The Virtual Workplace: The Inevitable Disruption - Douglas E. Castle

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The virtual workplace is more than just a tech-speak catchphrase. It is revolutionary, and its effects will be felt in every quarter. The Virtual Workplace - The Inevitable Disruption is a topic worthy of consideration to every trend spotter and every futurist.

The virtual workplace is increasingly becoming the norm, while the traditional brick and mortar offices housing the companies' headquarters are becoming increasingly obsolete - more symbolic of the "old paradigm" businesses. Companies are leaning to the extreme in the direction of telecommuting, and expect these disruptive and progressive trends to be on the rise. Please bear in mind that this article does not provide financial or investment advice:

1) Virtual meeting software and platforms will be in increasing demand. Citrix, WebEx and their other market-dominating peers are going to be experiencing competition for their market space due to the increasing demand for virtual forums;

2) Companies will be retaining more independent contractors and employing fewer in-house employees in order to reduce staffing costs and personnel-related overhead;

3) Commercial real estate will be taking a tumble as companies move to virtual environments and away from renting and purchasing buildings and office space;

4) An increasing number of 1 - 5 person corporations and limited liability companies will be formed as contracting and outsourcing increase and direct corporate employment decreases. Incorporation and registered agent businesses such as Legal Zoom and The Company Corporation will be experiencing increased revenues and market demand, as will their less-dominant competitors;

5) The demand for IT and computer systems professionals will increase, disrupting and displacing many middle-management, administrative and accounting positions;

6) Internationalism, in terms of globally-diversified markets and supply chain structure, will be on the rise as outsourcing and offshoring increase;

7) E-commerce will be displacing and outpacing traditional retail commerce;

8) Tax collections by governmental agencies will become increasingly difficult as the traditional employer-employee structure becomes increasingly displaced and de-centralized;

9) The utilization of household interior space will be shifting in favor of a greater percentage of work-at-home or home office space versus family and leisure space;

10) Society will become increasingly destabilized, and interpersonal and communications skills will suffer greatly due to a breakdown in the traditional face-to-face meeting paradigm.

The rise of the virtual workplace will ultimately affect every aspect of society, from simple reading and writing skills (declining) to the deterioration of international boundaries and political barriers (through outsourcing, offshoring, e-commerce and independent contracting). Be prepared for a radical change in all markets and marketplaces. This all-encompassing sea change is already underway and should be anticipated to accelerate in its course and severity over the next three to five years. After that, watch out for the rise of Artificial Intelligence.

Thank you, as always, for reading me.

Douglas E. Castle for The Global Futurist

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THE GLOBAL FUTURIST – Douglas E Castle

http://theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com

Discovering and following significant trends across an extensive range of domestic and international consumer, business, demographic, cultural, economic, political, technological and other key areas of influence and impact on life and business; predicting future change, preparing for it and profiting from it.

Key Terms: business, forecasting, trends, future, prediction, disruption, displacement, innovation, complexity theory, economic waves and cycles, projections, planning



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TRENDS TO WATCH...

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Dear Friends:





During the coming weeks and months, there are a number of areas that I will be watching and reporting about in detailed postings on this blog. This is merely a preliminary listing of subjects to be covered and trends to be tracked, and I welcome other culturists, economists, political pundits, social researchers, scientists, bloggers and thinkers of all types to suggest topics which you would like to see covered and trends that you would like to see monitored and reported about. Your input is critical, and will be given due consideration. You may comment directly on any post (e.g., right on this site), or send your information to me directly at FreeDECastle001@yahoo.com. Expect a prompt response. Please do not burden me with apocalytic speculation and other suppositions and whinings about the end of the world -- when the end of the world does indeed arrive, I will simply stop posting...and you will probably have to stop complaining as well. It's only fair.


On a serious note though, for the time being, and for the foreseeable future, I will post as if the world were a going concern, and that my readers are reasonably intelligent, inquisitive and proactive persons who want to prepare for the future and to benefit by applying new information to their decisionmaking rather than stand idly by and watch the future turn into the past.

Some of the selected chart targets are categorized below, in no particular order of priority or importance:


*Privacy, piracy, identity theft, data mining, intrusive technologies, database accumulation, movement tracking, coding, profiling, recordkeeping and reporting, smartcarding, RFID, scanning;

*Advancement of women, minorities, ethnic groups, economic classes in business, consumerism and politics;

*Outsourcing and offshoring trends;

*Internationalism and treaty-formation;

*Technological advances;

*Changes in the regulatory environment and compliance requirements;

*Emerging and declining economies and countries;

*Shifting world demographics;

*Changing belief systems and "conventional wisdom";

*Education and employment trends;

*Culture and consumerism;

*Economic, trade, commodities FOREX, interest and monetary trends and implications;

*Changes in qualification, behavioral and other social standards;

*Movement tracking -- Environmentalism, Religious Fundamentalism, Political Action Groups, NGOs and other groups, clubs and fraternal orders;

*International and intranational alliances in formation, as well as wars and animosities fomenting;

*Industry domination, multinational collusion;

*Individuals and companies on the rise or decline;

*Developments in healthcare, medical treatment, wellness, longevity, the quality of life and the Human condition;

*Longer-term investment trends.

I am optimistic that these posts will be information-intensive and highly useful. Where appropriate, I will hyperlink to other blogs and websites of interest which provide meaningful and credible detail about any of the subjects covered. And I will not waste your time...as we never truly know just how much we have of it.

In a departure from my characteristically antisocial solo style, I will absolutely invite and encourage guest bloggers and interviewees to contribute to postings, and will give full attribution to every contributor. I am anticipating acting as the de facto coordinator and moderator of a massive group effort. It is also wise to bear in mind that trends, when disclosed early-on in the appropriate media by credible sources, often turn into self-fulfilling prophesies. In aggressively promulgating a prediction of the future, we may, in fact, be creating it!

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. The character depicted in the upper left-hand corner of this post translates (loosely) to "book". There is great significance and relevance to the use of this particular character in this post -- I leave it to my insightful and intelligent readers to determine what it is. ~~~