Current Trends in Career Development
The world of work has been changing rapidly in the last few decades due to new technology, changes in the organization of work, shifting requirements for worker knowledge and skill, and a global labor surplus (Herr & Cramer, 1996). All these changes affect the career development of individuals over the life span. Current trends for the area of career development include the following:
- Substantial changes will continue to occur in the occupational, economic, industrial, and social environments and structures, and these changes will influence individual career development. For example, the use and sophistication of technology have increased dramatically. New jobs are created, and the need for other jobs is reduced or even eliminated, thus requiring more workers to change jobs or even move to another occupational group.
- As job opportunities shift, there will be more participation in retraining programs.
- There is a greater need for a better educated work force. There are fewer opportunities for an unskilled work force because the jobs they do are done for less money in underdeveloped countries. A survey by the National Alliance of Business (1990) found that 64% of the companies responding were dissatisfied with the reading, writing, and reasoning skills of today’s entering work force.
- Flexibility in work schedules (e.g., job sharing. part-time work) will likely increase, giving more options to workers with particular needs.
- There will be even greater attention to the career development of a more diverse population. The work force today includes more women, members of racial and ethnic groups, openly homosexual and bisexual individuals, and persons with various types of disabilities.
- There is a greater awareness of the need to attend to career development issues across the life span.
- As the “baby boom” cohort approaches the traditional retirement age, there is an increasing interest in research concerning the decision to retire. Although financial status is a critical factor in the decision to retire, physical limitations and health problems and psychological factors such as satisfaction with career attainment and anxieties about separation from the workplace also play a role.
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