COVER STORY

People who work with computers and the Internet can be fairly secure about their jobs and the future. Deb Cram photo

If there was any doubt that we inhabit an information economy, consider a small listing of the most-secure jobs in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor — Web developer, Web site manager, computer consultant, software engineer, and computer systems analyst.

Not surprisingly, according to the same study, being president of the United States is one of the most stressful jobs around (along with surgeons, firefighters and senior corporate executives) and they inhabit one of the worst working environments (along with those for professional football players, taxi and race car drivers, and firefighters).

We're not sure about the relative safety merits of the Daytona International Speedway versus the White House, but high stress is a common denominator for all jobs these days (excepting janitors and florists) and one guarantee for the future binds them all — workers who can't or don't evolve their skill bases will be left behind fast.

In the marketplace of today and for the long term, knowledge is king.

From one local CEO's perspective, the workers he needs tomorrow will be a lot like the workers of today — only more educated, more tech savvy and smart, and possess even better communication skills.

"One of the best attributes we see is when people make an investment in their own education," said Dana Lariviere, president and chief executive of Portsmouth-based Chameleon Group, a firm specializing in sales and marketing outsourcing. "If they make that investment in themselves, I'm willing to make an investment in them."

Chameleon Group, which was founded in 2002 and has 40 full-time employees, is an example of the changing workplace and an even faster-changing workplace. Perhaps a decade ago, outsourcing companies such as Chameleon either didn't exist or were a high-tech boom novelty — made possible by the explosion of the Internet into the workplace.

Dana Lariviere, the president and CEO of Portsmouth-based Chameleon Group, says a worker's investment in their own education is an impressive attribute. Michael McCord photo

"You need to be smart today and will have to be more so in the future because of the virtualization of work," Lariviere said. "The core fundamentals of sales and marketing aren't going away anytime soon but the knowledge required is greater. Our workers represent multiple companies and need know their products, be tech-trained and have excellent written and verbal communication skills."

On the written side, proper e-mail communication in all sectors of the economy has evolved into a vital force. The workers at Chameleon, who inhabit a pleasant casual work environment in a highly competitive business that is anything but casual, are required to multi-task assignment and clients in ways unthought of a decade to 15 years ago.

Chameleon prides itself as a trail-blazing company that offers an elusive return on investment metric to show just how well their work (sales leads, marketing buzz) is improving the bottom line of their clients.

If occupations such as bricklayers and fishermen and telephone booth installers are being phased out due to rapid centralization or technological obsolescence, more workers are being dislocated because of changes in the broader economic marketplace with more mergers, takeovers, outsourcing or lifestyle changes.

This has left no shortage of former white collar workers finding themselves in another new phenomenon: the experienced and talented worker as free agent.

Delise West, the founder of the outsourcing firm Human Resource Partners in Dover. Courtesy photo

"Many of our workers were displaced in the tech wreck (of 2000 to 2002) or decided to raise families," said Lariviere, who once worked for the former Cabletron Systems — which itself splintered earlier this decade and sent thousands of employees into the marketplace (many of whom founded companies in the Seacoast region such as Chameleon.)

Delise West, the founder of the outsourcing firm Human Resource Partners in Dover, has turned necessity into a virtue. The human resources professional was once on the corporate ladder but after relocating from her native California to the Seacoast region a few years ago, she decided to take a new route on her own.

Regardless of the new or old jobs of the coming economy, West said that companies large and small are forced to deal with a range of workplace issues as diverse as the skill set needed for the information age work force.

In particular, as work force growth continues to increase at a slower pace than in the past, there will be more generational clash of work place style (say, between the Baby Boomers and Generations X and Y).

Even more unsettling to companies is a change in the expectations contract that once defined worker and employer.

"Employees are looking for more work life balance/family flexibility — people aren't willing to kill themselves for the company any more," West explained. "They feel there is no loyalty any more from the company so why should they work like dogs?"

This attitude change is especially volatile in the information age workplace where a worker's skills can be transferred to any number of jobs in multiple economic sectors. In an economy dependent on maximum productivity to enhance the bottom line, this can be a rude awakening to employers caught unaware.

But no matter what the jobs there will be some lessons that never fade away — such as making first impressions count. Lariviere said he recently rejected a resume from a presumably qualified applicant for a simple reason. The person claimed to have "excellent communication skills" and "attention to detail." Lariviere said he saw four typing errors immediately, which negated the self-proclaimed attributes.

"We can't have someone like that representing one of our clients," he said.