Mal Fletcher comments

Greater longevity of life through medical advance, combined with continuing low fertility rates will lead to gradually widening skills-gaps within various industries. Older workers will move toward retirement taking valuable skills with them, particularly in specific manufacturing sectors. There will not always be enough time or finance to allow these skills to be replaced through automation or re-education. This will prove a challenge at a time when manufacturing once again needs to become a core part of the economy.

As a result, we can expect to see employers' organisations seeking more government support for apprenticeship and other training-at-work schemes and calling for radical reforms in education, to enhance practical skill levels. In some sectors, companies may fund apprenticeships with support from private investors only.

Meanwhile, increasing levels of remote working and flexi-hours, driven by economic necessity for both businesses and employees and the possibilities of constant Web 3.0 connectedness, will bring a rise in 'time starvation'. People will find it increasingly difficult to leave their work behind at the end of the day. International studies already reveal a growing challenge in this area.

Some corporate groups, recognising the detrimental effect this has on workers, will institute new work rules and training schemes to help people switch off after hours. Some bosses will insist on digital-free zones in the workplace, where the emphasis is on 'eyeball time' and face-to-face interaction. They will see this as a cost-effective way of improving productivity.

Generations: Expectation Gaps & New Opportunities

2012 will see the beginnings of strong social influence for the so-called Millennial generation, especially those aged between 16 and 30 years. Tension points will emerge as this digital-thinking generation merges with an analogue world.

A more vocal and organised activism will emerge within this highly collaborative generation in an attempt to engage political decision-making and solve problems such as the 'expectation gap'. Having been raised to believe that they will inherit a high quality of personal and professional life, in a world where opportunities abound and their talents are in demand, Millennials will increasingly find these aspirations are not met.

For some, this will be further exacerbated by the cost of higher education and 'pension pain', the knowledge that they will be responsible for the pensions and healthcare of a huge number of Boomers and Generation Xers within the next decade or so. A wider debate about pensions and the need for self-reliance as opposed to reliance on the State, will emerge.

For some Millennials, a growing sense of frustration will lead to burn-out, with attendant mental and physical health issues. For others - perhaps the vast majority - a natural generational optimism - a product of relatively high levels of parental nurturing - will push them toward mass collaboration and the invention of new industries, particularly in areas of technology and the creative arts and crafts.

We should expect to see the emergence of well-organised lobby groups calling for radical change on economic, education and housing issues relating to the young. We may also see strikes, demonstrations and other forms of civil disobedience that run along generational rather than merely industrial lines. The Millennial generation will also become much more vocal via the traditional press and media, knowing that their case cannot be carried via web-based services alone.

Housing-Haves vs. Housing-Have-Nots

In 2012, a more strident debate will begin to emerge about the shortage of housing stock in both the buyers' and rental markets - and the growing wealth gap between those who own homes and those who cannot get a start on the housing ladder.

Groups of would-be home-owners will form new co-operatives to highlight the problems associated with buying a house and to pressure governments and banks. At the same time, calls will emerge for a greater involvement of professional town planners in local development schemes, to ensure a better built environment and the smarter use of space. Governments will also face pressure to better regulate developers, to ensure higher quality builds and to prevent housing stock from remaining empty for long periods of time - for example, where owners reside in other parts of the country or abroad and use housing only for brief visits.

We should also expect to hear strong demands for major changes to renting laws, giving more rights to tenants and providing for more rent-to-buy arrangements and strata titles.The gap between the housing-haves and the housing-have-nots has the potential to become one of the major tension points in this country.