A NEW LABOR DAY.

No other technique for the conduct of life attaches the individual so firmly to reality as laying emphasis on work; for his work at least gives him a secure place in a portion of reality in the human community. --Sigmund Freud

YOU'RE BORN. YOU GROW UP. YOU GET A JOB. IT'S AN INEVITABLE fact of life for the overwhelming majority of this planet's population. For Americans, work is more than just fate. It's an obsession. We are the shining example of workaholism, and we have the world's highest incidences of burnout, hypertension, and heart attacks to prove it. Some of us even manage to sneak in a few hours at the office on the very day we pay homage to the toil that consumes nearly two-thirds of the average person's life. Well, happy Labor Day to you ...

The madness of the millennium's first presidential election is over, and our newest chief executive has been sworn in. The fate of the country--from the economy to the state of education--under his administration remains to be seen. However, one thing is certain: The future of the workplace was being determined long before the results of this election were finalized.

Under the guidance of Alexis Herman, former President Bill Clinton's secretary of labor, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) identified rive trends that, together, have effectively begun to alter--and will continue to heavily influence--the way the workplace works. Here, we'll share some statistics and brief insights into each of these highly complex issues.

This overview is designed to update you on the major happenings of the modern workplace--and make you think about your place in it. Soon, we will all be working witnesses to these new ways of getting the job done. And we may never look at Labor Day quite the same way again.

Trend #1:

The boom in contingency and alternative-arrangement employment

Cause: Massive corporate down-sizings of the late '80s and early-to-mid-'90s "broke lifetime employment contracts and doled out layoffs like never before," says Andrew E. Schultz, president of PrO Unlimited, a national contingency workforce management consulting firm headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida.

Statistical highlights: There are approximately 17.8 million contingent workers (that is, those without implied or stated employment contracts) and alternative-arrangement professionals (freelancers, independent contractors, temporary agency workers, etc.). Of the former, about 51% are female and 10% are African American. Among the latter, earnings increased by about 22% among contract company employees and independent contractors--nearly three rimes the rate of growth for all workers (7.8%)--between 1997 and 1999 alone.

Effect: Employment laws will need to be closely scrutinized and, in some cases, amended--as was the case with software giant Microsoft last July--to regulate nontraditional arrangements. "The Internal Revenue Service has found some misclassification of contingent workers in 90% of companies it surveyed, which costs the federal government an estimated $20 billion a year," indicates Schultz.

Employers must ensure proper classification of all workers for tax and human resources purposes. Schultz advises nontraditional workers to operate like the head of their own company by incorporating themselves; securing multiple clients (don't put all your freelance eggs in one basket); and understanding the implications of possibly working without employer-provided benefits or health insurance (see "Call Your Own Shots," this issue).

Trend #2:

The graying of the workforce.

Cause: The baby boom generation--which makes up nearly half of the workforce--is growing closer and closer to retirement age.

Statistical highlights: In less than 30 years, 20% of the U.S. population will be age 65 or older. By 2025, the number of elderly in the populations of 39 states will equal or surpass that of Florida. They now account for one-fifth of the state's total population. By 2030, the national ratio of working persons to elderly individuals will be less than 3-to-1.

Effect. The workforce will necessarily experience a rise in workers with age-related disabilities, as the number of professionals working past retirement age grows. More significant, though, will be this new crop of "nonretirees," who are challenging traditional notions about older workers by remaining ready, willing, and able to keep working hard on the job (see "Retire This!" this issue) well into their 60s and 70s.

"Successful aging and working will require revising and updating our current model and expectations to fit new realities," writes Helen Harkness, Ph.D., founder and executive director of Dallas-based Career Design Associates Inc., in her book, Don't Stop the Career Clock: Rejecting the Myths of Aging for a New Way to Work in the 21st Century (Davies-Black Publishing, $17.95). For example, GenX managers, especially, will need to gain an understanding in how to deal with their older workers (see "Rule With a Dimpled Fist?" Powerplay, April 1999).

Harkness suggests a new focus--both on the part of older workers and the employers for whom they (want to) work--on ability rather than age; on the use of a more encompassing learning curve; on rethinking retirement entirely; and on cultivating the wisdom that older professionals can lend to the job.

Trend #3:

The movement to achieve work/life balance.

Cause: The traditional gender roles--which clearly divided breadwinner and household responsibilities between the sexes--and nuclear family structure that were once the foundation of society are now the exception rather than the rule. Now, both men and women struggle to do it all--and sometimes all by themselves.

Statistical highlights: The number of dual-earning married couples has grown from 39% to 64% since 1970. Single-parent families have more than doubled, from 11% in 1970 to 27% today. About three out of every rive single mothers, with children under the age of six, work. Thanks in no small part to technology, the number of professionals working more than 40 hours a week has steadily increased since 1979: for women, from 14% to 22%; for men, from 35% to 40%.

