Managing Careers in 2000 and Beyond. Report 304.

Between March 1994 and March 1996, 31 academics, managers, and consultants attended 8 seminars to review current/future trends in careers in the United Kingdom and consider how those trends can best be managed. It was determined that changes in the economy, technology, business culture, the population, and employment patterns are radically affecting the nature of careers and will result in an older, better-educated, and better vocationally qualified labor force that will contain more women, more individuals who work for small employers, and more self-employed individuals. Although job opportunities will continue to expand at professional, managerial, and technical levels, many other new jobs will be part time, low paid, and of low status. The changes in employment and the organization of work will have far-reaching consequences for organizations, labor markets, and individuals and have created an urgent need for the following: assistance (including career guidance and access to lifelong learning) for individuals; integration of educational and vocational qualifications and accreditation systems to cover all forms of learning; individual learning accounts; attention to "intermediary" organizations between individuals and employers; and opportunities for individuals to use periods of unemployment to develop skills. (Ninety footnotes are included. Appended is background information about the seminar series.) (MN)