Changes in the Workplace

Deanna Weihs & Kopi Majara

Job Decline

• Bank tellers• Switchboard operators• Trading Floor Messengers• Film processors • Sales clerks

Job Rise

• Sewing Machines – clothes prices dropped – more demand – thousands of new jobs

• WWW created 100,000 new jobs in 1996

• Chip industry• Jobs other than sales clerk in

retail stores• New technology = new jobs

More or Less Jobs with Technology?

• Mass unemployment?

• 1993 – 2002 – 309.9 million jobs ended– 327.7 million jobs created

• Net increase: 17.8 million jobs

– Hard to measure

Changing Skill Levels

• LINK• Pace of improvement in computers = job disruption• High skilled jobs being eliminated?

• Robots • What about the future?– Will we have anything to do?

Offshoring

• “By 2004 12% of US IT companies had moved their operations to other countries”

• Example: customer service center in India– pwc sends pdf’s to India to

type – work different

Problems & Benefits

• Problems– Greed– “2.5% of mass layoffs come from

offshoring jobs”– Language barrier– Just reading manuals– Data Security

• Benefits• Cheaper labor - both low-skilled

and high-skilled

Articles

• No Tax breaks for outsourcing – Thoughts?

• Will US manufacturing jobs ever come back? – Is it bad if it doesn’t? – Natural progression?

Ethics & Offshoring

• Hiring in U.S. vs. offshoring• Utilitarianism• Kant

– Exploiting others for cheaper production?

– Poor working conditions?• Is this valid?

Searching for Jobs

• Different ways to learn about jobs• Can search for features you want– Ex. “no overtime”

Applying for Jobs

– Strong correlation between Facebook and how you will do on the job

Interviewing for the Job

Work Environment – Work Anywhere

Work Environment – Work Anywhere

• Benefits– Decreases overhead for

employees– Increase productivity– Reduces expenses for

commuting– Flexible hours– Return to involvement in

your community? – Joel Kotkin

Work Environment

• Problems• Reducing boundaries for home & work can be stressful• Distractions• Some people work to much others too little• Miss mentoring relationships & opportunities for

advancement• Social isolations – lower morale• Security issues with home computers• Some zoning areas working at home illegal

Employee Monitoring

• Computers can make crimes easier• Also make monitoring easier

– Monitoring has changed over time:• Time clocks• Surveillance cameras• Electronic monitoring

Employee Monitoring

• LINK• Today: More constant, detailed, and unseen by workers– Can lead to:• Low morale and confidence, stress, etc.• But also less theft

• Location Tracking– Ex: Nurses & Truckers• Voicemail & E-mail• Is this ethical?