The Future of Work

GenZjobs

I’ve just been reading a great article at McCrindle titled Technology, Innovation & Collaboration: The Future of Work with Claire Madden.

As those of us that have been labelled as Baby Boomers get set to move out of the workforce (to live on our children’s inheritance), Generation Z is getting ready to take our place. Their working lives won’t simply be different from ours, they’ll be different from the generations in between us as well. We’ve already seen big changes in work habits and work lives but the change is about to accelerate.

Generation Z bring new approaches to work, problem solving, innovation and collaboration. They have been born into an era of unprecedented change – this will be reflected in their approach to their careers. Today’s annual turnover rate is 15% per annum which equates to people staying in their roles for approximately 3 years 4 months. Projected over the lifetime of a school leaver today it is estimated they will have 17 jobs across 5 careers in their lifetime.

Most of us in the workforce now have had a number of jobs and perhaps a few careers. The idea of someone joining a company at 15 and staying until retirement is already a part of history but now we’ve got to wonder if those about to start their working lives will ever qualify for long service leave.

There’s a lot more of interest in the McCrindle article and it’s well worth taking the time to read it in full. I guess I still can’t get past the idea of someone having 17 jobs across 5 careers. As the world around us, especially the world of technology, changes ever more rapidly, it seems our lives are changing more than ever. Where is the room for stability when our jobs, careers and our homes are constantly changing? How do we view the certainties of life when life becomes so changeable?

I’ve had a few jobs myself.

I must admit that I’ve had a few jobs over many years. I began full time work as an apprentice chef. After four years I was handed the certificate to say that I was qualified. I then promptly left the industry.

I worked within the Education Department for five years, in radio for around twenty full time years and about 6 part time, I was employed by the Bible Society for five years and almost two years ago began working for Compassion Australia. I’m now 52 so I’m hoping I still have quite a number of working years ahead of me. I don’t know what the future may hold but I’m hoping that a large part of it will be staying right where I am, seeking to see many more children released from poverty in Jesus’ name.

What has your work life looked like so far? Are you still in the same job you started in? Are you even in the same career? I’d be really interested to hear your experience of work, whether you’ve been in the workforce for a short time or you’re nearing the end of your working life. How have you seen society’s attitudes to work change over the time you’ve been employed?



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Unfriendly Workplace Bullying

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A ruling from the Fair Work Commission means that you might need to be a little more careful next time you decide to purge your Facebook friend list. While you might think that deciding who you ‘friend’ or ‘unfriend’ on social media is a matter of your personal choice, but it could have much wider consequences.

Employers around the country will be scrambling to update their social media policies after a decision by the workplace tribunal found unfriending someone on Facebook can constitute workplace bullying.

Rachael Roberts, an employee of real estate agency VIEW Launceston, went to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in February this year alleging she was being bullied by sales administrator Lisa Bird and her husband James, the business owner. – News.com.au

Of course there’s more to the story than just unfriending someone on Facebook but the act of removing someone from a list of Facebook friends was significant in the commission’s findings.

When I first started using Facebook I would accept most friend requests. I later decided that I needed to maintain a little more privacy and so I created a new public Facebook page to give me the opportunity to interact with many more people while keeping my personal page a little more … personal. (Feel free to connect with me on my public page.)

What’s your policy regarding who you ‘friend’ or ‘unfriend’ on Facebook? I’m sometimes tempted to remove friends who post offensive and ill-informed statements and articles about other people groups, faith, politics and other issues but I generally resist because I know that I don’t have to agree with everything someone believes to be a friend. I also realise that I need to hear what others are thinking, even when I can sometimes feel the anger beginning to rise.

Are you ‘friends’ with your work colleagues? If you friend one or two colleagues do you feel you should friend them all? I’d be really interested in your thoughts.



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The Frightening New Normal

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I posted this video a couple of years ago. The frightening thing is that the behaviour in the video seems more normal than it did back then. What they tried to overemphasize to make their point doesn’t seem odd or strange anymore.

It sometimes feels like we’re in a sci-fi movie where some evil genius has found a way to control everyone on the planet. How do we break free from that control before it’s too late?

