There is a shortage of talent in the United States. This is the finding of a talent shortage survey conducted by Manpower Group in 2013. In the said survey, 35% out of 38,000 companies surveyed say that there is a shortage of talent. Because of this talent scarcity, there is a decrease in the competitiveness of employees and an increase in employee attrition as those who stay are forced to bear the bulk of the job. As a consequence, there is a decrease in meeting client satisfaction that could eventually lead to the decline of businesses.

Fortunately, there is a viable solution to this shortage and that is through the creation of virtual workplaces using a virtual workforce. Virtual workplace simply means the employment of people who work from their homes or anywhere that is convenient for the virtual worker. The good thing about this set up is that you get to have a group of individuals from all over the world that can collaborate with each other with the end goal of meeting client satisfaction and

consequently making your business a success. Further, businesses can cut down on overhead cost as they can have workers working on a 24 hour basis without having to spend on electricity and office space for the whole 24-hour duration. This means getting the work done efficiently and in the most cost-efficient way.

The future of virtual workplaces is brighter more than ever with the advancement of technology. Thanks to the internet and the various communications platforms available on the net, having workers from all over the world is a breeze. Collaborating on projects is easy with such platforms as Google docs, Dropbox and Asana. Face to face meetings with workers to set expectations as well as to check on progress can still be done through telecommunication tools

via the internet like Skype, Google Voice and Google Hangout. You can even do a teleconference using GoToMeeting, a web-based conference tool that allow users to share

their screens and do video conferencing.

For 2014, the demand for virtual workers and virtual workplaces is expected to rise. In fact, an article in the NY Times published on the web on March 7, 2014 cited a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resources Management that found an increasing number of companies planning to offer telecommuting to their employees as a benefit. The same article also took note of how the federal government in Washington saved $32 Million after the government allowed their employees to work from home during a four snow days.

Learn more about the trends in virtual workplaces for 2014 from Scott Hamilton, President & CEO, NextWORKS Companies, ENP Institute and John Davern, President & CEO of Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC. They will be speaking on March 20, 2014 at the Embassy Suites Santa Clara- Silicon Valley in Santa Clara California in a session entitled “Silicon Valley Global Business Challenges & Solutions: Managing the 21st Century Workforce.”

For more information or to register to join and listen to Scott Hamiton, John Davern, and other featured speakers, visit the GlobalBusinessNews website at http://www.globalbusinessnews.net/conf.asp?cid=302

References:
Manpower Group 2013 Talent Shortage Survey
New York Times, March 7, 2014; “It’s Unclearly Defined, but Telecommuting is Fast on the Rise”, by Alina Tugend.