Book

Stretch

How to Future Proof Yourself for Tomorrow’s Workplace

Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick

Wiley, 2016

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According to career experts Karie Willyerd and Barbara Mistick, everyone has a “sell-by date.” They show you how to avoid becoming obsolete and unemployed as current and future trends change the world of work. While earlier generations remained at the same companies for years, today’s employees tend to job-hop out of necessity. They are more likely to be part-time, freelance or contract workers juggling varied assignments. The authors identify three major themes that can help you maintain and develop your career: take personal responsibility for your advancement, create new options for professional growth, and heed the dreams that motivate you. They advise building a diverse network, cultivating new experiences and persevering in the face of setbacks. Sidebars ending each chapter address how organizations and managers can help their employees. This practical manual confirms that today’s workers must remain self-motivated and resilient. Willyerd and Mistick don’t cover lots of new ground, but they offer solid, sensible advice. getAbstract recommends their practical guidance to employees, freelancers and managers.

Summary

The World of Work

Major trends affecting workplaces now and in the future include globalization and changing demographics, “big data,” emerging technologies, climate change, increased complexity and new definitions of work. Companies will feel or have already felt the pressure of global competition. More than 40% of companies in the Fortune 500 in 2000 dropped off that list a decade later. Globalization drives the shift of jobs to new locales. In the future, at least half of the largest corporations will move their headquarters to nations offering enormous emerging markets, such as “Brazil, India and eastern European” nations.

Demographic trends will change the workplace as life expectancy increases and birth rates decline worldwide. These shifts lead to a graying, shrinking workforce. The average age of retirement was 57 in 1995, but now it is 66. In the US, 43% of seniors – 55 years old or older – have $25,000 or less saved for retirement; they must stay on the job. The populations of Japan and Europe are decreasing. Millennials form the largest working generation in most countries, and their attitudes change workplaces dramatically. Nearly two-thirds of...

About the Authors

Karie Willyerd works with SuccessFactors and co-wrote The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today. Barbara Mistick, president of Wilson College, started the first national loan buy-back program for college students.

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