1. Running head: Workforce 2020 Executive Report 1
Workforce 2020 Executive Report
Robert A. Christopher
Argosy University, Chicago

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Abstract
Nationally the United States workforce will be older, impacted by an influx in immigration, see
an increase in population and predominantly female civilian nonistitutional population. This is
partly because of the increase in retirement age and people generally wanting to work longer to
supplement social security or because they do not want to retire. The influx in immigration will
mainly come from the Hispanic race. (Toossi, 2012) Also during the 2010-2020 period there will
be a 19% increase in computer and information research scientists this increase will work it
Google’s favor bringing them fresh talent. The trends that will impact Google are the increase in
the use of social media, the increased mobility of internet products, the plea of consumers that
the want a personalize internet experience, the use of robots and smart machines, and new policy,
regulations and the fight against cybercrime. Findings also include actions and competencies that
are needed to prepare for Workforce 2020. One is social intelligence this is the ability to connect
with others to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions. Next is novel and adapted
thinking these are problem solving skills beyond rote and rule-based tasks. Also included is
sense making this is deriving deeper meaning from what is expressed. Another competency is
cross cultural competency meaning able to operate in diverse cultural settings. Then there is
There is transdisciplinarity, being able to understand concepts across many disciplines Finally is
virtual collaboration, being able to exhibit as a productively engaged individual while working
in a virtual team. Findings also discover that Google strives to include and accommodate every
type of employee. Google has meetings that have a clear decision maker and consist of only 10
people. They also hold Quarterly ORK’s (Objective and Key Results) meetings led by company
leaders to initial a shared vision. Google has a “Don’t be evil” policy. This means not only
delivering the desired information through customer’s searches but also following the law, acting

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with integrity, and treating each other with respect. Decision makers also make time to talk in a
relaxed set. Google uses computational thinking to solve problems. Google’s conflict
management process excludes managers’ employees’ work it out on their own.
Recommendations for Google are that they create a mentoring program, branch of into robotics,
question unfair litigation, and work on make Google + a stronger competitor.

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Workforce 2020 Executive Report
The mission at Google is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally
accessible and useful.” (Google Inc. 2013) Google has done an exemplary job of doing that.
Google’s strategy is one of experimental iteration. They use the peer approval method to select
which ideas get the most attention. The purpose of this report is to consider the trends that face
Google and analyze how they may impact it and what must they do to get ready for the onset of
these trends. It includes an analyzation of Google in its present form. Its structure, workforce
diversity, market/customer diversity, and communication technology will be explained. Also
future trends will be forecasted. This report will pinpoint the economic, social, demographic, and
workforce that are anticipated to be in the U. S. in the year 2020. It will be explained how these
future trends will or will not be resonated throughout Google Inc. The questions, What are the
general workforce trends? , How will these trends impact the industry? , and What are the
general trends in leadership/management that are impacting Google? , will be answered in this
section. A synthesis of data and recommended changes needed for the future will be
communicated. In this report recommended leader, organizational, and workforce trends are
considered. In regards to the latter issues the following questions will be addressed What
leadership actions should the organization take? , What competencies will be needed? , What
does the organization need to do to be prepared? A holistic assessment of Google will be
conducted concerning the challenges, opportunities and documented trends.
Target Market

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The target market of Google is a diverse population.
Geographics
Most Google users are outside of the United States and most of its products and services
are in 110 languages and are always adding more.
Demographics
The true demographics of Google are unknown. Google is available anywhere in the
world. The following has been gathered from research in the United States. Users are generally
products of higher education and technologically skilled, upper-middle class, married with a
small family and business minded professionals.
Behavioral Factors
Most of Google users are from wealthy suburban U.S. families. They are college
educated metropolitan couples and families that have comfortable, active lives and make upscale
incomes or live in a small town and satellite cities middle-aged, with moderate educations
employed in white-collar, blue-collar, and service professions. They also are residents in group
quarters such as students, military personnel, and institution populations. Google users are
typically “on-the-go” people with busy lifestyles Theses people are generally intelligent and need
access to information from the internet quickly. Google users have a tendency to have high brand
loyalty.

