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Lesson 4 Job Trends Survival of the Fittest "Between now and the 21st century, citizens of the world's richest and most advanced nations will find it more and more difficult to keep up with the demand for change. For them, the future will arrive too soon.” So begins Alvin Toffler's book Future Shock, written back in 1970. Now people are beginning to pay attention to Toffler's ideas because the speed of change is becoming increasingly fast. It is sometimes difficult to work out the patterns of change. What should you do? First of all, don't panic.Take a deep breath and try to get a sense of the good things the future has to offer. You don't need to be Einstein to predict the job areas which will be most affected by such change. Jobs in farming, coal mining and heavy industry are decreasing rapidly. On the other hand, the service industry , the media and information technology are booming. Without doubt, the number of jobs in information technology will multiply. There are currently over 100,000,000 computers in the world and by 2020 there will be 10 times more. Because of this, people who work with computers will be in much greater demand. There are also many other important changes taking place. First, fewer and fewer people will have a “job for life”. Because of this, workers will have to be more flexible. According to Mark Hastings of the Institute of Management, in the future, people will organize their working life around a variety of jobs, instead of working just for one division or branch of a company. Similarly, companies will operate in different ways. People will move around to do different jobs, rather than moving up in the company as before. Many more people will work for small, dynamic companies which can respond quickly to changes in the market. Other people will give up working for a boss and start their own businesses. All this means that companies will require people who are flexible and can work on their own. They will also need people who can work toghter and get on well in a team. Good communication skills will be extremely important. According to Dr Laurence Lyons of Future Work, women will be envied because they have an advantage in this area. James Traeger, spokesman of a government training organisation, explains that many men will have to be retrained. “It's not about making men more like women, but helping men to communicate as well.” Businesses will certainly become more international. English will probably remain the international business language, so don't bother learning Russian or Spanish. However, understanding other people - their minds, culture and history - will be very important. Above all, a manager will need to feel comfortable working with people from other countries and continents. New technology is the driving force behind these rapid changes, so don't get left behind. You don't need to become a computer expert, but you must consider improving your computer skills. Work with more than one program in case you have to use them at work, and try to read about new technology. There is no doubt that all this new technology is changing the way we work and offering many other ways of working. Rather than going into an office, a lot of people are connected to the Internet and now work from home. Working like this allows you to live where you want, to continue your studies and to enjoy the comfort of having a lot more free time. However, with all this change, let's hope that it also helps the people in poor countries where slave labour still happens. For the citizens of these nations, the future can't arrive soon enough. Survival of the fittest a. On the other hand ,the service industry ,the media and information technology are booming. b. because of this ,people who work with computers will be in much greater demand. c. However ,understanding other people —their minds, culture and history —will be very important . d. First of all ,don’t panic . e. They will also need people who can work together and get on well in a team . f. Because of this ,workers will have to be more flexible. 第四课 工作趋势 适者生存 “在现今和21世纪之间，世界上最富有最先进的国家的公民将会发现要赶上变化的需求越来越困难了。对他们而言，未来会到来得很快。” 这是阿尔文o托夫勒早在1970年写的书《未来的冲击》的开头。 现在人们开始注意托夫勒的观点，因为变化的速度正在日益加快。有时很难搞清变化的规律。 你应该怎么做呢？ 首先，不要惊慌。深呼吸，试着感受未来给予的好事物。你不需要成为爱因斯坦，预测哪个工作领域将会受这些变化影响最大。 农业、煤矿和重工业方面的工作正在急剧减少。另一方面，服务业、媒体以及信息技术产业正在蓬勃发展。 勿庸置疑，信息技术行业中的工作将会增加。目前世界上有一亿多台电脑，到2020年，这个数字将会翻十倍。因此，电脑工作者的需求量激增。 同时还在发生着许多其它方面的重大变化。 首先，越来越少的人会拥有“铁饭碗”。因此，从业人员必须更加灵活。 根据管理学院的马克o黑斯廷斯所说，在将来，人们将会围绕各种各样的职业来安排他们的工作生活，而不是只为一个公司的分公司工作。 与此类似，公司也会以不同的方式来运作。人们不会像以前那样在同一个公司寻求提升，他们会多方去寻找不同的工作。 许多人会供职于小且具有活力的公司。这样的公司能对市场变化作出快速反应。其他人会放弃为老板工作，而是自己经营公司。 所有这些都意味着公司将会需要灵活而且能独立工作的人。他们也需要能够在团队中融洽合作的人。良好的交流技巧是极其重要的。 根据《未来工作》的劳伦斯o里昂所说，女性会受到嫉妒，因为她们在这方面有优势。政府训练机构的发言人詹姆斯o崔埃格解释说，很多男人需要再接受培训。 “这不是让男人更像女人，而是帮助男人也一样会交流。” 商业当然会变得更加国际化。英语可能仍然是国际贸易语言，所以不用烦恼是学俄语还是学西班牙语。然而，理解他人（他们的思想、文化和历史）是非常重要的。 最为重要的是，一个经理在与来自其他国家和大陆的人合作时要感觉到舒服。 新的科技是这些快速变化背后的驱动力，所以别落后。你不需要成为一个电脑专家，但你必须考虑提高你的电脑技能。使用一种以上的电脑程序，以防你在工作时需要用到，并试着阅读有关新科技的知识。 毫无疑问，所有这些新科技正在改变我们的工作方式，并且提供了许多其它的工作方式。 不用去办公室，很多人连上网络，现在在家里工作。像这样的工作让你能住在你想住的地方，继续你的学习，并且享受更多的自由时间带来的舒适。然而，有了所有这些变化以后，让我们大家希望它还能帮助那些仍然存在奴役的贫穷国家的人们。 对于这些国家的公民来说，未来的到来不够迅速。 |
