The Future of Work

BusinessWeek Online: BW Magazine

I just came across this set of articles from Business Week about The Future of Work. In essence it explores the combination of globalization and technology and their impact in our work, today and in the future.

One of the most interesting articles analyzes the economic conditions of educated workers in America. And here are some intriguing conclusions:
- When adjusted for inflation, the real wages and salaries of U.S. workers with at least a bachelor's degree are barely higher than they were in 2000
- The wage stagnation, combined with the 60% rise in college tuitions since 2000, seems to be discouraging many young Americans from getting a college education. The percentage of 25- 29-year-olds with at least a bachelor's degree has actually fallen during this decade
- Employers are hiring workers with higher and higher levels of education, and jobs are demanding ever more sophistication. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 34% of adult workers in the U.S. now have a bachelor's degree or better, up from 29% 10 years ago

In essence, employers are hiring educated people, but the salaries for those employees are not growing. I don't have the data at hand for Europe, but one would guess that the same can happen. Is this a consequence of what we call "the knowledge economy"?

I guess the answer is yes: as educated workers can be found in other places at lower cost, and they can be employed without negatively affecting efficiency and effectiveness, the impact for US and Europeans educated workers is lower salaries. The competition that glboalization brings is driving up prices in a wide range of commodities; but the one thing that is not rising is the cost of labor. The middle class in developed regions are paying high cost for globalization.

This reminder comes very timely as these days we're living the negative spiral in the financial markets of the subprime mortgages. Middle clases with lower salaries are spending more than ever (less than 1% of net income in the US)

So what's the strategy: either move upper in the knowledge chain or create a niche for yourself where you can leverage the local touch.