Many assume that people who can leave company headquarters will choose to work in their homes, and wired enthusiasts anticipate a resurgence of familial togetherness. But at least one expert on how the home reflects changes in American society says we may well see less family interaction than we do today. The kitchen was once isolated in the back of the house to keep a continuously fired-up stove from overheating the living quarters, but with the invention of the gas range it moved forward and became a social room as much as a workplace. A shortage of solitary workspace may become just one more source of family disharmony. Knowledge workers, selling their labor to new species of business that will flourish in the wired economy, may need to be ready to go at a moment's notice.
Employers already seek workers via computer networks.
But in the future the process will be more pervasive and almost automatic. The company might not maintain a cadre within its ranks to do the job. Instead, it trolls the net for talent, sending out a bulletin that describes the tasks to be done and the skills required of team members. The notice might go directly to qualified applicants, based on resumes filed online. Specialists anywhere in the world instantly submit bids to do a piece of the job, simultaneously triggering a query to their personal references.