Escape the net – use your feet
New forms of wireless and desk-less working sound great but isn’t it just easier to deal productively with someone when they sit next to you, asks Stefan Stern
The New World of Work
Resources
The nature of work has evolved significantly within a single generation, yet many of the structures of work – including the office itself – have remained stubbornly old fashioned. This report examines how issues such as technology, economics and social pressures are changing the way we work
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
Work in progress
Advances in technology, legislation and management systems have brought with them radical changes to employment over the last two decades – but not all of them welcome, says Richard Donkin
Home is where the office is
Flexible working arrangements are not only proving popular with workers, employers are seeing increases in efficiency, greater retention of staff and even potential cost savings, argues Alison Maitland
The brains of the operation
Employment practices are changing as companies compete to recruit and retain the most innovative workers
Remote possibilities
Two powerful internet tools – cloud computing and telepresence – promise to expedite remote working and cut unnecessary travel
Guide to telepresence
Telepresence uses sophisticated cameras, microphones and sensors to detect movement
Related content and features
COLUMNISTS
Looking to Wikipedia for answers
Online models that employ ‘collective intelligence’ are pointing the way forward for the innovative organisations of the future, writes Thomas Malone
PHILOSOPHY
Beyond the pay cheque
Do modern workers go to the office seeking self-fulfilment as well as salaries or have notions of ‘meaningful employment’ been vastly exaggerated?
DESIGN
Breaking out of solitary
New office designs that encourage greater social interaction reflect a growing emphasis on knowledge sharing and flexible working patterns
RETIREMENT
Calling time on retirement
An ageing population risks putting an intolerable strain on employers and the state while many of those beyond legal working age are keen to stay on
HISTORY
Working over time
Modern labour practices were developed over thousands of years but today’s employers and employees must respond to a rapidly changing environment
GEOGRAPHY
The French for laissez-faire
France: Forty years after the riots of 1968, rigid labour laws are being softened as workers seek overtime and parents insist on greater flexibility
Distance earning
Thanks to broadband and mobile connectivity, one engineer has taken remote working all the way to the rolling hills of rural France
Revolution by phone
India: The new lifestyle opportunities open to young Indian call centre workers are having far-reaching social implications
Kicking the overtime habit
Japan: The country is struggling to adapt its notoriously commitment-focused work ethic to the need for greater flexibility and emphasis on productivity
Lessons in leisure
A career support course helped one Japanese Toshiba employee to prioritise in her work and rediscover her private life
The champion of change
New York: The most economically powerful and diverse city in the US has help to lead the way in workplace innovation
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC
Audio slideshow: A tour of the Googleplex
Richard Waters visits Google HQ and asks whether this is a glimpse of the future workplace or a utopian Californian anomaly
Work across the world
From California’s Silicon Valley to Hyderabad in India, Financial Times reporters look at how the world of work has changed across the globe
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Round table discussion: The end of the office?
Michael Skapinker discusses the future of the workplace with Stefan Stern, FT management columnist, and futurologist Professor Peter Cochrane
Is it all over for the workers?
Michael Skapinker talks with Will Hutton, executive vice-chairman of the Work Foundation, about how the financial crisis is affecting the working world
