Automation and Interconnectivity
A digital revolution is upon us; transforming the way we live, work, and communicate. Industrial efficiency is at an all-time high. We have found ourselves on the brink of a Fourth Industrial Revolution as disruptive technologies and automation reshape workplaces across the globe.
“Like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world.” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterized by two major factors which shape our evolving workforce: automation through software innovation and increasingly powerful robotic hardware, and interconnectivity made possible by cloud technology and the rise of the smartphone. In this month’s blog we will address the positive and negative effects of each in detail.
Rise of the Machines
Positive Effects
Businesses are automating processes to address consumers’ needs efficiently in order to keep up with high demand. Automation saves businesses time and money. David Whitaker, Managing Economist at CEBR, said that
“There is clear evidence that points towards robotic automation in many cases being a complement for human labor, rather than a direct substitute. As more mundane tasks are automated, human efforts becomes more valuable as it is focused on higher-level tasks, creativity, know-how and thinking.” https://workology.com/will-robots-kill-jobs-yes-will-robots-create-jobs-yes/
Within the world of Information Technology, businesses are adopting DevOps methodologies to automate the creation, testing, and deployment of software. Such methodologies complement existing service-oriented architectures and provide a holistic approach to deploying code to production environments. Such approaches have the potential to make software development faster, cheaper, cleaner, and more secure.
Automation technologies have also heavily disrupted industries outside of IT. The meteoric rise of online retailers such as Amazon connects producers directly to consumers, driving down prices and simplifying the delivery of goods and services.
Global job markets are offering higher paid salaries for visionaries, innovators, and strong leaders. Such professionals depend heavily on their ability to navigate a digital world. Freelance graphic artists and web designers can make between $150 to $300 per hour depending on the project, Systems Analysts and Data Engineers enjoy six figure salaries, and IT Software and Cyber Specialists can make six figures or more. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, the author explains, “even if robots begin to replace humans in a variety of tasks, this does not spell doom for human jobs, as many experts suggest. That’s because the value of human judgement skills will increase.”
Negative Outcomes
The digital community is not as accessible to everyone. Generational, economical, and environmental gaps in the Fourth Industrial Revolution is significant, challenging those who lack the resources or ability to easily make the technical transition. This is where we will see a negative impact on our labor force.
“The largest beneficiaries of innovation tend to be the providers of intellectual and physical capital – the innovators, shareholders, and investors – which explains the rising gap in wealth between those depend on capital versus labor.” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
Our economy now runs on the dependency of technology and human coexistence, and technology cannot slow down for those who cannot keep up.
Collaboration in the Cloud
Positive Effects
The internet is a business essential: travel arrangements, data storage, communication, product distribution, etc. Technology is challenging the job market, creating specialized positions and altering the way we see the workplace. We no longer see a monolithic office as a place of work, but rather a variety of spaces, interconnected by collaborative technologies. Employees’ work-life balance appears; the balance between life and work is increasing because of technology, which in turn is making for harder working, yet happier employees. However, with change comes conflict.
Negative Outcomes
At face value, connectivity should allow for greater balance between work and personal life. Unfortunately, instant and constant access the cloud makes is far more difficult to “unplug”. Constant connectivity raises expectations of immediate responses. For some, this dramatically increases the number of hours worked in a day. Not only do we expect immediate results, we prefer little to no human interaction.
“The use of online social media outlets causes us to meet face-to-face with much less frequency, resulting in a lack of much needed social skills. One downside is that technology has become like a comfort zone to us, especially when it comes to interacting with others.” https://www.morganmckinley.ie/article/5-negative-impacts-technology-has-our-everyday-lives
Friendly faced co-workers are now unread messages in your inbox, verbal disagreements have turned to cyber bulling, and business meetings are conducted based on one’s reception. How do you think this will affect our social cues in ten years, let alone the workforce?
The Big Picture
Our connection with technology is reflecting a positive and negative outlook throughout the work force. Higher salaries are offered to those with the education and leadership skills needed to run a high speed, progressive company, yet the expectations are much higher. Humans are extremely adaptive creatures. Throughout the last century we have evolved our society to adapt to every new invention. On the brink of the Fourth Industrial Revolution we must treat it as we have in the past. Changing the workplace is the start. While technological change will kill jobs, it will also open a gateway for many new ones, and that is something we can be grateful for.