OLDaily

The workforce of the future
Sean Brown, Susan Lund, Sven Smit, McKinsey, 2021/05/27

This is more of a conversation than a report, but it offers a more accessible and fluid way to look at three inter-related post-pandemic trends: first, the movement to work from home, which may apply to up to 25 percent of workers; second, the trend toward e-commerce and away from in-person retail; and third, the increase in automation and the use of AI. These trends will have a greater impact on service jobs more than in the past. As usual, we see the statement that "people in those declining occupational categories—it’s more than 100 million in the eight countries we studied—will need to be retrained into some of the growing occupations." But I'm thinking more and more that these studies don't understand how change works in people's lives. We don't just finish one career, retrain, and then start a new one. Nobody can afford to do that! We're most able to make changes when we're successful, not when we're failing.

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On the temptation to nuke everything and start over
Doug Belshaw, Open Thinkering, 2021/05/27

People don't know this but I've reinvented myself several times in my life. It was easier and less dramatic in the days before the internet, but still just as important. I left everything behind when I packed a few bags, got on a train, and traveled some 3700 kilometers to my new home in Calgary. I had a similar experience when I packed everything I owned into a car and headed with my cat to northern Alberta, leaving everyone and everything else behind. And several more times. These experiences are life changing. They're not for everyone, but the possibility of changing everything and starting over is liberating. These days, I think, people feel trapped by what appears to be the permanence of the internet. You can't escape yourself! But maybe you can start over, as Audrey Watters and Kin Lane are doing. I wish them well; I hope they find a new community that works for them.

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12 Google Workspace updates for better collaboration
Erika Trautman, The Keyword, 2021/05/27

It's really hard (nay, impossible!) to find an article that focuses on this point, but I want to focus on what's happening with Google's Smart Canvas before it disappears into the background. It's basically a flip: where we used to 'share screen' to use applications in video conferences, now we are using 'share videoconference' to work together within an application. This makes a lot of sense, as it shifts the focus from staring at each other's faces to working and communicating with something in common. And as the functionality of the shared document increases, so do the affordances of videoconferencing. It's also a good business move for Google (and also for Microsoft, which will do the same thing) as it tightly links Google Docs and Google's videoconferencing, something that Zoom (say) can't do. See also: TechCrunch,

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Create, Share And Sell Virtual Educational Courses: What Is Thinkific?
Gabriela Duque, LMS Pulse, 2021/05/27

This is a good overview and review of a course creation and hosting service called Thinkific. It has a free version but charges monthly fees for more advanced services. It's popular; "there are 50,000 course creators, more than 100 million courses taken, 156 countries using this platform and more than $650 million earned by teachers or course creators." There's also an app store for integrations with things like Google Analytics, MailChimp and Shopify.

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