Predicting is difficult, especially about the future: human resources in the new millennium

Abstract

The author suggests that there are two possible futures for human resources management in the new millennium. The first is that human resources will become much more important to organizations. In this future human resources plays a critical role in both daily and long-term decision making. This future is occurring now in some organizations. The second possible future is that human resources as we have known it will disappear, being replaced by outsourcing and technology. This future also has already occurred in some organizations. The assumption that human resources will be any different in the future than it is today (or has been in the past) is based on some significant trends in the US. Suggestions for addressing issues of the future are offered and the author describes his hope for what human resources will look like in the new millennium.