Category: Career in the Collaborative Age

While the shifts in the employment market show an increase in women taking part to the economy, it is by no means putting in question completely the role of men (see our previous post ‘Would Manhood be Destroyed by the Collaborative Age?‘). But a shift will happen with women increasingly taking salaried employment and men developing ‘artisan’ self-employment.

This substantial change, is developed in an interesting article in Playboy (which does seem to include serious papers as well!) ‘Forum: A Path for Blue-Collar Workers in the 21st Century‘ which is also commented on Marginal Revolution ‘Is there economic hope for men?‘

In substance, this post states that “the ways men and women fit into the economy will come to complement each other. Their roles will change, in some ways becoming more traditional and in others less: Women may be likelier to spend their careers in nine-to-five corporate positions, enjoying the regular hours, benefits and predictable pay those jobs entail. Forty-nine percent of women already work in firms with more than 500 employees, compared with 43 percent of men, and their share of the corporate pie is growing. That certainty will empower men to take on less predictable but possibly higher-paying work in self-employment.”

This is a trend I observe in my small circle of entrepreneur-friends: often the man is the entrepreneur while the woman has a stable job that provides for the family until the venture creates value.

The author continues as an apt conclusion, “A world in which men strive to learn new skills and take on riskier, entrepreneurial household roles may even prove more fulfilling than office work—but this requires changing our definition of a “good job.” Expecting men to be better-educated, office-work-oriented breadwinners is an outmoded idea. The artisan of the future will still be skilled and possess just as much potential to provide for his family. The technological revolution is yet another turn in the cycle of economic progress, and workers of both genders must learn to adapt. The end of men is not nigh; the end of our dated notion of work, however, is.”

As a small consulting company we don’t have an ‘Office’. We have meeting points (cafes, sometimes a rented meeting room). That might well be the trend in the future, with offices becoming exclusive collaboration spaces, bringing together a team temporarily for a joint effort.

Why should we have an office and pay for the space? We are mainly working at clients’ offices and often staying at hotels. We can work from anywhere with 4G connectivity. A home office is sufficient for remote work when needed. This has drawbacks of course, such as loneliness sometimes. I have to recognize that this model is still non-traditional and we face sometimes misunderstanding by authorities and clients. But I strongly believe it is the future of work.

In the future the traditional office, if linked to controlling the time people spend at work, and as a private territorial space might well disappear. Even at the executive level (people that generally are travelling a lot) the concept of private office tends to be replaced by hot desks.

At the same time, the importance of offices as collaboration spaces will increase, because teamwork is always essential at creating value. But we don’t necessarily need to be collaborating all the time; we also need quiet time to deliver. Office space needs to be shaped for collaboration, but less so for private space, which can be conveniently found in other places closer to home, with significant savings in time, convenience and the environment.

Do you agree with this trend and do you see it evolving around you?