ITWorldCanada.com has the scoop on a survey of 27,000 Canadian university students, the results of which are pretty interesting:

The study found that two of the top five places to work were tech companies: Google and Apple. According to DECODE partner Eric Meerkamper, “The brands that were chosen are considered to be authentic and innovate; part of some new and important values emerging in the workplace. All of these organizations are places that resonate as being stable and secure. This is an important variable considering the substantial debt load many students will carry upon graduation given rising tuition costs.”

You could essentially distill this down to “people want to work somewhere cool.” And a lot of what’s cool is admittedly perception more than it is reality. Is that fair? Not particularly. But I’d argue that’s almost unavoidable. Think about this question, and answer honestly — would you rather work at Exxon Mobil or Google? Deloitte or Apple? Ernst & Young or Nintendo?

People tend to gravitate towards the younger, hipper companies, even if there’s really not a huge difference in individual experience at the entry-level. And what makes these companies seem “young” and “hip” are actually small things, which don’t have to impact your bottom line. In fact, employers can make their businesses instantly more Y-friendly through just a few small changes to their corporate culture.

Here’s five to get you started:

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Drawing on our commuting theme from yesterday, the latest issue of Wired has a great article on telecommuting, a favourite topic of mine.

I thought these stats were interesting:

Last year, researchers from Penn State analyzed 46 studies of telecommuting conducted over two decades and covering almost 13,000 employees. Their sweeping inquiry concluded that working from home has “favorable effects on perceived autonomy, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, performance, turnover intent, and stress.”

The article also notes that managers are taking notice, or at least they’re SAYING that they are:

Earlier this year, an IDC report from Asia found that 81 percent of managers believe telecommuting improves productivity, up from 61 percent in 2005.

Interesting stuff. Read the whole thing. Maybe we ARE looking at a turning of the tides on this issue.

General Motors this week revealed photos of their production plug-in hybrid car, the Chevrolet Volt. Containing both an electric engine and a smaller conventional gas-powered generator, the Volt, when it rolls out in the US in late 2010, offers all the benefits of an electric car — environmentally friendly, freedom from the pump — with none of the drawbacks. If you’re ever out driving and you run out of charge, the gasoline engine kicks in automatically, and you’re in essence driving a standard car — but one that still gets 50 miles to the gallon.

Needless to say, I think this is really really cool.

I also think it has some pretty interesting implications for the future of work. If — hopefully when — these types of cars become commonplace, they’ll contribute significantly to where people choose to work in relation to where they live. In effect, technology like this will give workers an “ideal range” for their commute. In a climate where many are already choosing to work closer to where they live (or vice versa), these cars will push people even further into defining a live/work “zone”.

And it will all be due to an on-board computer, a battery, and good fiscal sense.
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I’m only just now getting back into the groove on this blog. I’ve been neglectful over the last few weeks as summer’s ended and things have ramped back up at my day job. That’s not good, and it’s probably cost me readers. Nobody likes an unreliable blogger.

But hear me out — I have an excuse. Of sorts.

The reason I haven’t updated this blog is that I have been, since the beginning of the month, completely and totally overwhelmed by work. It’s crashed over me like a tidal wave and knocked me off of my metaphorical surfboard and into an ocean of deadlines and high expectations.

I knew it was coming. I had all of August to prepare for this rush. But I didn’t. Instead, I took some personal time. Had a nice vacation in the city. Went out for lunch a lot. Worked on the back porch in the sun. I knew the freight train was coming, but I took my time getting off the tracks.

But I’ve realized during the chaos of this week that I don’t need to feel ashamed or wrong about the way I work. Some people do live in a world of precisely ordered schedules and timetables. They plan for blocks of work, making sure everything is in its place well ahead of deadlines. But I don’t. I’ve tried, in the past, to operate like that, but inevitably, in the face of actually getting things done I neglect to make a schedule.

I don’t live in a world of printed schedules, tacked up on the wall. Though the past couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy for me in terms of always being busy, I’m not feeling bad. In fact, it’s the opposite — I’m feeling more determined and energized about everything. In the face of a looming deadline, I get lost in the rush of working: of facing challenges, of problem solving, and flying through the creative process. I love to work in bursts — to knock out eight or nine tasks in a morning, bouncing from program to program on my computer.

This is where I thrive.

I’m not disparaging or promoting any style of work. What I am saying, though, is that it doesn’t really MATTER how anybody works provided the end result is delivered on time, and that the final product is good.

I think a big part of the generational shift these days is recognizing that the final product — the destination — is more important than the journey there. And that by simply accepting different working styles we can actually, as intergenerational workspaces, increase output. I know a lot of people would call the way I’ve worked “inefficient”, but where are the drawbacks? I work best in bursts, and shouldn’t any employer want their employee to be at their best?

Photo by moomim_lens. Licensed under Creative Commons