The prediction, in brief:

The Internet will become the auction yard for a digitally networked labor pool that transcends any regulatory and cultural barriers. Ultimately, we are removing the social safety nets for those people who can’t find reemployment.

Predictor: Bair, Jim

Prediction, in context:

In a 1995 article for American Programmer, Paul Strassman writes about the effects of the Internet on finding employment. He mentions an article in Computerworld and a comment from consultant Jim Bair:”Speculations about the effects of the ‘information highway’ on work have reached a new pitch. Books such as Jeremy Rifkin’s ‘The End of Work,’ Cliff Stoll’s ‘Silicon Snake Oil,’ Danny Goodman’s ‘Living at Light Speed’ and Nicholas Negroponte’s ‘Being Digital’ range from prophecies of massive unemployment to utopian visions in which people will work, entertain, and communicate mostly through electronic mediation … The influential Computerworld, with perhaps the largest paid circulation of computer professionals worldwide, also reflected on the spirit of the times by publishing a story titled ‘Hello Cruel World’ [May 15, 1995] which augured the future prospects for the computing profession. The essence of the article was represented by a headline summary: ’* Forget about job security.’* Shred your job description.’* Say goodbye to company loyalty.’* Do not take your paycheck for granted.”According to [the Internet detractors’] apocalyptic vision, largely reflecting the view of consultant Jim Bair of The Gartner Group, the catalyst of this destruction will be ‘the growing shift to contract information systems workers, be they systems integrators, outsourcers, or temporary workers… The Internet will become the auction yard for a digitally networked labor pool that transcends any regulatory and cultural barriers. Ultimately, we are removing the social safety nets for those people who can’t find reemployment.'”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Economic structures

Subtopic: Employment

Name of publication: American Programmer

Title, headline, chapter name: The Internet: A Way of Outsourcing Infomercenaries

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.strassmann.com/pubs/infomerc.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Vellucci, Amanda L.