ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the complexity of the changing workplace and the accompanying workforce. It explores several variables that are in connection with the future of businesses and industries. The workplace, both in the United States and abroad, is changing at a rapid rate and this creates a need for adaptive strategies on the part of both managers and workers. Global competition, population shifts, population growth, and the addition of new immigrant groups are changes that have taken place during the last decade. Four basic changes can be seen that will influence the future of any industry and the future productivity of the organization: population increase and mobility, the influx of foreign-born workers, the shrinking pool of young people who can make up the workforce, and the dramatic change in the employment of women. In the future, the United States and other more developed countries will undoubtedly provide more services in technology and education for many of the less developed countries.
