Below is a link to an article on "mass career customization." This is, essentially, the ability to choose from a certain amount of building blocks in your career across 4 main areas (such as workload and pace). The goal is to allow employees to "dial up or dial down" their career path to match varying life stages. Here is the study link:
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/article/0,1002,sid=2303&cid=216046,00.html
This is a neat concept for a few reasons:
1. Hot Mommas Project research shows only about half of employees will take entrepreneurial approaches with their careers. What about the other half? They need the help of a pre-structured program to begin the conversation with their employers.
2. Employers are searching for solutions as work life balance is a global top 3 future concern. Employees in developed economies are generations removed from the basic "survival" mentality (not withstanding the current financial crisis). Less desperate, and with a 2/3 chance of having a another income in the household, they will increasingly choose life over work unless employers can find a happy medium. See previous post:
http://hotmommasproject.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-study-work-life-balance-one-of-big.html
3. The non linear career path. It's a fact: Things come up in life. "Surprises" or "unexpected circumstances" was mentioned many times by Hot Mommas Project survey takers when asked, "What are key challenges to balancing it all?" Previous related posts on the non linear career path, adult caregiving, other:
http://hotmommasproject.blogspot.com/2007/11/non-linear-career-path_28.html
http://hotmommasproject.blogspot.com/2008/07/awards-for-caregiverstop-7-caregiver.html