investigating present influences on the ways people work, such as technological change, outsourced labour in the global economy, rapid communication changes, casualisation of the workforce
identifying changes to the workforce over time, such as the jobs available, the way individuals or communities value particular work, career length and human resource development, changing demography, corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices, changes to workplace laws
predicting changes to work in the future and possible outcomes (for example, ‘What could be the effect of a changing attitude to work–life balance or the decline of some industries?’)