Today's jobs are chasing people

Headlines tell the story. A revved-up economy with record high employment has created a seller's market for labor. This is especially true for skilled labor in the computer, software, telecommunications, biotechnology and other high-technology industries, but labor shortages are also occurring in other sectors -- from fast foods to construction. It is instructive to watch how markets respond. Though a seller's market for labor means that individuals have more bargaining clout -- from the telemarketer and computer repair worker to the software writer and network designer -- today's workers clearly want more than money. Many seem to be exercising their new-found bargaining power to secure more choices in how and where they work to achieve a high quality of life. At the enterprise level, business leaders are creating more work-friendly environments -- both to retain existing employees who are highly valued and as a showplace to help recruit new workers. Result: Flexible working arrangements are increasingly the name of the game. It is not just flex-time and job-sharing to give workers more time with their families or less stressful commuting schedules. There are new approaches. Examples: Telework. Many enterprises now have telework arrangements, using telecommunications to take the work to the people rather than bring the people to work. These approaches -- including telecommuting, home offices and remote telebusiness work centers -- permit valued employees to work one or more days at home or at nearby locations. Sabbaticals. Increasing numbers of enterprises are giving valued professionals paid time off to recharge their batteries. One typical program gives mid-level professionals four weeks of paid time every seven years to work on a "dream" project the employee has wanted to do for a long time but never had the time. There are many other flex-work arrangements now being used to keep highly-skilled and hard-to-replace employees on the job. Governments, too, are scrambling to "do something" about the shortage of workers to fill jobs. Some are typical, "throw-money-at-the-problem" responses. Example: Nebraska leaders think they are experiencing a brain drain. So leaders are advocating legislation to pay up to half the higher education costs of smart students provided the students agree to work in Nebraska for at least three years after graduation. This policy of modified indentured servitude strikes me as both expensive and misguided, but it shows the lengths to which otherwise smart people will go when faced with labor shortages. Another, probably more effective approach is a public-private partnership in Virginia, where Cisco Systems, Inc. (a fast-growing, $6 billion computer company) will fund "Cisco Networking Academies" at the state's community colleges and public high schools. Purpose: To close the gap between businesses that are short on high-tech workers and job-seekers short on high-tech skills. This approach is noteworthy because it seeks to upgrade the skills of people already living in the state, giving them more incentive to stay. But the most interesting impact of the seller's market is at the individual level. Increasing numbers of people are taking advantage of new opportunities to make mid-career changes in the work they do and where they live. Result: Jobs increasingly follow people, and many people are making lifestyle choices by moving where they want to live and making a career there. The desire of many of these people to live in the nation's "mild and wild" areas is driving much of the migration to the South, the Rocky Mountain West and to America's coastal areas. This is likely to continue for a long time to come.