🚀 go-pugleaf

     NOVEMBER 18, 1998
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     T&D EXTRA is an information service of Training & Development
     magazine, published by the American Society for Training &
     Development, www.astd.org.
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     THIS WEEK:

     1. Fast Forward
     2. But Who's Counting?
     3. Hiring '99
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     FAST FORWARD

     The Wall Street Journal recently asked some corporate seers how
     technology will change the workplace over the next 10 years. They
     talked of a convergence of work and life, the death of geography, a
     return of the telecommuter to the office, the depersonalization of
     email, and jobs made routine by technology. What businesses will be
     most affected by technology? According to Cambridge Technology
     Partners' Thornton May, universities may be the most vulnerable to
     collapse. And Big Five consultancies will be history. A new model on
     the horizon, he says, is competency gangs--a new model of fixed-price,
     fixed-time problem solving.

     (Source: The Wall Street Journal, November 16, 1998)
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     BUT WHO'S COUNTING?

     The largest group of distance learners in the world belongs to the
     University of South Africa, with more than 200,000 people enrolled
     worldwide.
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     HIRING '99

     Lets face it, 1998 was a robust year for hiring. But major U.S. firms
     plan to scale back in the future, according to a new American
     Management Association survey of 1,231 member organizations.

     Says AMA's Eric Rolfe Greenberg, "Human resources managers aren't
     hitting the brakes yet, but they're easing upon the accelerator as
     they look ahead. There are economic and political uncertainties that
     call for caution. But all this is coming after a very, very good year
     for job seekers and a comparatively worry-free year for job holders."

     1998 was kindest to those in the information systems and technology
     areas. Salaried technicians and professionals will be in highest
     demand, while supervisors and middle managers will bear the brunt of
     predicted job cuts if current trends continue. Says Greenberg,
     "Broadly speaking, companies are hiring for the line and firing from
     the staff. They are creating jobs where people design, make, sell, and
     service their products, while at the same time they're eliminating
     administrative functions and squeezing whole levels out from the
     management pyramid."

     (Source: AMA International, http://www.amanet.org)
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     Copyright 1998
     American Society for Training & Development
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