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Business to Business Customers
Advertisers
A large percentage of Google’s profits come from Ad Words and advertising interface for
small and large companies. Advertisers value personalization. Ad Words specifically targets
demographics through advertiser key words and customer searches. Ad Words is sold on an
auction platform so the acquisition of a contract depends on the buying power of advertisers.
Publishers
Publishers use AdSense that displays Google related ads. This generates profits for
Google and publishers. AdSense is free. Google targets publishers to insure the domination of
the advertising market. Large website publishers use AdSense because it is customizable and
does not overwhelm a customer’s internet experience.
Internet Based Businesses
Google offers a range of highly customizable internet products at a value. This makes it ideal for
small and large businesses. Over two million businesses use Google Business Solutions
applications. For large companies, Google offers Premier Edition and for small companies they
offer Standard Edition. Businesses choose Google Business Solutions applications because they
value internet-based, easily accessible, highly innovative and securely protected information

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sharing systems. Google Business Solutions applications are less complex and less expensive
than similar applications.
Non-Business Customers
Students
They are generally undergraduate (18-25) and graduate students (23-28). Students want
to find information quickly and efficiently and are accustomed to the technological age. They are
technological and have an interest in the latest information and entertainment. They consider
social media to be an important way to communicate. They use the internet for leisurely
activities as well as academic endeavors and use sharing system such as Google Docs to
share/edit/submit assignments and other academic works. Students are accustomed to instant
gratification when it comes to information due to the wide availability of mobile
information/media. They will continue to have the same technological needs as they mature and
grow with Google as it continues to develop new innovative products.
Entrepreneurial Endeavors
This includes all businesses from corporations to mom-and-pop operations. Entrepreneurs
want an “inexpensive stress free internet-based way” to conduct daily operations. Entrepreneurs
use Ad Words to reach potential customers. They understand the technological lifestyle the
world is moving towards and value efficiency, wants quick access a mobility when information
sharing.

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Fad-Following Family
The Fad-Following Family generally is middle to upper-middle class they have white-
collar, blue-collar, and/or service industry jobs. They use Google products and services mainly
for communication and entertainment at least once a day. They are educated and family
orientated. They want their internet experience to be seamless, straightforward and to the point.
They tend to be technologically adept and can navigate the internet with ease. Has a tendency to
frequently shop on-line. (slideshare.net, 2013)
Value Proposition
Most Google services are usually provided for free. Network partners receive revenues in
return for relevant ads on their sites. For developers Google provides services such as Google
Web Toolkit (GWT) (a development toolkit for building and optimizing complex browser-based
applications) for free to develop rich content. Business owners gather data on popular search
terms to formulate better value propositions for their own companies. Libraries digitalize all or
part of book collections to create full-text searchable online catalogs. Authors and publishers
make out-of-print books available to purchase in digital form. Google services provide
technologically advanced environment, working conditions and job security for employees.
Google owners receive growth of their corporation and financial performance. Developing
countries use free tools, blogs and localized versions of Google. (Sundelin, 2009)
Market Positioning
Google is considered one of the most popular sites on the web. It uses link structure to
determine what is and what is not important on the internet. It offers advertisers the option to buy
discrete text ads that only show when searching for certain words. Google has anticipated

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changes and adapted strategy, systems, cultures and processes to meet these changes. Google has
acquired over fifty companies Motorola Mobility is one of them. Every corporation is different
in the way it conducts its functions. Merging these companies under the Google culture has
brought about effective change. (docstoc.com, 2013)
Organizational Sustainability Differences
Technology Infrastructure
Google has thirty-six data centers. Each one cost between $300-600 million to build and
equip. They use a total of 900,000 servers. The data centers are very efficient; they use less than
1% of the world’s power. This makes it extremely hard for the competition to copy or rival
Google. Even if they had the computing know-how, they would have to spend billions building
from the ground up (Matthews, 2013).
General Workforce Trends
The following are general workforce trends that Google will face in 2020. It addresses
how they will impact the search industry, and what leadership actions should be taken, what
competencies will be needed, and what the organization needs to be prepared. It also will cover
how Google deals with diversity, its leadership models, ethics, its decision-making models, and
how it deals with problem solving and handles conflict.
Today’s labor force consists of more women, is older and more racially and ethnically
diverse; these trends will carry over to the future work force. The U.S. labor force anticipates a
slower rate of growth over the 2010-2020 period. It will experience 0.7 percent growth lower

