Technological Revolution and Job Markets

The technological revolution will create jobs and professions that as little as five years ago were nonexistent. This newly developed market will demand of workers an understanding of sophisticated technical communications systems as well as an increased technical expertise. By the year 2020 basic skills that once were vital to business will be rendered obsolete. The spot welder on the automobile production line, the clerk typist in an office, the field worker on a farm will go the way of the steamboat pilot and the blacksmith.

The most significant trend in years to come will be the shift from formation-type jobs (factory work, office typing, and general clerical work) to information-type jobs (programming, word processing, and supervising technical machinery). The economy will witness the demise of the blue-collar workers as automation and robotics become more prevalent, heralding the rise of the steel-collar worker.

By contrast, office and service jobs will be abundant, but only for those prepared to improve their technical skills. Again it will be automation that will displace many of the low-skilled and semiskilled workers in the present economy.

In fact, the era of the paperless office has already begun. It has been promoted by two principal developments: computers that process business information and the explosive growth of telecommunications systems and products. This office revolution not only has changed how work is done and information is handled but has redefined the function of everyone who works in an office, from the corporate executive down to the lowliest clerk…

For the job hunter of 2020, scanning classified ads will be a quick education in how drastically the workplace will have changed. He or she is likely to see openings for such positions as biological historians, biofarming experts, computer art curators, fiberoptics technicians, robot retrainers, space traffic controllers, and teleconferencing coordinators, to cite but a few.

There will always be farms, but by the next century farm workers as we know them will be scarcer. The business of farming will become ever more complex. With computerized operations and robot harvesters there will be no need for unskilled labor. The farm will be a place for people with training as electronic technicians, bioengineers, and computer programmers. Indeed, the human farm worker someday may be simply the person with the phone number of the nearest robot repairman.

Text C

Working from Home “Could Save Billions”

Strategic Workstyles 2000, an Oxford forecasting unit, says that industry could make huge financial savings by allowing their staff to work from home. Noel Hodson, the report’s author, says that the effects of allowing 15 per cent of Britain’s 22 million workforce to work in their own homes using telephones, facsimile machines and computers would be enormous.

For large companies, teleworking can improve efficiency and motivation among valuable staff. The idea is attractive to employees who prefer flexible working hours, part-time workers, those looking after children and those living in rural areas, who would otherwise have to commute to work. There are also environmental benefits too, as pollution levels get reduced because there are fewer people commuting to work.

London would feel the biggest benefits with 526,000 fewer drivers on the road. More than 11,000 commuters would not need to enter central London daily. Commuters would benefit from seeing their families more, saving up to four hours a day travelling to work. Companies would have a fresher workforce which did not need to be transported into a central, expensive location daily.

A study for a big financial institution planning to allow 20 people to telecommute calculated that the company would save more than ₤430,000 per year. The study examines the reasons why telecommuting has not achieved the advantages of time saved and cost cutting. It says the managers are often nervous about leaving staff unattended and out of sight of the office. For the teleworker, working from home might bring unforeseen hazards, such as a partner who does not want the house invaded by machinery and office paperwork. “A number of car commuters thoroughly enjoy the total isolation and privacy available to them in their cars,” the report says.

According to a report called the “Responsive Organisation”, which outlines the benefits of teleworking, employers are recommended not to force anyone into teleworking. “Not everyone makes a good teleworker – they need to be independent and self-motivated.” One of the problems is that distance workers can miss all the informal communication that occurs, such as gossip, which can be very important in maintaining good working relationships. Work patterns are changing though – some organisations even hold broad meetings using telephone conference lines.

Read the article from The Times about teleworking and complete the following tasks.

1. Find the advantages of teleworking for the worker.

2. Find the advantages of teleworking for the employer.

3. Find the benefits of teleworking for the environment.

4. Find one perceived disadvantage for the employer.

5. Find one possible disadvantage for people the teleworker lives with.

6. Find which people make good teleworkers and which don’t. Would you make a good teleworker?

Text D