The Future of High-Skilled Workers

1.      Introduction

The introduction will give an overview on different theoretical approaches used in the study in order to provide readers with an interdisciplinary framework. Moreover, this first chapter will address definitory issues and it will provide with a short overview of the different methods applied throughout the research project. The following chapters are based on literature research and empirical primary and secondary data.

2.      The future of high-skilled work - main developments and drivers of change

Chapter Two will describe the main trends shaping the future of work in general, i.e. technology and demographic change, examining existing and future trends.

3.      The high-skilled of tomorrow

Who are the high-skilled of tomorrow? What skills do they have? Which educational background? Chapter Three will try to answer these questions, outlining the profile of high-skilled workers in terms of qualifications, work prospects and geographical mobility and migration.

4.      Shaping the future organization of work and life

How should work and workplace be organized, in order to meet high-skilled workers´ needs? Which organizational changes are required by the recent developments? What does work-life-balance will mean in future? Chapter Four deals with these questions and the challenges such issues pose to employees and employers.

5.      Does "place" matter? The importance of location factors

Ingrid Kofler is a sociologist. She is Senior Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy. She has held Visiting Researcher positions at the 21st Century Global Dynamics initiative, the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, and at the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI), Germany.

Elisa Innerhofer is a business economist and political scientist. She is Senior Researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research.

Anja Marcher is a geographer and researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research. She is also a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) in Vienna, Austria.

Mirjam Gruber is a political scientist. She is a researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of Eurac Research, and a PhD candidate at the University of Leipzig's Institute of Political Science.



Harald Pechlaner is a business economist. He is Head of the Center for Advanced Studies at Eurac Research, and Professor of Tourism and Head of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany.