The Changing Workplace

Essay by turtle2179College, UndergraduateA-, February 2005

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According to Carolyn Carlson, Ph.D. (June 2002) there has be a significant change it the work place from workers of the 20th century as apposed to the workers of the 21st century.

In the 20th century many individuals would live their entire life working for only one company, these were called "womb to tomb" employers (para.1). Many individuals would start working for a company at a very young age, doing the most basic of job tasks and continue working for that company into their mid sixties. By the time they retired there was a good chance they add work in many different job positions with in a specific department of that company and were now very well versed in all of the varying job functions.

In the 21st century it was not uncommon for an individual to work for several different companies or even switch careers with in their lifetime.

Workers of the 21st century would often accumulate many different skills by switching companies and/or careers. Individuals would often take these specific skills and use them to market themselves to different employers to further themselves in the working world. "It was quite common for an "employee to work for two or three companies that are competitors of one another"(para.3) using what they have learned from one company to help them better compete with different companies in that same industry.

Individuals in management positions today are not expected to know the "technical aspects" (para.4) of the department they mange as they were in the 20th century. Managers today are hired solely on their leadership abilities and their ability to produces results and are not expected to know all there is to know about the particular product or service their company provides.