Try walking down any street and see if you can go more than a few metres before you see someone on their phone. These devices have become extensions of ourselves. It’s something I need to watch for myself. I don’t want to only interact with a device when there are people all around me.

What steps are you taking to ensure that your phone doesn’t take over? Could you go a few days without your phone? What about a few hours? A few minutes?



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Your words can save a life

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It’s heart breaking to think that some people believe that death by their own hand is a better alternative than continuing to live.

Losing someone to suicide is such a devastating experience. There’s no chance to talk things through and work towards a solution. It’s an event that fills the rest of your life with so many ‘what if’ questions.

R U OK? is doing something about the tragedy of suicide. They believe that something as simple as a conversation can make a world of difference. That means that you and I can do something that may save someone’s life.

We know that suicide prevention is an enormously complex and sensitive challenge the world over. But we also know that some of the world’s smartest people have been working tirelessly and developed credible theories that suggest there’s power in that simplest of questions – “Are you ok?”

Today, Thursday the 10th of September, has been named R U OK? Day for 2015. It’s a day that reminds us to stay connected to those around us and to make sure that those we love are doing OK in the journey of life.

We want to stop little problems becoming bigger by encouraging all people to help each other through life’s ups and downs. We all experience relationship problems, financial difficulties, stress, illness and death and we can all benefit from the support of those around us.

The following video tells the story of R U OK? Day founder, Gavin Larkin who lost his father to suicide.

While R U OK? Day is an Australian initiative, suicide is a world wide tragedy. Who will you reconnect with today? Who needs you to ask if they’re OK today?

While R U OK? Day is today, let’s not only ask people if they’re OK today. Let’s make sure we’re caring for those close to us all year round.

If you are suffering any kind of emotional distress and you feel that you need help, R U OK? Day has resources available to help.



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Stories of Hope

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There seems to be so much bad news around at the moment so I want to share a few stories of hope with you. I’ve just returned from Indonesia where I saw hope in some really tough situations.

Together with a group of other Australians I met a single mother with three children. She collects garbage from 3:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. each day then goes on to whatever other work she can find as a day labourer. She sometimes gets casual work as a caterer. The family lives in a home owned by relatives but the relatives would like her to move so she has fears about their future.reddlineI sat in a small home overlooking a rubbish tip. The husband in this family used to be a truck driver but a traffic accident broke ten of his bones, including his legs, causing major injuries. Once the other driver saw the extent of the husband’s injuries he tried to hit him with his car again. He wanted him dead so that he wouldn’t have to pay for his extensive rehabilitation. The first news that reached the wife about the accident was that her husband had been killed. The immediate response of the three young daughters was to pray. Their dad is still recovering but very much alive.reddlineWe sat with another young mother in her home. Her husband is a day labourer. Their three year old son suffered from seizures when he was younger but has been well for the last six months. When she was about to give birth, doctors discovered the mother had a hole in her heart. They nursed her through the pregnancy with plans of surgery after birth. After much prayer from the local church, the specialists who checked her out after the birth found that while there are still some issues, there is no longer a need for surgery. Her son says that when he grows up he wants to be a doctor so that he can heal his mum.reddlineA mother of four children works as seamstress while her husband works a long distance away as a motor cycle taxi driver. It’s the only work he can find as they try to make ends meet. Their rent is around just $300 a year, but even that amount seems too much to pay for their tiny home, and even that amount is a struggle for a family living in poverty.

On the surface, these don’t sound much like stories of hope but all these families, and many others we met, have one thing in common. They are being helped by their local churches which partner with Compassion. Compassion is working to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name, but where children are released from poverty, the family and the wider community benefits. Compassion works with the local church to provide holistic child development.

Sponsorship gives kids safe places to play, the chance to see a doctor when they’re sick, education, and the opportunity to discover Jesus’ incredible love for them.

Sponsor a child. Give them a brighter future so they, and eventually their own children, can live free from poverty.

Sponsored children are more likely to grow up to be employed and be leaders in their communities and churches.

You can be someone who brings hope to a child, a family, a community and a nation. If you’re tempted to think that our world is a lost case and there’s nothing we can do about it, how about being an agent of change that brings hope where there only seems to be hopelessness? Please sponsor a child today through Compassion.



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