What ‘smart jobs’ might mean for the future of property

I think if you would ask any man on the street about where the United States is at economically right now, and they would say it’s a bit of a basket case.

We hear almost daily about the rise of the new economies of China, India, and Brazil.

But if one digs a little deeper, there are some interesting and positive trends in the US as it starts to slowly rise from the recession.

An area I find of great interest is what is called the rise of smart jobs.

“Smart jobs” describes an emerging class of occupation that lies somewhere between traditional white collar and blue collar jobs. Think technicians or analysts who use technology for industry or other developments in our new cyberspace economies.

Surprisingly, these jobs are springing up around reviving industries in small town USA, not the popular east and west coast.

Last month’s Wired magazine features this rise of the new smart worker, and how this is changing the face of employment.

And of course in turn, where and how we work.

So as we all consider what’s next about where and how we work in our businesses here in New Zealand, it is worth a thought about these new smart jobs.

As ultra-fast broadband rolls out in New Zealand, who can say, but we might see some of our small ‘ghost towns’ rejuvenate with smart businesses.

And with the semi-blank canvas of Christchurch, there could well be an opportunity to design ‘smart property’ to match the ‘smart jobs’.