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Dean's Desk: Change, Or Get Left Behind

Information Age Is Here

Carol Holden, from the Dean's Desk

The world of work as we know it is almost over. We are facing a world with too many people and too few jobs, but paradoxically, a world with too few people to fill many jobs.

What do I mean by this seemingly contradictory statement?

We have entered the information and technological age and have left behind the industrial age where a person could get ahead with a high school diploma or perhaps a four-year college education. In the past, one could expect to advance on the job due to hard work and seniority, but the age of individualism and personal entrepreneurship is just about over. Opportunities for the self-made millionaire will diminish rapidly, as we have now seen with the crash of so many of the dot-coms.

The reality is that a college degree now becomes obsolete in four years or less depending, on the discipline. Rapid transformation in the way business is conducted -- with instant worldwide communication, computerized banking transactions and stock transfers -- calls for a work force with skills to match the new technology. In the manufacturing sector, robotics technology has replaced human beings in the most repetitive, strenuous, or delicate jobs on the manufacturing line.

What are people good for anymore, and where are the jobs of the future going to be?

We already know many things about the future and can make some predictions with certainty. We know that the number of high school graduates will increase until about the year 2008, and then begin to decline.

We will not have an appreciable influx of new workers with college degrees in the labor force until after 2010. We also know that the greatest population increases will be among Hispanics and African-Americans, groups that typically have the lowest graduation rates.

Essentially, we have to develop the work force we already have to meet the needs of the new information and technological age. This means that employers will need to support the concept of additional education for their employees and workers will need to commit time and effort to retrain or upgrade their skills.

The population of the country is aging. The median age of the population in the year 2000 was 36. In Florida, one out of five people will be over 65 by 2010. People will be working longer, and these older workers will need to be retrained.

A larger percentage of the work force will be women and minorities. In fact, white males are no longer in the majority in the work force in this country today. Diversity in the workplace will require new management and language skills. Most growth in available jobs will either be in the lower-paying service sector or in the high-tech or executive areas. The middle-management level will continue to shrink as companies utilize more computer technology to remain competitive and ensure quality control. And lastly, really qualified workers in all fields will be hard to find.

Thus, the issue of continuing education for those now working will become very important. Without new skills -- mainly in the use of computers or in other new technologies -- current workers will be displaced or replaced. Simply keeping up will become a full-time job. Just as one software program is mastered, another will come along that is better, faster, or more sophisticated. The average PC is so much more complicated than the average person can possibly understand, and yet almost every business depends on the utilization of computers. Becoming computer literate is an absolute must for those who wish to remain competitive in the job market of the future.

In addition, more knowledge will be needed to manage the office or business of tomorrow. Legal issues pertaining to personnel, including benefits, employment practices, and safety and accessibility in the workplace, are escalating in complexity. Human resource managers will need to learn some basic legal concepts just to survive. Managing the high-tech workplace (the building or facility) will require the knowledge of an engineer and architect. Disaster prevention and the threat of terrorism will require a new set of management skills. Monitoring cash flow in the age of computerized cash transfers on a global basis will require advanced accountancy and computer skills. Managing inventory and shipping will require more than a simple background on the shop floor. To be competitive in a global economy, companies must use sophisticated computer models for productivity and statistical methods for quality control. This will require education in the management of technology area.

In short, the employee of today will find it necessary, not just nice, to enroll in continuing education seminars and courses, to learn the new technologies and skills required in a highly technical, global society.

We cannot predict with certainty what the future will hold for us, but we can say that those who do not change or learn will be passed by and over by those who do.

Carol Holden is dean of the University of Miami School of Continuing Studies. She has spent 28 years in higher education. Her column appears every other Monday.
If you have a question for Dean Holden, send e-mail to DeansDesk@ibsys.com.