Making labour changes work

How many of us, if asked, would say we are overworked and under constant pressure? And how many feel the working day is getting longer and the pressure more intense?

In more cases, I think we'd agree that we're working harder and longer than five or 10 years ago and there's little to suggest this will change.

So what can we look forward to in the next five years?

With ever better means of communication, many businesses are operating on a global scale and as e-commerce becomes more common, distributors, for example, will find themselves selling products across the world in a truly global market.

Increasingly, whether businesses like it or not, many are starting the working day in contact with the Far East and ending up liaising with the US. This means working regularly between the hours of 6am and 10am, and 4pm to 8pm. So, does this mean we can expect to work even longer hours and to see a steady deterioration in our quality of life?

I think what we should expect is to work different hours - a more flexible working pattern where the day is effectively split into a number of shifts.

Additionally, for people who only deal with a particular part of the world, work may consist of a continuous day, but starting either much earlier or much later than they do now. Essentially, we can expect to work the same number of hours as at present but with increased productivity.

With the need for a new working pattern comes a new working environment.

It would obviously be pointless for people to be sitting in the office between shifts and, with new communicating techniques, they won't need to be.

If social and cultural barriers in the way we work can be overcome, technology will facilitate a new working lifestyle where teleworking is the norm.

Companies which successfully adopt this form of working will gain a competitive advantage over those that do not.

Perhaps more importantly, companies that fail to adopt a more flexible working culture may lose valuable employees to the more forward-looking organisations.

Mobile computers are now small enough, light enough and powerful enough to be used productively on the move. There are already notebooks on offer with full video conferencing capabilities that can be wirelessly connected to the corporate network. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Four weeks ago, a technology was introduced that will enable people to wirelessly communicate anytime and anywhere.

This will make it possible for you to interconnect all the devices you own without removing them from your briefcase or pocket.

For example, it won't be long before you will be able to send emails while your notebook is still in the briefcase and be alerted of incoming emails on your mobile phone - you may also be able to read them on the phone's display.

Such converging technologies present tremendous opportunities. As well as changing the way we work for good, they will also erode traditionally distinct technological categories so that a notebook, mobile phone and even a TV will no longer exist in isolation - each will be integrated into the other.

But from where will customers buy these hybrid products? Will distributors traditionally associated with phones sell PCs and vice versa? Distributors should recognise this change and start working with vendors to prepare for it now - or they may lose out.

Alex Pidgley is strategic marketing manager at Toshiba.