Technology In The Workplace - Research Paper Example

 Technology In The Workplace. What are the implications for workers? Various arguments about effects of information technology in the workplace have devised many contradicting results. Critics view it as an age of information embedded by dehumanized work for people in the workforce and massive unemployment. Proponents counter this jurisdiction on the premise that technology gives potential to design a postindustrial economy made up of skilled workers. These arguments are around two decades old. Two issues are vastly unsolved even today. One is the correct pace of change and also the way this pace of change move towards a service- based and the progressively technological economy has affected security and job content. These discussions on novel information technology called IT is what most of the people link with the use of personal computers and conventionally assume that its rate of diffusion and adoption is accelerating and rapid leading in considerable implications for firms, workers, and the overall economy. Obviously, the technology seems to have completely transformed the Canadian industry significantly. This essay analyzes the changes in computer literacy, workers adaptation, and growth of computer use in the workplace over a course of time. It also takes into account the effects of this technological advancement on security and job content ( Bravo E & Statham A, 1990). The GSS Statistic of Canada gave a comprehensive review of workplace computerization since the year 1984, filing in mainly the positive replies to questions about job content and job security (Lowe, 1991 and 1992).the workers who believed that their job had been massively or somehow affected by the advent of computers or the automated technology in five years before GSS was held, sixty-eight percent said that their necessary job skills had enhanced by the year 1989 and this rose to approximately seventy-one percent in 1994. In the year 1989, seventy percent people said that there has been no effect on their job security and the figure was reduced to sixty-seven percent in 1994. In both of these years, over sixty percent people said that their work has become more exciting due to the innovation of automated technology or computers in their workplace environment. Only 2% people in both the years were persistent that there was no or little change which was rather negative in their skill needs of jobs. Likewise, only four percent people in both the years said that this technological revolution has made their job monotonous and boring. This is a significant change in general work pattern over the decade. This discernment was influenced by technological change context in the 1990s, corporate downsizing, redundancies, layoffs in public sector as well as private, growing rate of unemployment, and augmenting awareness of globalization of economy (Lowe, 1997). According to David Coleman, Collaborative Strategies Consultant, technological tools are being merged into easily handled collaborative stages. They assist workers to cooperate asynchronously, not at the same time with each other, to check and reply to the document changes and message threads as their schedules permit. This is becoming an important part of teams as the globalized workforce is spread over multiple time zones and also for busy workers managing multiple projects and teams. Also, the synchronous ones use technology such as the ones who work simultaneously such as audio and video conferencing, presence detection instant messaging, the status of availability, knowledge capture, and reputation. These cooperative technologies are meeting the horizons of easy to use, loyalty, and ubiquity as they merge the asynchronous and synchronous tools to the standard platforms such as Google and its package of email, search, document sharing, and groups. Many firms are beginning to introduce social media and Web 2.0 to unite their employees together and to connect them to a third party basically. Instances of social media are weblogs, wikis, podcasts, videos, pictures, rating, blogs, wall-posting, instant messaging, crowdsourcing, music sharing, social bookmarking to classify a few. These tools are used for personal information exchange they depend on users to produce the content which can then be connected to their peers and the next arena of social connection begins (Ouye, 2011). Labor process theory has undergone various vigorous challenges over the course of time offering several interpretations of the nature of this interaction between labor and management when technology is introduced somewhere (Burawoy, 1979). Burawoy agreed that when we introduce technology, workers perpetually find various ways to generate shop-floor concessions. With the implied management agreement, they figure out ways to balance for the degree of the skills or control they must now produce. Therefore the consent of worker is important when introducing technology in workplace environment because it relates to the employees the most. Regardless of the omnipresent ways in which technology has enhanced our world, it is mandatory to adopt a critical point of view towards its implication. In workplaces, utilizing technology is very important, and can be a sanction for capital owners, if they can afford technology off course. Technology prompts productivity in workforce. As companies are becoming more technology reliant, the faithfulness about the workers and employers have deterred (Lewis, 1996). This essay was focused on the implications of technology on the workforce which is enhanced by many scholars in such as outlandish and rosy manner that people are deceived to believe that technology brings new hopes for them, open new doors to their works, or maybe lessen their burden of heavy workload. But, the truth is the new workplace is a mysterious black box into which the graduates from top universities are sent for their betterment. Giving these graduates the insight into technology is the responsibility of the firm but confusion and ambiguity saturate the so-called technological advanced firms. Sometimes, there are no necessary skills needed and a good attitude and flexibility yields great results for people in the workplace. In other instances, computer literacy is well required and people are made redundant on the basis of computer inefficiency. These computerized environments are the order of the day as workers have no other option but to live in these over stressed and over saturated workplaces. Should workers be put into so much stress and computer trauma? Why hassle their lives with so much work stress and computer isolation? Seriously, these issues need to be addressed and possible action should be taken to reduce negative impacts and enhance productivity (WDM-Consultants, 2011). Bibliography Burawoy, M. (1979). Manufacturing consent-Changes in the labor process under capitalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bravo E., & Statham A, (1990). The introduction of new technology: health implications for workers. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2368423 Lewis, T. (1996). Studying the impact of technology on work and jobs. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JITE/v33n3/lewis.html Lowe, G. S. (1997). Computers in the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/studies-etudes/75-001/archive/e-pdf/3072-eng.pdf Ouye, J. A. (2011). Five trends that are dramatically changing work and the workplace. Retrieved from http://www.knoll.com/research/downloads/WP_FiveTrends.pdf WDM-Consultants. (2011, April). Defining essential digital skills in the Canadian workplace: Final report. Retrieved from http://www.nald.ca/library/research/digi_es_can_workplace/digi_es_can_workplace.pdf Read More