Technology in Business and the Needed Development of Skills in the Labor Force - Case Study Example

TECHNOLOGY IN BUSINESS AND THE NEEDED DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS IN THE LABOUR FORCE Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction Technology is changing the way we work and do business within and between countries. The contemporary world is different from the olden times. New technology of all kinds, particularly internet and computer technology has become an important aspect in the business environment. Technology development is flourishing in the current times and is playing a major role in the modern business environment and world economy. Development in technology is the major reason why people are flourishing and prospering in their businesses. Although a college degree gives people a better chance of getting a job, it does not guarantee a well-paying job. This essay contends that looking forward into twenty years time; I am very sure that having a college education will not guarantee a well-paying job. Many occupations essential to the national and global economy do not require a four-year degree, including scores of service sector jobs and skilled trade jobs. In most societies, people view a college education as a portion of prolonged tradition of higher educational achievement. Most families consider a college education as a brass ring that characterises the achievement of one generation and the subsequent generations. However, people do not need a college education to contribute to the success of their businesses as well as their personal lives. This is because college or post-college education does not solely determine prosperity of an individual or a world. Newman (2008) asserts that college degree is no longer the guarantee of fruitful employment. Seventeen percent of unemployed persons are college graduates and even for those who land a job receive low wages. Nemko (2011) supports these sentiments by confirming that out of millions of college graduates; only twenty percent of them find well-paying jobs. The education-based wage gap is shrinking and no longer relevant. In the modern economy, a college education is not all that one need to get a high-paying job. Obtaining a well-paying job calls for creativity, imagination and innovation and not college education. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are major examples of people with high-paying jobs and had no college degrees. While people consider college graduation essential for success in life, Bill Gates saw no importance of a college degree .He attained wealth and prosperity from his technical creativity, self-motivation, good organisation and innovation. Out of creativity and imagination, Bill Gates envisioned a computer on every desktop leading to the establishing of his iconic company, Microsoft (Hafizbegovic 2011). Bill Gates, one of the America’s richest people, embraced technology and established the most powerful information technology firm with no formal education. Similarly, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc, never graduated from college, yet he secured himself a well-paying job. Although Bill Gates and Steve Jobs lacked college education, they had innovative ideas and technical know-how that helped them to establish their iconic companies. Scores of graduates do not secure well-paying jobs because they lack creativity, self-efficacy, self-motivation and real imagination. An electrician, welder or a plumber can secure a well-paying job in the modern age compared college graduates. These professionals require only 6 to 12 months of vocational training and they capitalise on their knowledge and creativity to generate money. By tapping into the strengths of technology, I would increase my career opportunities besides increasing the level of my innovation and creativity. I believe that being innovative, technical savvy, creative, energetic and self-motivated would be the key aspects to attainment of well-paying jobs now and in the future. According to Wagner (2012), unless people create their own jobs, they face the chance of restrained economic opportunities and prosperity. Most college graduates never move beyond internships or entry-level positions in organisations. Straubhaar, LaRose and Davenport (2015) assert that jumping the steady professional employments does not depend on the things people learn in college. Family connections and creative talents direct one into well-paying jobs. Well-connected and talented people can rapidly rise through the corporate ladder and attain well-paying jobs. Technology makes people to capitalise directly on their creativity. For instance, a celebrity does not have to hold a college degree in order to prosper. Instead, celebrities need to embrace technology to establish scores of ways to be famous. People like Alfred Wallace made a living through pursuing research. People can enhance their living through capitalising on the prospects offered by the modern technology. Other aspects that make people prosper include natural resources such as land and oil. Natural resources combined with technology provide well-paying job prospects for people regardless of their educational level. In the current century and the following century, the super-rich people will involve people who utilise the modern technology to reap the benefits of the available resources. With technology advancements in the modern world, chances of getting a high-paying job are not limited. According to Blinder (2006), more things are tradable more than ever before. Rich nations offshore jobs, but not the people performing the jobs to poor nations. Although off shoring of jobs is business as usual in the international arena, it hold disruptive impacts on wealthy nations in the sense that it leads to loss of many service-sector jobs in countries such as the United States. The continuous enhancements in global and technology communications promote more off shoring of service-sector jobs. Technology facilitates delivery of scores of service sector jobs over longer distances with less or no quality degradation. Off shoring of jobs comes with challenges such as reduction of well-paying job opportunities for college graduates. In the contemporary world, technology facilitates trading of many services. The easy flow and cheap flow of information across the world expands the extent of tradable services an aspect that calls for changes in the manner in which people educate their children. Following offshore of jobs, the share of the labour force shrinks making employees in rich nations to find other things to do. Although offshore does instigate massive unemployment, it instigates social and economic changes. Tradable services from developed nations make service workers in these nations to compete with employees in other nations. The notion that the major labour-market difference is between highly educated and less educated is misleading in the information and communication technology age. This is because in the modern technology age there is no distinction between jobs that call for high educational levels and those that do not. Technology facilitates delivery of some low-skilled jobs and high-skilled jobs electronically over long distance. For instance, a robot can take up the role of a doctor in an operation room as well as the role of a waiter in a restaurant. While a doctor hold higher education compared to a waiter, technology places them at the same level. Technology promotes productivity in the service sector thereby undermining the importance of college education. The modern economy requires a more flexible labour force instead of a more educated labour force. According to Blinder (2006), education is far from being a solution to labour market issues because rich nations retain scores of jobs that call for little education. In my opinion, what will matter most in the future, say twenty years to come, is how people attain education and not how much education one has. Creativity will form the basis for well-paying jobs. Work roles that calls for real creativity and imagination will form the basis of pay packages. It is evident that schools cannot teach imagination and creativity. For instance, the Chinese economy has continued to grow not because of the educational skills but because of the technological skills, innovation and creativity embraced by the Chinese manufacturing industries. Conclusion Based on the analysis, there is a positive link amid technology and well-paying jobs, and negative link between college education and well-paying jobs. Given that technology is changing how people work and do business, having a college education in the next twenty years would not guarantee one a well-paying job. Development in technology instead of college education holds the potential to help people attain well-paying jobs, establish and run their own businesses. Technology promotes creativity, innovation and real imagination that are key ingredients for business success. The current and future economy and business success will highly depend on creative talents and innovation. Bill Gates did not complete his college education, but his innovation and real imagination lead to the establishment of Microsoft. As a result, many well-paying jobs require technology because it provides different means in which people can flourish. Therefore, beyond college education lays the very real possibility that under the present and future conditions, the pervasive technology applications will improve economic opportunities and promote competitive advantages for businesses. Reference List Blinder, A 2006, ‘ Offshoring: The next industrial revolution’, Foreign Affairs. Available from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2006-03-01/offshoring-next-industrial-revolution [ 23 April 2016]. Hafizbegovic, E 2015, Life is a challenge: Journey to discover the secret of life, UK, Balboa Press. Krugman, P 1996 White collars turn blue, written for the centennial issue of the NYT magazine. Available from http://mit.edu/krugman/www/BACKWRD2.html [23 April 2016] Nemko, M 2011, Cool careers for dummies, UK, John Wiley & Sons. Newman, D.M 2008, Sociology: Exploring the architecture of everyday life, UK, Pine Forge Press. Straubhaar, J, LaRose, R & Davenport, L 2015, Media now: Understanding media, culture and technology, UK, Cengage Learning. Wagner, T 2012, Creating innovators: The making of young people who will change the world, AU, Simon and Schuster. Read More