Future of work - evolution of the employee

 Prepping up for a keynote on 'the future of trades work'. The diagram in this blog on the evolution of the employee provides for some parameters to analyse. As with most 'popular' writing on the issue of the future of work, the blog has a focus on corporate/white collar work. 

Based on the parameters used, work in the trades, may have for decades, already shifted to the future of work! Most trades work is not 9am to 5 pm; the work especially for the service trades (plumbers, electricians etc.) is not anchored in one place but shifts around depending on the current project; and work is usually focused on outputs (job cards, service orders etc.) However, the need to continually learn, as with all work, is present in trades work. There has been little emphasis or study into how formalised post-apprenticeship workplace learning is. Many trades people move on to sub-contracting, setting up their own business etc. but these skills are rarely completed as a formal part of the apprenticeship. 

So, some food for thought here. What makes trades work already a form of 'future work' and how can trades work be 'future proofed'?