At an FCO Leadership event in 2006, a presentation on Globalisation argued that we were now beholding one of the most momentous changes in human history roll out before our very eyes: the addition in only a decade or so of a billion new people to the global jobs market-place.

The result (it was said) as India and China and some others started to use IT on a vast scale would be dramatic for Western wage levels.

We had grown used to the idea that wages and living standards would edge up. But why should they, if any employer could call on the skills of so many smart people round the globe prepared to work for the same – or much less?

This in turn gave many governments a huge problem: how to pay for social services as the numbers of those seeking them drifted up but the number of people paying for them (and the money paid into the pot) trended down?

One answer of course is that this development is in fact a stunning opportunity to reduce government in its cumbersomely unsustainable Industrial Age form. Mainly because there is no choice.

Be that as it may, have a look at PeoplePerHour.com, a superbly simple way to find people not to do Jobs but to perform ad hoc tasks at the pay rate selected by the ‘service buyer”.

Anyone round the world can join. If you or your business want an article or piece of software written or some research done, simply post the requirement and indicative remuneration. Offers – and prices – will come in soon from potential providers.

This site allows those seeking a hired hand to define to a fine degree the specification of the task in hand, and so reduce significantly the costs/overheads and hassle of employing someone even part-time. But the provider too gets a say in negotiating the deal and the price. Elegant, efficient and fair.

By the way, I yesterday signed up as a Provider. Why not? Two small job proposals have arrived by email in the first 24 hours. I have responded to one. A brisk start.

Outsourcing on steroids. Welcome to something close to a truly free labour and creativity market. The future way hundreds of millions of people will be working?

Imagine. The End of Management?