There are three (3) significant trends affecting organizations today: the aging workforce, diversity, and skills deficiencies in the workplace

Trend: 1

Continuing Distribution of Organizations

Organizations are becoming more spatially and organizationally distributed. Within central offices, work is less concentrated in individual, dedicated workspaces as collaborative activities gain greater significance. More broadly, dispersion is driven by the outsourcing of functions to service providers, the relocation of work to lower cost locations, the push of responsibilities to lower organizational levels, and the ever-present imperative to lower non-direct costs. It's no secret that companies are shrinking their own staffs (workers employed directly by the organization). More non-core functions, such as IT, human resources, accounting, purchasing, and corporate real estate, are being outsourced. And remaining functions are continuing to be distributed nationally and globally, primarily driven by lower labor costs in other regions, proximity to internal or external customers, and access to talents and skills not available locally.

Trend: 2

Availability Technologies and Social

Using technological tools for communicating, storing, and managing shared data for distributed work is not new. What is new is the extension of those capabilities to cheaper and more ubiquitous devices. To access work materials and interact with colleagues on a 24/7 basis, all one needs is a smart phone or any other wired device that reaches the Internet.

Trend: 3

Coming Shortage of Skilled Workers

As we are still easing out of the shadow of the Great Recession, it may be difficult to comprehend, but there may be a shortage of skilled workers in the near future. The basic problem is that there will be fewer younger people to replace those of the Baby Boomer generation who will be retiring over coming years.