (Godin, 2011, p. 39). It is also vital that online community organizers have a sound grasp of “a market-place”, and are capable of conducting “outbound selling and non-electronic communications” (Godin, 2011, p. 39). A personal brand manager will be required, according to Ware (2011), because of the tendency of people to move to different jobs in their careers. In the same way companies promote their product brands to capture market share, individuals will consider their personal brands as vital. Thus brand managers “will serve as talent agents, coaches, and scouts helping individuals plan their careers, match their skills and preferences to jobs, seek out promising opportunities, evaluate their successes and failures, and package their personal brands” with brand managers also acting “as personal coaches and career managers for their clients” (Ware, 2011, p. 37). Securing someone‟s personal financial future creates the job of a “certified digital identity planner” who, according to Ferriss (2011), “combines the expertise of an estate planner and insurance representative. In performing this function the certified digital identity planner first conducts an information audit of clients‟ information records including available medical, imaging, home address, school address and similar records but also omitted, deleted, and hidden records” (p. 39). The digital identity planner will also advise on the

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details related to investment and disposal of assets, geographical location, and other related matters. The digital identity planner will also advise on legal matters, software applications, and safety issues with hardware and older children (Ferriss, 2011, p. 39). According to Levit (2011), a significant percentage of jobs in the US will be occupied by “personal care coordinators” operating in the health care management and technology sectors (p. 40). As indicated by Allahar (2014), “a rapidly aging population, with 10 percent currently over 60 years, and expanding health care coverage, will require a personal care coordinator to serve as the bridge between the individual and the various health-care organizations and health service providers”. For the personal care coordinator, it will be critical that they “understand the complexities of the modern health-care system and will also be familiar with each client‟s unique health-care situation and history ....to ensure the best possible patient outcome” (Levit, 2011, p. 40).

7. A STRATEGIC HRM FUTURE JOBS FRAMEWORK The results of the review and analyses conducted in this article point to the need for a framework for categorizing jobs which is simple enough to be applied in countries at different stages of development. Further, the analyses recognize the contention that all traditional jobs will not disappear but will be transformed, and the challenge to individuals and organizations is to develop the highly human skills and learn how to leverage such skills for performing new jobs in the interest of overall human capital development. 7.1 FRAMEWORK FOR CATEGORIZING JOBS Job opportunities are rapidly changing in the context of the dynamic requirements of the new world trading and other relationships and the demands of modern business operations. In order to better understand the growing trends in job rearrangements, Wagner (2011) suggested an approach to job categorization from three perspectives as summarized by Allahar (2011a) as: “retrofitting which is adding new skills to existing jobs; blending by combining skills and functions from different jobs or industries to create new specialities; and problem solving because the supply of future problems for people to solve seems limitless”. Allahar (2011a) suggested that “in the area of retrofitting, telecommuting will create many job opportunities as people will be able to work from home or a remote location” which will lead to retrofitting of head offices and reconfiguration of work spaces. Further, “technological advances, as well as social change, will create opportunities for jobs which were not routinely performed remotely” (Allahar, 2011a), and Wagner (2011) identified examples of such jobs as: “telecop; green career coaches; and energy harvesters” (p. 31). A telecop will use communications technology to perform many tasks remotely which can be superior to current arrangements if effective ties to the communities can be established. Green career coaches will act as advisors

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to private corporations, governmental agencies, small businesses and individuals in limiting and reducing the adverse environmental impacts of their operations. Energy harvesters will be charged with combining facets of construction and engineering technology to collect kinetic energy of human beings based on their interaction with materials from flooring to clothing. Retrofitting can also be applied to transportation systems and infrastructure which are increasingly utilizing special purpose technologies to address congestion and safety issues, and will create new occupations suggested by Wagner (2011) as: “smart road designer/engineer, sensor control monitor/analyst, smart car interior designer, and smart car interior advertisement sales representative” (p. 32). At a more advanced stage, major future oriented occupations will be generated from human commercialization of outer space. Wagner (2011) pointed to the issue of space debris which are being tracked by space junk watchers. This phenomenon will create future jobs for space sweepers, space junk recyclers, haulers, and resource reclaimers (p. 32). Based on observed trends, Wagner (2011) suggested that an approach using the “blending of careers” will provide persons with the ability “to make connections among two or more different areas of activity” (p. 32). Examples of potential occupations that can emerge through job blending are: environmental health nurse; clinical choral consultant; agri-restauranteur; and health and medical journalist. The emergence of the field of environmental health nursing resulted from “blending of work in human and environmental health and involves treatment of patients exposed to toxins” (Wagner, 2011, p. 32). A clinical choral consultant provides music therapy services in health institutions through the combination of specific skills such as persuasiveness and interpersonal communication with special interests such as singing and painting (Wagner, 2011, p. 32). The focus on healthy eating, fads like celebrity chefs, and promotion of urban agriculture will generate occupations of agri-restauranteurs who provide dishes with farm-grown, chemical free ingredients with people opting to produce their own food. New opportunities based on the blending approach are opening up in health and medical journalism which presents an opportunity for cross-training of professionals such as medical doctors, astrophysicists, financial experts, economists, and social scientists to provide authoritative journalism using the new platforms (Wagner, 2011, p. 32). The adoption of a problem solving approach will create job opportunities in the field of image management which assist individuals “to manage their online image by correcting” any misunderstandings or errors which, with the pervasive use of social media, are frequent occurrences (Wagner, 2011). Wagner (2011) predicted that prospective employers, political opponents, or spurned lovers will use the services of a digital archaeologist who will dig up material buried in emails and other digital exchanges (p. 33). This categorization provides a framework for understanding the types of new jobs that will emerge in the future and is highly applicable to both public sector and private business organizations involved in human capital

