Dr. Neil Hair

I recently acted as guest essayist for the Democrat and Chronicle's visions for Rochester 2033 (25 years from now). Here is the article which purposefully paints a troubled picture;

October 2033: Business as we know it will be radically transformed. The days of working for one organization at any one time will be gone. Most U.S. employees will act as technical subcontractors to a portfolio of virtual organizations, domestic and international. People will work from where they are situated, permanently logged onto a super-fast Internet. Access will come from a range of connection devices. Wearable computers will be all the rage, but early adopters will have opted for more permanent machinery that is physically implanted. Employees will work in teams that have a truly global makeup. As a result of technologically enhanced globalization, working days will run on WT (world time) in one language — a hybrid known as Global English.

Regular work meetings will take place in a virtual world. "Total Immersion Technology" will add sensory data such as touch, smell and natural movement to the virtual environment. You will feel virtual handshakes and physically walk to meeting spaces online without actually moving from your real world location. Increasingly, humans will have difficulty differentiating between their virtual life and nonvirtual life. For your efforts as a global technology worker, you will be paid in the universal currency of Credits — payment will be directly related to consumer or industrial demand for products or services and will be received in real time at the point of transaction.

Increasingly, those who succeed in business will be those with an enlarged online social network. Most recruitment will take place within these social spaces. Digital divides will become more apparent between those who are socially enabled online and those who are technologically challenged or "techno-socially disabled." Retirement will be an obsolete term as workers are able to continue to farm out their networks for economic gain, and work/life balance will become increasingly blurred.