Virgil L. P. Blake and Thomas T. Surprenant
With the growth of a truly global economy linked by a worldwide telecommunications network, the nature of work and its conduct will be greatly changed. Telecommunications technology no longer requires that information-based occupations be centrally located and directed. Existing telecommunications technology will permit information- and service-based corporations to emulate their industrial predecessors and recruit labor in far less expensive labor markets to perform specified tasks. The development of an international information and service economy, in which a significant portion of the work is performed by sophisticated electronic immigrants, will require new measures of productivity. Two major problems face telecommuters: distractions associated with the home and altered relationships with employers. The development of a global economy linked by a worldwide telecommunications network has importance for national governments. Because of the technological and economic changes that are occurring, the future global workforce can be expected to evolve to match the new age of information.