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than the previous 0.8 percent growth in prior decades. The labor force is anticipated to increase
10.5 million in the next decade bringing the total to 164.4 million in 2020. The civilian
noninstitutional population 16 and older 2000-2010 annual growth rate was 1.1 percent. It is
expected to grow at a lesser rate of 1.0 percent during the 2010-2020 period. Participation in the
labor force stated to decline in 2000 and continued creating the 2007-2009 recession. As a result
the 2000-2010 period experienced a 2.4 percent decline. A 2.2 percent decline is anticipated
during the 2010-2020 period. These two declining factors contributed to the anticipated growth
rate of 0.7 percent during the 2010-2020 period and the 0.1 percent drop in annual growth rate of
the 2010-2020 period.
Over the next 10 years, the labor force will be impacted by the aging baby-boomer
generation. This generation consists of people born between 1946 and 1964. They will be
between the ages of 56 and 74 in 2020; this will place then in the 55 and older age group in the
labor force. They will have considerably lower participation rates than the prime age group of
25-to-54-year olds (Toossi, 2012).
Changes in the labor force are generally gradual, and population growth is the main
factor in the growth of the labor force.
U.S. Population
Larger Populations
Toossi (2012) lists in the article, Employment Outlook 2010-2020 Labor force projection
2020 a more slowly growing workforce, that the Census Bureau states that the U.S. population
will grow from 308.7 million in 2010 to 341.4 million in 2020 it is projected to increase of 32.7
million.

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Slower Growth
Resident population growth will increase the annual growth rate is anticipated to decrease
from 0.98 percent during 2009-2010 to 0.94 during the 2019-2020 period. The slower rate of
growth is attributed to the aging U.S. population.
Older Population
By 2020 the 55 and older age group will be 97.8 million it will be a 28.7 percent portion
of 2020 resident population compared to 24.7 percent in 2010.
A More Diverse Population
Fertility
The total fertility rate is the average number of children that a woman can have through
the course of her life. It is the largest factor of population change and has a great impact on the
levels of growth of the population.
Mortality
The U.S. population is projected to increase due to low mortality rates. Health habits and
continued progression in medicine and technology have contributed to longer lifespan.
Immigration

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Immigration can be impacted by changes in immigration policies or by events in other
parts of the world that increase or decrease immigration into the United States. Toossi (2012) in
this article say that according to the Census Bureau the population projections of the workforce
net immigration into the U.S. are anticipated to add 1.4 million people annually to the U.S.
resident population.
Civilian Noninstitutional Population
The Bureau of Labor Statistics converts the resident population projections of the Census
Bureau to projections of the civilian nonistitutional population for use in the BLS labor force
projections. The conversion happens in four steps. First the population of children under the age
of 16 is subtracted from the total U.S. resident population to produce the U.S. population 16 and
older. Second the Armed Forces by age, gender, and ethnic categories are subtracted from the
resident population leaving the 16 and older yielding the total civilian population. Then BLS
takes Census Bureau data on the institutional population and makes an estimate of the civilian
noninstitutional population. Lastly this data is benchmarked to the latest annual averages of the
civilian noninstitutional population data from the Current Population Survey.
In 2000 the civilian noninstitutional population was 216.6 million. Over the 2000-2010
period it grew by 1.1 percent to 237.8 million. In the 2010-2020 period it is expected to grow by
1.0 percent to 263.0 million.
Age
The 16-to-24 age group is expected to have no growth over the 2010-2020 period.
Furthermore its share of the civilian noninstitutional population is expected to reach a decline of
14.5 percent.

