The workplace has changed dramatically during the past fifteen years, under the influence of the widespread use of the Internet and personal (desktop) computers, portable computers and wireless Internet connections, and, most recently, with pocket-sized portable devices.

This new “information economy” has changed not only what offices look like (e.g., there are no typists anymore—everybody is a typist), but also what people do on their office jobs, what work is, and what information looks and feels like. For instance, giving presentations has become more common because the software is available to make them easily.

The kinds of careers that will emerge from this “new” economy are not even clear to us yet, but there are some obvious trends already. News agencies generate content online and hire writers, as do many websites that traffic in quick distribution of news as well as gossip. These are not necessarily secure jobs that come with benefits, but they provide work experience of the kind that may tell a potential employer that the potential hire is someone familiar with the nature and the speed of the information exchange now. Because many companies expect their hires to be competent at the old and the new media, the careers that are specifically geared towards communication and sales are sometimes classified as Integrated Marketing Communication.