另一个转变发生在经济实力领域。高新技术的发展迅速扩大了全球化，反过来又使得发展中国家可以赶上发达国家，甚至在某些情况下可以超越发达国家。与人口老龄化严重的发达国家相比，那些拥有大量适龄劳动人口，并且在积极改善其教育机会的发展中国家具有更大的优势。这些优势往往会吸引投资者和新企业，从而增加发达国家对发展中国家的经济杠杆。
由于过时的制度、失业、中产阶级的侵蚀、贫富差距以及人口老龄化的影响，已经享有发达国家地位的国家面临着进一步的挑战。发展中国家往往更热衷于采用新技术，并向其公民提供教育和其他改善因素。虽然发达国家将其大部分精力用于改组目前的体系，但那些正在崛起的国家往往直接采用最先进的技术，使其比那些较大国家更具竞争优势。
资源限制和环境变化
然而，导致当今劳动力发生重大转变的另一个驱动力是有限自然资源的枯竭和极端气候变化的抬头。这两个因素密切相关，因为化石燃料的使用加剧了我们在过去几十年中所目睹的极端天气。例如，干旱、洪水、大风、高温、严寒等恶劣天气正在对农村地区造成严重破坏，农作物、森林和附属生态系统被大规模破坏。许多人根本无法承受如此重大和频繁的损失，因此他们搬到了生活更加稳定和安全的城市。
尽管自然资源的萎缩和极端天气的加剧会带来可怕的后果，但它们也会给那些寻求新机会的人带来好处。专家们正借助技术进步来解决这两个问题，这些技术正在为替代能源开发、产品设计、工程、废物管理、食品生产和水净化等领域创造越来越多且收入更高的专业岗位。例如，我们迫切需要清洁的水来满足人们的需求，需要更多的能源来为工厂、企业、城市、街道和家庭的机器和设备提供动力。据估计，到2030年，能源需求将增加50%，清洁用水需求将增加40%。资源需求的大量增加将有助于我们在前进的同时迅速对劳动力进行重大改组。
很明显，各种力量都在发挥作用，它们能够改变职场和整个社会的结构。当我们奔向未来时，我们应该关注这些大趋势和变革事件，并采取相应的行动，以便在这种动荡的变革中保持我们的个人竞争优势。劳动力整体结构即将发生变化，我们无力阻止。既然我们无法阻挡外力，那么我们最好采取积极的姿态，在我们仍然可以控制的领域（比如教育事业、职业发展、人际关系、居住地点等）做出必要的改变。
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据查，该公司现有职工近2 000人，原书资料可能有误。——编者注
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1磅≈0.45千克。——编者注
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奇点本是天体物理学术语，是指“时空中的一个普通物理规则不适用的点”。奇点理论是由美国未来学家雷·库兹韦尔提出的。此处的“奇点”是指人类与其他物种（物体）的相互融合，确切地说，是指电脑智能与人脑智能兼容的那个神妙时刻。——译者注
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