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The counterpoint to this concern is that there should be considerable long-term opportunities, both for displaced workers and for the unemployed and younger, new graduates. Given appropriate support for retraining and hi-tech education, these workers can find a wide range of job openings in new and expanding industries.

In a more fundamental sense, the shift away from manufacturing and heavy industry may imply a transformation of the very concept of a "job". In an information economy / knowledge rural community with rapidly changing technologies, services, and markets, individual workers' skills are likely to be more transferable across companies and job descriptions, and this flexibility could be of benefit to both employers and workers. The phenomenon of "permanent temporary" workers or individual contractors could supplant traditional relationships between employer and employee, allowing for greater efficiency (matching workforce to immediate work requirements) as well as individual choice (job location, hours, tasks, payment and benefits).

Of course, many traditional jobs and relationships will remain indefinitely. Labour unions and other structures should continue to be an important factor, possibly even gaining in importance as facilitators of workers' transition to new skills and opportunities. Even in older industries, new ICT skills will be required, and the changes elsewhere in the economy will possibly demand new approaches to employee relations.

The most critical implication of these trends is the need for expanded levels of education and training at all levels of rural community, in all industries. It is estimated that India already faces a shortage of some 9,000 ICT professionals over the next five years, a problem that could be exacerbated by a "brain drain" of skilled workers immigrating to other countries where income and opportunities may be greater.

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* Contributed by: -
Sambit Kumar Mishra & Ashok Kumar Chandra,
Ph.D. Scholars,
Institute of Management,
Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur.