Did You Know?

The World is Flat

Comments from the book by Thomas L. Friedman

Don’t Be Flattened

Dr. Marilynn SkinnerBaldwin High School

Ten Forces That Flattened the World

The Walls went down and the Windows opened upNetscape goes publicWorkflow softwareOpen SourcingOutsourcing

OffshoringSupply chainingInsourcingIn-formingThe Steroids- Digital, Mobile, Personal, Virtual

The Triple Convergence

1. All of the ten flatteners begin to work together

2. A large number of people become comfortable with and begin to collaborate to put the flatteners to use

3. The economies and political systems of China, India, Russia, etc. begin to open up to the free-market game

A Globally Competitive Workforce

Individuals competing against other individualsPreviously “specialized” skills becoming commodities, performed by the lowest bidder.Workers must possess the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors to continually adapt to ever-changing and escalating labor market requirements.

A Globally Competitive Workforce

Workers must have the ability to integrate and apply their academic, technical and practical knowledge and skills to solve real-world problemsWorkers must take charge of their own learningWorkers must be able to work in a team environment and work effectively with customers, coworkers and supervisors.

Work in the Global Economy

Fungible Jobs – “jobs that can easily be moved to …”Anchored Jobs – “jobs performed in a particular location and generally wages are set by the local supply and demand for labor”Value-added Jobs – “to be competitive you have to be more than plain vanilla”

Fungible Jobs

Repetitive, skill-based work requiring a minimum of interpretation or decision making.“As a general rule, the less a job requires independent thought or advanced training, and the more transitory or seasonal its nature, the greater the odds are that job candidates are fungible.”

Fungible Jobs (con’t)

Easily digitized (can be done on computer, over the phone)Not tied to a particular geographic location; processes can be more “automated”Will tend to go to where labor costs are the cheapest

Examples of Fungible JobsBill payment/processingMedical transcriptionInsurance claim processingHotel/airline reservationsMortgage loan servicingComputer programming & Software designTax return preparation“Junior” accounting, legal and architectural activities

Attributes of Outsourced Jobs

No Face-to-Face Customer Servicing RequirementHigh Information ContentWork Process is Telecommuntable and Internet Enabled

High Wage Differential with Similar Occupation in Destination CountryLow Setup BarriersLow Social Networking Requirement

Sectors Most At Risk

Office SupportComputer OperatorsData Entry

Business and Financial SupportComputer and Math Professionals

Paralegals and Legal AssistantsDiagnostic Support ServicesMedical Transcriptionists

Source: “The New Wave Of Outsourcing” – UC Berkeley

The need to be untouchable

Untouchables – someone whose job cannot be outsourced.Four categories – special, specialized, anchored, readily adaptable

Special

Those with a talent unlike any other – Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Barbara StreisandOnly a few people can be specialBut you can be . . .

Specialized

Specialized people can be found in many different types of work - from lawyers to brain surgeons to software engineersHave special skills that cannot be digitized or easily substituted

Anchored

A job that requires you be there to perform the taskBarber, waitress, mechanicSome anchored jobs become obsolete

Anchored Jobs

Must be performed in a particular geographic locationWages set by local conditions (supply and demand)BUT … There are “fungible” parts of anchored jobs that can and will be outsourced

Anchored Jobs w/ Fungible Parts

Radiologists in India are reading X-rays for American patientsMcDonald’s is outsourcing drive-thru orderingHospitals in India now offer reasonably priced post-surgical sight-seeing trips

They serve 55,000 foreign patients/year75% are uninsured and underinsured Americans

Adaptable

Constantly acquiring new skills, knowledge, and expertiseBeing able to constantly create something of valueBecoming a “versatilist”

How Does This Change Jobs?

How Does This Change Jobs?

OUTGeneralistsBasic LiteracyOccupations & Career LaddersEmployeeLife-time Employment

How Does This Change Jobs?

OUTGeneralistsBasic LiteracyOccupations & Career LaddersEmployeeLife-time Employment

IN“Versatilists”Workplace LiteracySkill Clusters & Skill LaddersEntrepreneurLife-time employability

Collaborate and Connect

Move from vertical to horizontal managementManagers can do more menial tasks themselves quickly and easilyThere are plenty of good jobs out there for people who have the knowledge and ideas to seize them

You need to be able to…

Collaborate and work in teamsLeverage technology to learn and solve problemsBe capable of teaching yourselfFind your “Entrepreneurial” self

Does Technology Change the Job?With the Internet you can be your own lawyer“Wireless healthcare” changes how medical professionals interact with patientsAutomotive technology – workers must be able to work with computerized shop equipment, electronic components and traditional hand toolsFinancial planners – more focus on empathy, ability to work with people

Challenges

Skills at a premiumEntrepreneurialEngineering, Math and Science

The Quiet CrisisNumbers gapMotivation gapEducation gap

Job ChurningDon’t be left behind!

The Good News!

Global Economy not finiteUniversal InterdependenceCapitalism doing wellAmerica spawns innovationChange brings opportunityOur workforce system has the capacity to address these changes

Food for Thought

“While your lives have been powerfully shaped by 9/11, the world needs you to forever be the generation of 11/9 – the generation of strategic optimists, the generation with more dreams than memories the generation that wakes each morning and not only imagines that things can be better but also acts on that imagination every day.”

– Thomas Fieldman