Global business will experience a big shift towards virtual community-based enterprises as the nature of business models and structures change over the next decade, the UK Chartered Management Institute's report Management Futures: The World in 2018 describes. And as organisations open up to the outside world and become more community-based they will also become more employee-centric - especially those built on the productivity of talented employees - with more "non traditional" employment arrangements becoming the norm.

An in depth understanding of each partner is vital for job sharing, says part-time online director Liana Gorman, who has worked in recruitment for 25 years. Everything needs to be nutted out upfront, says Gorman, with job sharers exploring each other's likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses and work preferences.

The iconic nine-to-five full-time job is on the way out.

Flexible work opportunities are on the increase as more employees seek a life balance and more employers devise strategies to overcome the country's growing skills shortage.

There are many job options including part-time hours, flexi-time, work-from-home, job-sharing (when two people combine to fill one full-time position), casual work and various forms of extended leave.

RECRUITING part-time employees could now be easier thanks to a website dedicated to matching employers to job hunters looking for a flexible workplace.

Part Time Online has been relaunched with a new section aimed at assisting employers meet the needs of today's flexible workforce.

Two advocates of work/life balance have partnered to develop an accreditation system for employers that offer flexible employment.

Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Australia are expecting the skills shortage to continue to be a serious concern in 2008, creating opportunities for Australian immigration. In fact over 50 per cent of senior managers rate the skilled labour shortage as the biggest risk for their business, according to the latest survey.

With interest rate increases, fluctuating petrol prices, drought, lagging trade payments, and the credit crunch, SMEs faced tough challenges in 2007. Nukte Ogun talks to experts to find out what difficulties are on the horizon for 2008.