Baltimore Sun: No jobs, no problem
By William J. Evitts
August 3, 2008
Published in 1995, William Bridges’ JobShift lingers today around No. 400,000 on Amazon’s sales list. The book’s central idea deserves more attention than that.
Mr. Bridges argues that the “job” – a defined set of responsibilities that remains constant and is fulfilled by one or more people over time – is disappearing right in front of us. Work is being reorganized without jobs. Employees are being let go, then engaged as consultants. A major bank projects that only 19 percent of its work force will be considered permanent full-time employees. Software companies hire smart people not for a defined position but to get them on project teams that constantly form and reform. A frazzled executive complains that he can’t shuffle job boxes on his organizational chart fast enough to keep up with change. Quick-response supply chains are being matched by on-demand staffing. Work is increasingly getting done as movies are made, by fluid bands of specialists who do not have traditional jobs.
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