ABSTRACT
The workplace is being radically reshaped in a number of ways.
People are now expected to have a wide range of skills in areas
such as customer relations, business awareness and leadership.
The impact of technology on people’s jobs is becoming ever
more apparent, leading to a growing importance attached to the
‘soft’ skills as well as the ‘hard’. Peter Cochrane, Head of
Research for BT and a well-known futurologist, suggests that
‘the future belongs to highly skilled professionals working long
hours on short contracts who won’t have time for the routine of
daily life, which will create opportunities for others’ (1998).