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The 25-to-54 age group share of the civilian noninstitutional population in 2010 was 52.7
percent is expected to drop to 48.9 percent by 2020
The 55 and older age group share of the total civilian noninstitutional population increase
to 31.4 percent in 2010. It is projected to grow to 36.6 percent in 2020.
Gender
In 2010 the civilian noninstitutional population of men was 115.2 million and is
anticipated to reach 127.7 million by 2020.
The civilian noninstitutional population of women was 122.7 million in 2010 and is
anticipated to reach 135.3 million by 2020.
Dynamic Changes in the Labor Force
During the 2010-2020 period the labor force is anticipated to grow by 10.5 million.
It will be influenced by the following factors:
Entrants
These are persons who were not in the labor force in 2010 but will entering the labor
force during the 2010-2020 period and will continue to be part of the labor force in 2020.
Leavers
These are persons who were in the labor force in 2010 but will be leaving during the
2010-2020 period and will not be in the labor force in 2020.
Stayers

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These are persons who were in the labor force in 2010 and will remain in it through 2020.
Industry
In the 2010-2020 period there will be a 19 percent increase in computer and information
research scientists. They will be needed for software development and to maintain cyber
security. The growth will all so be fueled by an increase in the use of cloud computing systems.
Computer scientist will be needed to design infrastructure to enable widespread adoption of these
systems. (bls.gov, 2013)
Trends that Impact the Google
Social Media
Social technology is now an essential part of life and work. This technology is helping
companies to create more agile, larger networks to foster connected ness and mobility.
Communications and marketing now are many-to-many relationships.
The Era of Personalization
Consumers now want personalization. They want products that are tailored to their
mindset. This increases the value to the customer
Mobility

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Consumers want mobility. They want to be able to access information from anywhere
from education to close friends. They want to have virtual meetings and use cloud networks to
have immediate access to work projects from wherever they are.
Robots and Smart Machines
Robots are now taking over jobs such as receptionists, bank assistants and prison guards.
Some robots are even programed to take care of the elderly. However this new movement results
in a large loss of jobs for the labor force. The rise of the robot work force brings about new jobs
for those that a qualified for them.
Cyberspace: Digital freedom or a “Big Brother” society?
Knowledge and information gives organizations, nations and individuals a competitive
edge. Yet is difficult to retain control due to cybercrime, litigation, polices and regulation.
(economist.com, 2012)
Actions and Competencies needed to Prepare for Workforce 2020
The following are a list of behaviors that will have to be cultivated for the Workforce of
the future for Google.
Sense making
This competency cannot be replicated by a computer. It means to derive deeper meaning
from what is expressed. Deep Blue, an IBM supercomputer, beat Gary Kasparov, grandmaster, in
chess. It did this by millions of possible chess moves per second not by applying the kind of

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thinking a human engages in. The difference is if you ask it if it wants to play pool it cannot
figure of if you talking about swimming or billiards (Davies, Fidler, and Gorbis, 2013).
Social Intelligence
This is the ability to connect with others to sense and stimulate reactions and desired
interactions. This competency is just as important as sense making. Robots cannot produce
feelings or show genuine emotion. Socially intelligent people can quickly assess the emotions of
people surrounding them. MIT Media Lab is creating personal robots that can only replicate
superficial emotional expressions (Davies, Fidler, and Gorbis, 2013).
Novel and Adapted Thinking
This is problem solving beyond rote and rule-based tasks. MIT Professor David Autor
has tracked the polarity of jobs in the U.S. for three decades. His results state that there is decline
in middle-skilled white-collar and blue-collar jobs. There is an increase in abstract thinking high-
skilled high-wage management and technical jobs and low-skilled manual labor jobs because of
the unique unexpected nature of these jobs (Davies, Fidler, and Gorbis, 2013).
Cross Cultural Competency
This is the ability to operate in diverse cultural settings. This includes having linguistic
skills and being able to quickly adapt to changing circumstances. Cross cultural competency is
not just for workers diverse geographics but for all workers. These work groups consist of all

