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03.10

By Terrance Malkinson

More and more frequently, employers in their attempt to reduce business costs are transitioning to a business model of the “just-in-time” labor force. Many organizations are unwilling to make an employment commitment to their staff, resulting in a labor force consisting of “temporaries.”   The trend not only affects less-skilled workers, but extends throughout all levels, even to the executive office.  “The Disposable Worker” is the title of a recent in-depth article by Peter Coy, Michelle Conlin and Moira Herbst in BusinessWeek, that discusses this issue and how “companies are making the era of the temp more than temporary.” The authors go on to discuss the implications of this business policy both for employees and for employers.  From the employees’ perspective, low pay, vanished benefits, and no job security leads to detached workers who have little to look forward to,  find it increasingly difficult to provide for their family, and who are at a high risk of developing health problems, particularly mental illness.   From the employers’ perspective, flexibility, lower business costs and increased profitability occurs; but at the cost of a workforce which has little commitment to the success of the organization, and the loss of corporate memory and expertise. However, there are situations where this business model works well; particularly for those employees who have high-risk seeking, adventuresome and entrepreneurial personalities, and for employers who wish to respond quickly to changing economic and market conditions.

What do you think?

References

Coy, P., M. Conlin and M. Herbst. The Disposable Worker.  BusinessWeek.  #4163. pp. 33-39. January 18, 2010. www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_03/b4163032935448.htm

Magdoff, F., and H. Magdoff.  Disposable Workers: Today’s Reserve Army of Labor.  Monthly Review. 55(11). April, 2004. www.monthlyreview.org/0404magdoff.htm

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the community:

• Spending our way out of worldwide recession will take years to pay back – and create a lot of pain” is the headline statement in Daniel Fisher’s article “The Global Debt” (Forbes. 185(2):62-68, February 8, 2010. www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0208/debt-recession-worldwide-finances-global-debt-bomb.html  ). National governments throughout the world are deficit budgeting at levels seldom before experienced.  Repayment must occur eventually in what might be a difficult and painful process for all globally.  The author discusses the important issues in detail, supplemented by interesting graphics that highlight the problem.

• Communications scholar Janna Anderson describes a new path for education in an interview by The Futurist editor Patrick Tucker in “Remaking Education for a New Century” (The  Futurist. 44(1):22-24, January-February, 2010. www.wfs.org ).  Many interesting thoughts are discussed including self-directed learning, the role of hyperconnectivity, digitization of information, and global technology capacity to name but a few.

• Ronald Grover, Tom Lowry and Michael White provide their insights into how James Cameron, the director of the movie Avatar has twice become a powerful force in the movie business in “King of the World (Again)” (BusinessWeek. #4165 48-53. February 1, 2010. www.businessweek.com ). The article provides interesting insights into the movie business and into the development of this immensely successful movie as well as an interview with the director himself (pp. 54-55).

• The cover story of February’s issue of IEEE Spectrum is a special report on how ten technologists achieved the job of their dreams (“Dream Jobs” IEEE Spectrum. 47(2): 26-41. February, 2010). The common theme for all of these individuals was a willingness to pursue a different career path moving into the unknown pursuing what they believed to be an intriguing idea.   Each career journey provides interesting insights into creativity and innovation and the importance of believing in yourself and passion to achieve career success.

• Continuing the theme of career success; Edward Cornish in his article “Foresight Conquers Fear of the Future” (The Futurist. 44(1): 50-51. January-February, 2010), discusses what he believes to be the most important skill for young people to develop for effectively managing their careers and personal lives.   The skill - foresight – the ability to think realistically, creatively and hopefully about their future.    The world today in undergoing unprecedented change and many are experiencing what the author describes as “futurephobia.”  The author believes that it is now necessary to make foresight a required life skill that can empower young people to achieve success.

Terrance Malkinson is a communications specialist, business analyst and futurist. He is Vice-Chair of the IEEE-USA Communications Committee, an international correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer , editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Digest, associate editor for IEEE Canadian Review, and a member of the editorial advisory board of IEEE The Institute.  He was an elected Senator of the University of Calgary and an elected Governor of the IEEE Engineering Management Society as well as an elected Administrative Committee member of the IEEE Professional Communication Society. He has been the editor of several IEEE conference proceedings, and past editor of IEEE Engineering Management. He is the author of more than 385 publications, and is an accomplished triathlete. His career path includes being an accomplished technical supervisor and medical researcher at the University of Calgary a business proposal manager for the General Electric Company, an associate for Sears Canada Inc. and research administrator with the School of Health and Public Safety/Applied Research and Innovation Services at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary Canada.

The author is grateful to the professional support of the Haskayne School of Business Library at the University of Calgary. He can be reached at todaysengineer@ieee.org.