Affects of The New World of Work (Globalisation?) On My Career

..this is my discussion post for week 4... What Insight??!

The new world of work has affected roles similar to those I have worked in. Having worked in various administration roles, I have seen positions being outsourced not only to other countries, such as Vanuatu but to other states of Australia as a result of business centralisation and the ever-increasing advancement on modern technology. This affirms the idea that “the playing field is being flattened” and that, as Nikelani states, “countries like India are now able to compete for global knowledge work as never before”. (Friedman, 2005, p.18)


It will not affect my career planning. I believe that there will always be opportunities for outsourcing of administration work because much of it is based around computer technology and its potential advancement. The ability for computers to correctly interpret (or read) scans and to undergo voice recognition is evidence that the “rest of us” (Leamer, 2006, p.51) could be mechanically replaced. There will, however,  always be a need for localised administration.


In addition to this, if my future career plan were to become a Nurse/Midwife, this will also not be directly affected. The profession, due to its requirement for “manual dexterity” (Leamer, 2006, p.49), human touch and the necessity to think on one’s feet on the job could never be replaced by a machine. However I see internal work within hospitals being outsourced to local agencies, but not international agencies. This could only result in the advantage of better pay and greater job variety.



I do not agree that globalisation will have a major affect on every single career as Friedman puts forward. It could however have a minor affect and I agree with Jason Johnson in his article that “Educational Institutions should be more concerned with how they will remain relevant to the global student.” (Johnson, 2006, p.72) This will ensure the workers of tomorrow are prepared for the globalisation to come; whatever the change.

Friedman, Thomas L. (2005). "While I was sleeping (part 1)" in The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century , Maine, Thorndike Press

Johnson, J. (2006) Mind the gap. Knowledge Quest, 35(2) 68-72

Leamer, E.E. (2006) A Flat World, A Level Playing Field, a Small World After All, or None of the Above? Review of Thomas L Friedman, The World is Flat http://www.uclaforecast.com/reviews/Leamer_FlatWorld_060221.pdf (accessed June 25th, 2010).