Timeline of modern work
The information revolution is a discontinuity in economic history
James Plunkett
Modern work is in a state of flux as part of the discontinuous change brought on by the information revolution. Perhaps, by considering the factors that shaped the ways we work today we can better understand what its future might look like and whether a dominant design will emerge or whether work will continue changing.
The cultural changes and technological inventions that created modern work
2021
Great Resignation
2020
National lockdowns and enforced working from home
2012
Union membership in the UK drops below 6 million for the first time since the 1940s
2009
Tina Brown coins the term ‘Gig economy’
2007
First iPhone and the start of the smart phone revolution
2001
Agile manifesto created
FANUC, a Japanese robotics company, begins operating as a ‘lights-out’ factory where robots build other robots
1998
Google incorporated
1991
Invention of WiFi
1985
Symbolics Computer Company is the first business to register a commercial dot-com domain name
1980
First laptop
1975
Microsoft founded
1973
First portable cell phone
1972
The term “telecommuting” was coined
1970
Equal Pay Act in the U.K.
1963
Equal Pay Act in the U.S.
1960
Open plan office layout widely adopted
1950
Cross-functional teams
Although we call this the timeline of ‘modern’ work, it actually refers to the postmodern era from the end of the second world war to the present day.