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development and human resource management. The identification of new jobs by using the approach of retrofitting current occupations, blending of careers to create new careers, and targeting the solution of problems that people grapple with on a regular basis, also provides a useful framework for education, manpower planners, and HR managers in the context of the decline of traditional occupations. 7.2 DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHLY HUMAN SKILLS The debate over the impact of the digital age on future jobs continues among researchers of occupational theory and practice and HR practitioners. The majority or researchers predict a vastly transformed workplace by 2030 based on current evidence of evolving business practices. Examples of jobs that will be radically transformed to survive were cited by Samson (2013) as: secretaries; middle managers; accountants; governmental administrators; product designers; corporate planners; soldiers; salespeople;

farmers;

restaurateurs; stockbrokers; bank tellers, doctors; diplomats; drivers of delivery vans; and drivers of industry. Nevertheless, Samson contended that “highly human skills such as perceptiveness, creativity, responsibility”, and sociability “will continue to be prized in the workplace” for supplementing “the hard, processoriented skills” (Samson, 2013, p. 31). 7.3 LEVERAGING THE HIGHLY HUMAN SKILLS In the face of increasingly rapid automation of jobs, the challenge faced by people is to leverage the critical highly human skills for application to new jobs which Samson (2013) detailed as: 

Basic Thinking Skills and Symbolism: “ These range from sensory awareness to symbolic manipulation” and include such skills as “conscious monitoring and control, hypothesizing, creativity and imagination, subjective decision making, social skills, and responsibility” (Samson, 2013, p. 34).



Conscious Monitoring and Control: This skill involves constant awareness to intercede, prevent a mishap, see an opportunity, or make an adjustment as appropriate.



Hypothesizing: This skill involves looking for the background to a problem, for current conditions, or for a natural situation, and requires a “mental leap” forward to what already exists rather than something new (Samson, 2013, p. 34).



Creativity and Imagination: This requires mind activity in which new things are invented and can be employed in a business to dream up “new options, possibilities, variations, and solutions” (Samson, 2013, p. 34).



Subjective Decision Making: This involves the stage of selecting an opportunity after full clarification and screening of the idea.



Social Skills: Include the ability to lead persons and teams, a n a b i l i t y t o m o t i v a t e p e o p l e to achieve objectives, a capacity to listen effectively, possession of

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organizational

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abilities,

translating a vision, and conveying enthusiasm in people

interactions. 

Responsibility: Represents the pinnacle of an “integrated, well-functioning self-consciousness” which ultimately embraces all of humanity (Samson, 2013, p. 35).

Samson (2013) concluded that “developing our highly human qualities is increasingly becoming our best career path, educational opportunity, and way to fulfill us as individuals not to mention an imperative for our survival” which can also generate considerable wealth in the short to medium term (p. 35).

8. IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIC ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES The guiding imperative of organizations, in both the public and private sectors, is to become action-oriented in order to equip persons for the transformed workplace and the changing nature of work. Specific actions will be required by persons in leadership positions in most societies in order to provide the environment for preparing people for occupations in the digital age. Such actions must focus on: promoting collaborative educational awareness; introducing new learning programs; adopting the right strategic policies for developing highly human enterprises; correcting the talent-workforce imbalance through innovation networks; and promoting environmentally friendly behaviour. 8.1 COLLABORATIVE EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS The overwhelming policy initiative is for governments, business leaders, and influencers in the larger society to engage in the promotion of future possibilities through an educational drive to spread awareness and prepare populations for new prospects in a changed workplace. Sampson and Reardon (2011) argued that in the absence of “a public policy to provide adequate and stable funding for analysis and dissemination of occupational information, the opportunity to provide individuals with potentially helpful career information will be negatively impacted” (p. 44). As a means of addressing any policy gaps, Johnson (2010) suggested that “think-tanks, civil servants, trade associations and business schools should be combining their intellectual resources to tell us where investors, entrepreneurs and the state should be directing their energies so as to boost job prospects”. 8.2 NEW LEARNING PROGRAMS The Conference Board (2014) agreed that policy was critical and proposed that companies in the U.S., Europe, and worldwide “must begin planning for an environment in which difficulties recruiting and retaining workers will make it significantly harder to control labor costs without losing labor quality”. In this regard, Snyder (2013) in citing Gordon suggested that “employers, educators, and civic leaders collaborate to create new learning programs targeted at providing workers with the skills required by specific, hard to fill local jobs” (p. 53). This situation imposes the need to formulate human resource strategies which Suchitra (2014)

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suggested includes “workforce diversity, economic and technological change, globalization, organizational restructuring, and changes in the nature of jobs and work” (p. 2). 8.3 STRATEGIC POLICY ACTIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY At the strategic level, in order to prepare organizations for the transition to highly human enterprises, Samson (2013) suggested that policy makers should: 

Withdraw support for “obsolescent industrial practices” which prop up sunset industries and slows “the transition to a new thriving economy” (Samson, 2013, p. 34).



Facilitate training in highly human and high-tech skills because “human technical knowledge will continue to be needed and prized in the future” (Samson, 2013, p. 34).



Provide incentives to support organizational sustainability models which combine the best of human and technology capabilities “in support of our sustainable future” (Samson, 2013, p. 34).

In this regard, Suchitra (2014) argued that a new role has emerged for human resource management with increasing workforce diversity which will require strategic human resource practices to address changes such as: adoption of flat matrix organization structures; creation of virtual organizations; development of knowledge workers and ethical management; all of which can lead to greater organizational commitment and effective management of workplace diversity (p. 2). At the level of HR managers, Samson offered the following guidelines: transfer the non-highly human tasks from employees to technological support devices; employ people to perform their highly human skills rather than the routine tasks better done by computers; build on “creativity, concern for customers, determination, a sense of mission, and the common bond of shared effort”; and create new highly human jobs based on “augment intelligence” which supports human thinking (Samson, 2013, p. 33). 8.4 SOLUTIONS TO THE TALENT WORKFORCE IMBALANCE Gordon (2013) suggested the establishment of networks in countries on a regional basis which were termed regional talent innovation networks (RETAINS) which assemble all the relevant community players in a region to formulate a vision to be shared and aimed at “reinventing the education-to-employment talent creation system” (p. 44). The main objective of regional networks is to: provide career information and education to students and parents; train and develop for current workers; facilitate future employment and maintain business competitiveness; rebuild the jobs pipeline allowing for a lifetime connection to good jobs and careers; and “reinforce the economic vitality of local businesses and regional economies” (Gordon, 2013, p. 44). At the organizational level, Kumar (2014) discussed the requirements for high performance work systems and examined tools such as TQM which are “essentially technology and process oriented” and highlighted the

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need for “meticulous planning and implementation of HR policies, procedures and programs” for effecting a turnaround (p. 13). 8.5 EXTERNAL FACTORS IMPACTING WORKFORCE BEHAVIOR An integrated framework was proposed for promoting environmentally friendly behaviour in the workplace by McDonald (2014) which did not address the changing workforce per se, but identified specific external factors impacting the workplace such as: organizational context; organizational factors; organizational structure; environmental management systems focus and policies; department type and size; organizational culture; and organizational commitment. Policies will have to be developed to address these aspects of the emerging future workplace whether as external environment or internal factors.

9. CONCLUSION This paper examined the latest research on the changing workplace and future occupations which acknowledged that advanced technology will transform the workplace in ways difficult to imagine. However, the popular contention that current jobs will disappear entirely is not supported by the research but such jobs will be transformed significantly. Further, while entirely new jobs will be created based on the changing needs of human beings and technological development in most areas of human activity, some classic jobs that require basic human skills will persist into the future. The challenge for all societies is to recognize the trends, study where they are leading, and prepare persons and organizations to equip themselves for the changed future. Governments and business leaders in particular, have the responsibility to put an effective policy framework in place supported by penetrating strategies, particularly reorienting the educational system to the future, to achieve the transition to the new digital age. According to Challenger (2009), “the opportunities of the future will go to the best-trained, most-flexible candidate, and they will be spread globally” (p. 33). An overarching conclusion is that a network arrangement which provides for close collaboration among public agencies, private business, NGOs, community-based organization, HR associations, and key stakeholders can be the solution to current and future workplace imbalances.

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