A brief definition
The digitization of work should be understood as increasing the proportion of digital data in the activities that make up a job. Much of this data will be a digital representation of real processes and objects (just as a scan is a digital representation of an object under development, such as a document). Let’s take a look at this with an example from the 4CF report “Competencies that weren’t there,” prepared for the Provincial Labor Office in Warsaw.
The digitization of factories makes it possible to reduce the number of foremen and supervisors needed to manage workers on a single shift, thanks to data on the operation of production lines and the behavior of workers, obtained from sensors of temperature, pressure, voltage, but also from smart camera systems.
In the future, this will allow for a further increase in management span, that is, the number of people directly reporting to a single leader. Digitization will provide him with “digital eyes and ears,” without compromising the productivity and job security of his subordinate employees.
Which new technology will get me out of a job?
Today’s most important data transmission and processing technologies, which are also relevant to the labor market, include: communication technologies (network technologies such as the Internet, wireless networks, cellular networks, etc.), ambient data collection (sensorics, speech, handwriting, facial and other image recognition), and data processing and analysis (machine learning, neural networks, artificial intelligence algorithms). Intuitively, it would seem that ICT or artificial intelligence remain in the intangible realm – limited to computers, the Internet or typical mental work.
REMEMBER! Artificial intelligence is gracing not only the so-called intelligentsia, because it is ICT or AI, not the human hand, that increasingly controls machines – including on factory floors or construction sites. And this means that humans doing repetitive, schematic work (including, but not primarily) physical work can feel threatened.
The world in the face of the trend of digitization of work
According to studies, nearly half of the occupations in the United States are at high risk of being automated in the next 20 years. The situation is similar in European Union countries, where nearly 54 percent of occupations are at risk of automation. The values cited in the studies may, of course, be overstated, since usually – and this should be paid special attention to – only the technological possibility of replacing human labor with automation is analyzed, and the economic viability of such a change is ignored, without even mentioning the social consequences.
Competencies of the past and competencies of the future
However, the authors of the studies often emphasize that the threat of automation is not synonymous with the complete disappearance of an occupation from the labor market, but rather involves robots performing a significant part of the activities associated with a given occupation. The occupations most susceptible to automation are those in which the worker performs a very well-defined sequence of repetitive activities. On the other hand, safe from automation are occupations in which cognitive skills are important. These include creativity, problem-solving and creative thinking skills. Social skills are also less susceptible to automation. These are, for example, the ability to listen actively, persuasion, related to the use of emotional intelligence.
Bibliography
Rynek pracy, https://mfiles.pl/pl/index.php/Rynek_pracy, dostęp 24.05.2022. 2 Przyczyny zmian – pod wpływem jakich czynników zmieni się rynek pracy? epale.ec.europa.eu, dostęp 28.04.2022. 3 Toffler A. (2006), Trzecia fala, Wydawnictwo Kurpisz, Poznań;
Toffler A. (2007), Szok przyszłości, Wydawnictwo Kurpisz, Poznań. 4 WEF (2020),
The Future of Jobs Report 2020 https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf, dostęp 20.04.2022. 5
OECD (2019) https://www.oecd.org/forum/issues/forum-2016-issues-the-future-of-education.htm dostęp 20.04.2022.
McKinsey Global Institute (2017) A Future That Works: Automation, Employment, and Productivity https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/Digital%20Disruption/Harnessi ng%20automation%20for%20a%20future%20that%20works/MGI-A-future-that-works-Executivesummary.ashx, dostęp 20.04.2022. 7
Europejski Fundusz Leasingowy. Grupa Crédit Agricole (2019) Które zawody mogą zniknąć w najbliższej przyszłości? https://www.efl.pl/pl/biznes-i-ty/artykuly/ktore-zawody-moga-zniknac-wnajblizszej-przyszlosci, dostęp 20.04.2022. 8 https://pl.beincrypto.com/metaverse-nasza-praca-w-przyszlosci/, dostęp 28.04.2022
Author: Tomasz Wołowiec, PhD, WSEI university Lublin / Poland
This text is published under the terms of the Creative Commons License: CC BY-SA 2.0. The name of the author shall be as follows: CC BY-SA 2.0, Author: Tomasz Wołowiec, PhD, funding source: Erasmus+ Programme for Adult Education of the European Union. The text and materials may be reproduced, distributed, made publicly available, shared and adapted under the following conditions: In any case shall the name of the author, the license as well as the website’s address of the original source be published.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.