Social and economic challenges affecting management in 2005

Summary form only given. An evolution from the industrial age to the service age appears to be the next major driver affecting the world economy. The service age will be dominated by professional service providers at every level of society, from the household domestics and "McDonald's" jobs to the highly skilled individual contributors. The focus of 'employment', from a management perspective, is changing from reuse of the current workforce (lifetime job security) to that acquisition of best value, experience, resilience and abilities. The authors describe how this shift is driving the workforce to change its concept of, and requirements for, employment.