Effect: The old saying has been reworded: All work and no play makes you burn out fast. Consider that 26% of employees feel emotionally drained by their work, and another 36% feel totally spent by the end of each workday. How can family obligations and/or personal pursuits, spiritual endeavors, etc., be successfully fulfilled with workers in this condition?

It's the question driving the movement. The Rockville, Maryland-based Montgomery Work/Life Alliance reports that 78% of workers cite balancing work/life issues as their No. 1 priority. Many professionals now understand that work is important--but it's hot that important. By setting limits on workloads and working hours, the move is on to put work in its proper place in relation to the things in life that really matter (see "The Mother of All Balancing Acts," August 1999). They realize that you can always get another job, but you can't replace the treasures found in family, good health, and personal rime.

Similarly, companies will adopt new work options--including flextime, job sharing, and telecommuting--to accommodate employees' busy, multidimensional lives. These efforts are mutually beneficial: 87% of workers say they would work harder for a company that was willing to help them deal with their personal and family issues.

Trend #4.

The overwhelming need for skills.

Cause: The technological revolution has effectively created a modern caste system of haves and have-nots. Those with education, interpersonal skills, and technological know-how will occupy the top professional spheres, while those without those proficiencies will be relegated to the lower strata of the work world.

Statistical highlights: Jobs--with those as systems analysts, database administrators, and computer support specialists in the lead--requiring more than a college degree are growing the most rapidly and will pay the most money. Sadly, over 38% of job applicants tested for basic skills by U.S. corporations in 1999 lacked the necessary reading, writing, and math skills for the jobs they sought. Not surprisingly, 85% of companies that perform such testing don't hire skills-deficient applicants.

Effect: Those with the skills (i.e., formal education and training) will be better equipped to pay the bills (see "The Way to Work," August 2000). Additionally, "soft skills," such as those needed to work well with others (see "How to Be a Player," this issue) are just as important. "While your information-based skills and personal qualities are important to a job search, transferable skills are essential," says Andrew Posner, a San Francisco Bay area career counselor and consultant to nonprofit organizations. "Transferable skills--[the ability to] analyze, write, persuade, [and] manage--are what will facilitate a career change," and sustain the next generation of information and communication-reliant professionals.

Trend #5:

The melting pot theory at work.

Cause: Power and influence in the workplace no longer belongs just to white, middle-aged men. The "browning" of America, the coming of age of Generation X, and the professional rise of women are ensuring that.

Statistical highlights: According to a 1998 Society for Human Resource Management Survey of Diversity Initiatives, 84% of human resources professionals at Fortune 500 companies and 67% in firms outside of the Fortune 500 say their top-level executives believe diversity management is important. But since 1993, more than four Fortune 500 corporations have doled out at least $330 million in class action race discrimination lawsuit settlements.

Effect: Companies will stand greater chances of losing capital--financial and intellectual--and competitive positioning in ethnic consumer markets if they fail to get with the diversity program. "Organizations embrace diversity for one of two reasons: visionary leadership or pain--the kind that hurts them enough to propel them forward because they literally can't afford [via discrimination lawsuits, tainted reputations, etc.] to stay where they were," says Patricia Pope, CEO of Pope & Associates Inc., a diversity training, consulting, and measurement firm in Cincinnati.

To help facilitate and benefit from true diversity, women and minorities will need to focus more attention on strengthening their informal networks with those in management. "That's where the real decisions regarding upward movement are made," says Pope. "Plain and simple, true diversity--the kind that comes from different ideas, life experiences, and ways of thinking, not just cold numbers--is good for business. There's no doubt about that."

In other words, the phrase "business as usual" no longer applies. It cannot. January 1, 2001, marked our official entry into the 21st century. The old marketplace rules, one by one, are being razed and rewritten. And when the dust settles, there will be casualties among companies and individuals alike.

The enterprises and professionals who succeed will be those who have adapted best to the changing landscape of work. They will understand that now, more than ever, their success--or failure--rests primarily, if not entirely, in their own hands. And that understanding will make it easier to create a mutually beneficial environment where the work that each of us must do is rewarded, honored, and, most of all, respected. Let's work together so that our labor is not in vain.

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EDUCATION PAYS

Unemployment and earnings for year-round, full-time workers age 25 and over, by educational level

Unemployment   Education                         Median
rate in 1998   level                             earnings in 1997

1.3%           Professional degree               $72,700
1.4            Doctorate                          62,400
1.6            Master's degree                    50,000
1.9            Bachelor's degree                  40,100
2.5            Associate degree                   31,700
3.2            Some college, no degree            30,400
4.0            High school graduate               26,000
7.1            Less than a high school diploma    19,700

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unpublished Data;

EARNINGS: Bureau of the Census, Unpublished Data