Global Trends Paper - Essay Example

This heterogeneity and culturally diverse employment landscape shall present several challenges that need to be dealt with. Not only will cross-cultural communication be a basic requirement in future but also the area of knowledge management will become critical to employees and employers alike. Keeping in view these trends, individuals, including me, will have to acquire extensive training and job-specific education in order to obtain a better fit with the need for IT skills in upcoming jobs (Stair and Stair).

What is even more important is that I shall be required to develop strong cross-communication skills which shall be useful during my interactions with a diverse workforce in order to arrive at possible business solutions. Of which learning and development process, virtual learning shall form a large part. Therefore, training sessions may not always be physical; they would include webinars as well as video conferencing to ensure maximum gains from training. Another significant trend that has emerged after the IT bubble burst is that the recruitment and selection processes have become lengthier and involve greater scrutiny (Preibl, Bouwman and Steinfield).

On the other hand, the good news for professionals like me in the long run would be that increasingly companies are taking steps in order to retain genuinely talented individuals with IT expertise. In doing so, these companies are offering incentives such as higher compensation, greater training and career development opportunities, flexible work schedules as well as bonuses for good performers. Employees who hold IT skills in highly rewarded professions may expect to obtain huge increases in their salaries.

Thus, if employees, including me, acquire the IT skills required for the job, there will be better employment opportunities in terms of the above mentioned factors. Also, because the rate of technology becoming obsolete is every high with the boom in tablets, PCs and cloud computing, individuals who acquire degrees in specialized IT fields can secure high pay levels. The role of IT consultants, in particular, has enhanced rapidly as firms hire outside experts to help them manage their massive investments in IT.

Also, according to research estimates, the demand for skilled IT workers is outstripping supply, leading to a wage premium for such workers. At the same time, however, the college graduates are facing the brunt of a 2% unemployment rate (Lerman). Therefore, for potential employees such as me, acquiring the right skill set is the first step towards securing a well-paid job which in future is likely to be one involving specialized knowledge of IT. The challenge associated with IT, on the other hand, is that increasingly pay is becoming variable as opposed to the traditional fixed salaries.

Therefore, pay is increasingly being associated with individuals’ performance which means that if workers do not perform well their compensation will be reduced accordingly and vice versa. This shall become more stressful for workers, including me, who will have to constantly ensure that performance targets are being met. Also, the concept of job security is becoming increasingly threatened with the boom of IT as well as the global recession. Thus, one can expect being fired for not performing, or simply being laid off due to downsizing of the corporation.

This is increasing specially because of the abundance of IT