Cassandra was a prophet that always foretold the truth. However, she was cursed by the ancient gods and, as a result, no one would listen to her. When she warned of the true nature of the Trojan Horse, her pleadings fell on deaf ears. Troy was sacked, and the rest was history.

At times in the past, economist Jeremy Rifkin was the only voice making bold predictions for the future. However, the difference between Cassandra and Rifkin is that people are listening to him and beginning to prepare for what was once unthinkable, a workerless society. In his book, The End Of Work, Rifkin sets out in detail a picture of the workplace of the future where humans are rapidly replaced by efficient, labour-saving technology.

Q: What are your predictions for the workplace of the future?

A: We are in the midst of a long-term transition of the nature of work. The most important shifts are occurring in the area of computers and gene technology. These two sectors are merging and are rivalling the merging of fossil fuels and metals in the earlier Industrial Revolution. The result is that fewer and fewer workers will be able to produce more and more over a period of time.

Q: Who's going to be affected?

A: Everyone on the face of the earth. I feel that by the year 2020, the blue-collar worker will virtually be eliminated. Take, for instance, U.S. Steel: they currently have a workforce of about 20,000 people and are producing twice as much steel than they did 20 years ago with 120,000.

All employment sectors will be affected. One hundred years ago it took one farmer to produce enough food to feed four people. Today, one farmer can produce enough to feed 78 people. We are rapidly moving into an era where farms will be self-running.

Thanks to the giant leaps made in the knowledge sector, we are witnessing a flattening out of corporate pyramids as companies are moving toward small professional, elite workforces. Until now people have too narrowly defined the Information Age. As a result, we don't have a social vision powerful enough to meet the new technology revolution.

Q: Are there some employment sectors that will shrink faster than others?

A: Factory and vocational work, middle management -- there are all sorts of areas where machines are replacing humans -- bank tellers, telephone operators, agriculture. There are so many.

Q: Should this be viewed as an opportunity?

A: Technology is designed to displace labor and we have to decide whether or not we want new technology. However, I believe that these advances do represent an opportunity. In the short term, it will mean that more people will have to work less. In the long term, it will help to advance the interests of all of humanity and free up more people to work in the third sector.

Q: What is the third sector?

A: Traditionally, there have been three areas of employment: the marketplace, the government, and the third sector. The third sector (includes) those organizations that are not a corporation and are not affiliated with the government. It is labor intensive and has emerged as the sector most immune to technology. In the future, these jobs will be viewed as the high-status vocations.

Q: Why are you such a controversial figure?

A: I suppose it is because I rock the boat. It (controversy) comes with the turf. My wife always asks me, "What do you expect?" I have a great many critics, and some of them have very well thought out arguments which provides for a lively debate.

Q: What are your thoughts on the 30-hour workweek?

A: I am in favor of it and believe it is a godsend for young working parents. I also believe that it is inevitable. However, it is only a short-term solution to the displacement of the workforce by technology.

Q: Recently, France moved to the 35-hour workweek. Has this hurt or helped the French economy?

A: Italy also has moved to a 35-hour workweek. In both cases, it is just being implemented, so it is a little too early to tell. However, I think that both countries are beyond the denial stage of this idea and have actually decided that a shortened workweek is beneficial.

Q: At present autoworkers are striking in Flint, Michigan, over the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries. Is it outsourcing to people or technological outsourcing that is the larger threat to job security?

A: I have been a lifelong supporter of organized labor and feel that both are a concern. However, in the long term, technology will win out. Companies that close down a factory and move to a foreign country are not necessarily moving all of the jobs from the closed factory. Across the border in Mexico are some of the most sophisticated factories in the world that, thanks to technology, use very few workers to produce a great many goods.

Q: When do you expect these changes will begin to happen?

A: It's already started and (it is) moving along quite aggressively. Today, there are a great many people that are overqualified for the jobs they are performing, or are underemployed, or not working at their full potential. If taken on a global scale, there are one billion unemployed or underemployed people.

Q: So you feel this is a global experience, or is the workerless society largely confined to industrialized countries?

A: It is already affecting everyone on earth. The old methods of production simply can't compete with the new innovations in high-tech manufacturing.

Q: What information do you feel career professionals need to help students prepare for the future as you see it?

A: They need to broaden their concept of vocations and realize that the inequity between the average CEO and the average day-care worker needs to disappear. Of those two jobs, the second, in my opinion, is the most important. However, in today's society it is not considered a high-status job. I co-chair the Partnering Initiative on Education in the Civil Society. We've been meeting for several years with the goal of helping the next generation prepare for the 21st century.

Q: What is your advice to people entering college and preparing for a career?

A: I would not presume to give advice, but I would say that life is short. People should not go for security, but instead should follow their heart and prepare their education really well. Everyone should ask themselves, "What do I want to do with my life?" and then pursue it.

Search Career Pro News.com          Search WWW