Flexible workforce and the role of the personnel manager

Discusses the role of the HR specialist as we approach the new millennium. Observes the shift in the workplace from office to teleworking and cyber‐management, along with the potential problems of remote working, and the role of video conferencing and the Internet. Finally contrasts the changing pattern of working life with the benefits of a more flexible workforce. In conclusion, emphasizes the changes in work style of workers themselves and of the HR function, with the personnel specialist being seen as the conductor of a work interface: that between the virtual world of information, and the real world of people.