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different ages, skills, disciplines, thinking and working styles. Professor Scott E. Page, director
of the Center of the Study Complex Systems at the University of Michigan, says that a group
with this makeup performs better than like-mined experts (Davies, Fidler, and Gorbis, 2013).
Transdisciplinarity
This is being able to understand concepts across many disciplines. The global problems
of today call for individuals with this quality (Davies, Fidler, and Gorbis, 2013).
Virtual Collaboration
This is being able to exhibit oneself as a productively engaged individual while working
in a virtual team (Davies, Fidler, and Gorbis, 2013).
Google Concepts
Diversity Management
Google strives to include and accommodate every type of employee from LGBT’s to
new parents. They also hold an annual Global ERG Summit. This brings together more than 100
leaders and Google’s 18 EGR’s (Google department heads) for 2 days to share collaborate, and
strategy plan. (Google.com, 2013)
Leadership Models
Google meetings have a clear decision maker and consist of only 10 people.
Google’s Quarterly ORK’s (Objective and Key Results) meetings are led by company leaders to
initial shared visions. (Gil, 2013)

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Ethics
“Don’t be evil”. This means not only delivering the desired information through
customers’ searches for but also following the law, acting with integrity, and treating each other
with respect. (Google Inc. 2013)
Decision-making Models
Google meetings have a clear decision maker and consist of only 10 people. Decision
makers and executives also make time to go to the “bullpen” a group of buildings on the main
campus where the can talk in a relaxed setting. (Gil, 2013)
Problem Solving
Google uses computational thinking. There are three parts; they are breaking down large
problems in to smaller manageable ones, patterns of recognition and algorithmic design.
(Youtube.com, 2013)
Conflict Management Process
Google’s conflict management process excludes managers’ employees’ work it out by
themselves. (Hornsey, 2013)
Holistic Assessment
As a global leader, Google has an obligation to change the status quo. Google stands to
gain a growth in talent due to a 19% increase in computer and research scientists. It is also is in a
good position to take advantage of the entrants who will be entering the labor force during the
2010-2020 and stayers who will remain in it through 2020. This will bring Google the much

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needed cross cultural competency that will be valued in the workforce of 2020. Since Google
will have an influx of entrant talent during the 2010-2020 period, leadership may want to create a
mentoring program that has its stayers help bring the new talent up to speed on the current status
of the company.
It is recommended that Google watch the immerging robotics field closely and possibly
pursue some robotics endeavors. It is also recommended that Google contest any litigation and
regulations they feel are unfair to the public or the entity itself. The greatest challenge that
Google faces is staying current. With competition like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that have
tapped into social media facet it is recommended that it expand its Google + interface to make it
a stronger competitor and create a better marketing plan for it.

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References
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013) Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-
information-technology/computer-and-information-research-scientists.htm#tab-6
Davies, A., Fidler, D. Gorbis, M. (2013) Future Work Skills 2020 Retrieved from:
http://www.ccl.org/leadership/pdf/research/TenTrends.pdf
Economist (2013) A top ten for business leaders Retrieved from:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2013/2012/11/global-trends-2013
Hornsey, L. (2013) Pt4: How We Manage Conflict at Google Retrieved from
http://www.meettheboss.tv/Broadcast/CXO/392/How-We-Manage-Conflict-at-Google/
Gil, K. (2013) Start-Up Speed Retrieved from:
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/quarterly/speed/start-up-speed-kristen-gil.html
Google Inc. (2013) Retrieved from: http://investor.google.com/corporate/code-of-conduct.html
Matthews, J. (2012) What are Google's Competitive Advantages? Retrieved from:
http://jasonmatthews.hubpages.com/hub/What-are-Googles-Competative-Advantages

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slideshare.net (2010) Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/abail019/customer-profile-for-
google-inc
Sundelin, A. (2009) What is Value Proposition Retrieved from:
http://tbmdb.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-is-value-proposition.html
Toosi, M. (2012) Labor force projection to 2020 a more slowly growing workforce Retrieved
from: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2012/01/art3full.pdf
YouTube (2013) Problem Solving at Google Retrieved from: Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVVB5RQfYxk

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