Work, work, work, never mind

This is an oddly structured guest opinion in the Indianapolis Star. It starts off as if it's one of these sappy New Age pieces about how companies are going to have to bow to the changing attitudes of young people about work, as if members of the baby boom generation didn't screw things up enough by demanding to be taken so seriously when they were still wet behind the ears. But then, it eases into what seems to be the real message:

In order to operate and grow in tomorrow's economy, businesses will need to shift to a new work-force model that is comprised of a smaller group of full-time employees who perform core business functions. Non-core competencies, such as information technology, accounting, human resources, call centers and marketing, will be outsourced to qualified third-party vendor partners or part-time contract workers. Gen X'ers and Gen Y'ers will likely fill these roles.

While outsourcing and contracting for niche talent is hardly a new concept, it will become the norm in the post-boomer workplace. As top talent becomes scarcer due to a shrinking national work force, it will also become more expensive. Therefore it will be fiscally irresponsible, if not impossible, to hire an entire staff of highly qualified full-time employees.

Alternative work-force models will allow businesses to become less reliant on individual employees; access a broader array of intellectual capital and skills; perform all business functions with a higher level of expertise; and control costs with more precision. The bottom line is improved efficiencies, increased productivity and less liability.