Dunn and Wilson scholarship project 1999 Changing roles, changing goals: transferring library technician skills beyond the library

Global work environments

'In Australia, we work in a global environment that has been transfigured by the introduction of telecommunications, broadcasting and computing technologies which impact on both our working and personal lives. This is causing social and economic readjustments, which sees declining workforce numbers in mining, manufacturing, and farming, and dramatic reorganisation in government departments at national, state and local levels'. (Reid 1997 p152)

The changes we are experiencing are still relatively new, with the pace over the last forty years being equivalent to complete eras. In the 1980s, when the global marketplace arrived in Australia in the form of competition and economic rationalism, organisations were faced with the need to rethink the way they did business. As a result 'between 1993 and 1995, 56 percent of larger Australian organisations downsized, and in 1997-98, more than sixty-two per cent of all-sized organisations took this path.' Johnston (2000)

Ultimately what these streamlined businesses now demand is a workforce that is flexible enough to respond to increasingly shifting patterns of employment. The concept of the secure, full-time job is under threat from part-time, contract and temporary workforces who are asked to adapt to, and provide the range of skills that the industry is seeking. Pressure is placed on the employee to offer employers continual skills development and an ability to adapt to required needs, which may, or may not be, related to their core training.

An OECD report: Technology, Productivity and Job Creation (OECD 1996) highlights the shift in organisational models with the emphasis being on core groups of employees with high skill levels who take central roles in managing the organization and draw on expertise as required for particular projects in the form of contract workers, consultants, temporary staff and outworkers.

As an indication of changing work practices the following chart provides a historical breakdown of key characteristics of the Industrial and Information ages:

From Greenbaum, Joan: The Times they are A'Changing: Computer Systems in (Thompson and Warhurst 1998 p131)

Bridgland (1998 p12) reflects on shifting career opportunities:

'Career paths are changing. Lifetime linear progression with one employer is becoming a rarity amongst men (it has never been a pattern amongst women). People's careers will more likely be characterised by several organisation changes, moving away from original training, partly to meet the need for broad experience and partly because of the elimination of layers of management. The percentage of the workforce who are contractors or consultants, casuals or part-timers is likely to continue to rise.' In addition the demand as identified by Bridgland, is for staff who have an ability to acquire new skills quickly and who adapt rapidly to changing conditions in the workplace.

In this environment, successful career development will often be dependent on individual competencies, performance, skills and knowledge rather than the traditional hierarchy of seniority or formal skills.