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A generation ago, whether you were a white collar worker in a corporation of a blue collar worker on an assembly line, once you got your job, you stayed with the company until you retired.  Maybe you moved up the ladder, but you ended up with thirty to forty years of service to one company by the end.

Now, mobility is the name of the game.  Technology has changed the face of all jobs significantly; for example, companies that used to make picture tubes for monitors and televisions are going out of business with the switch to flat panel high definition electronics.  People who began working for the companies whose products are now obsolete have had to find new jobs.

Manufacturing has changed significantly; many companies have moved their factories to places where labor is cheaper.  Of those that have remained in the U.S., many have managed to get rid of the union.  People who got a manufacturing job in the late 1970s with the expectation of keeping it for thirty years have had to change their ideas about their careers.

A large number of jobs available now didn’t even exist twenty years ago.  Who could imagine a web designer or the many jobs associated with internet services such as Google and E-bay?  People have had to transition into the new kinds of jobs we have and this trend of technology creating different kinds of jobs will likely continue.

While many people experience this change as a loss of security, the change may be good in the long run.  One of the downsides of longevity can be burnout.  People hang onto a job they hate because they feel they cannot get another job or they will lose their retirement.  Their job performance is poor and their ability to relate to others is reduced.  When people go into a career with the expectation they will change jobs, they may be preventing burnout which will help them to be higher quality employees.

The world of work is changing in some exciting ways, in that whole new sectors of jobs are being created.  The internet is making different job structures more possible, such as working online or being a freelance worker.  In fact, it is very likely that people will start to have income from more than one employer, holding a regular job in a regular workplace and perhaps a small internet business on the side.  While the new career field does not offer the same kind of financial security that was possible fifty years ago, it does offer the possibility of finding ways to support oneself and one’s family that are interesting and that can be changed when they become less interesting.