With organizations poised to spend approximately $100 billion on cloud technologies this year, we know that virtualization is of great interest, particularly with the benefits of higher productivity and cost savings. However, it’s not only technology that is heading to the cloud, but professionals who want to manage their own careers as well. Recently, Working Solutions was featured on Yahoo! Finance discussing this topic and what can be done to prepare for this new “world of work”.
What is Happening
There are three primary movements that impact the way professionals are working:
- Work is being fractionalized
- Technology is being virtualized
- Talent is globalized
Educated, talented professionals who want to make money off their skills and take more control over their careers are capitalizing on these trends, providing services to organizations looking to make the most of a workforce moving toward the cloud. Companies moving to this trend do so because they need people with specialized skills, certifications and education. Another reason to utilize this workforce is to focus on organizational core competencies and outsource those tasks that are necessary but not part of the competency of an organization.
How Does Someone Get Started?
There are ample opportunities for professionals to begin their on-line careers with companies like oDesk or Working Solutions. For our organization, we look for educated professionals who desire flexibility, prefer to have their own business and work as an independent contractor, and have strong skills in specific functions or industries. These professionals also need a good PC and broadband connection.
By focusing on strengths and technology, workers can monetize skillsets in ways not available before the advent of cloud technology. At Working Solutions, we have thousands of at-home agents who provide capabilities and knowledge to enhance our ability to deliver high quality services to our clients and their customers. This is critical with the trend toward more complex transactions. Again, technology steps in providing automation for simple transactions, leaving the more complex ones for agents. It requires a dynamic thinker to properly manage this level of transaction; coupled with our ability to access this stronger talent pool without geographic boundaries.
Wave of the Future
While office buildings are not going away, more of the workforce will continue the move to the cloud. It’s a social, digital, mobile world we live in, meaning organizations and workers will need to adjust to keep up. Ten years ago there were very few independent contractors. Now one-third of the workforce utilizes this model, ensuring they have more control over their environment. While unemployment has supported the trend, so has continued innovation of technology coupled with the desire to access a globalized talent pool.
The physical “workplace” is becoming more and more limited. Making the most of technology, companies are now able to split projects among different people, allowing one to pick up where the other left off (fractionalize), people can work from anywhere and make their own career path (virtualize) and talent can be sourced from anywhere at any time (globalize). Organizations and workers who succeed will adjust to these trends, giving them more and better opportunities for growth.
To learn more about the trend of workforce moving to the cloud, check out the Yahoo! Finance video, or look at my recent book The New World of Work: From Cube to the Cloud.
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