On the future of jobs and the present of them

Again, my browsers are having tab trouble, and I do mean «browsers». The problem is that I can’t really unload them yet. But there’s a couple of links that look like sharing a thread, so with your permission, here they go:

Professor Andrew MacAfee on what the future of jobs will look like. You probably have read something by McAfee (he’s one of the notorious provocateurs of management and he blogs quite a bit at Harvard) and you surely have heard of TED. Put both together and you have a sparkling presentation that actually says very little, but what it does say is very stark and very hard, and any optimistic part is plain wishful thinking. Takeaways: «we will see more and more things that look like science fiction, and less and less things that look like jobs».

Nate Hayer on A day in the life of a freelance journalist (2013). Actually, it’s rather on the raw, raw deal that creative professionals get when media outlets decide original high quality input is just not necessary to get read. We’ve commented (slightly) on the prevalence of plagiarism in buzz-themed sites; we’ve often mentioned that these days, someone pays to find the data, and someone else milks the story. As long as content can be cut and pasted as easily as it is now on the web, Nate and friends will still get a raw deal. Thankfully, other types of media are possible.

Crowfunded journalism is starting to take off, in no uncertain manner. Examples, and services, are sprouting around the globe. While it’s hard for newbies, it’s increasingly an option for seasoned veterans who have gone freelance and can point at a published resumé, or for currently-unprofitable but socially demanded projects. That link is probably one of the most interesting pieces I’ve read on that development.