Computers in the workforce
Introduction
There are many jobs that didn't exist a few years ago and in the future, there will be many types of jobs that we can't predict today. This is why it is very important for students to learn to be adaptable, to be able to think for themselves and to be able to change skills easily. And it is also important for students to read widely, as there are so many different potential implications for the workplace with each new computer hardware or software development. In this section, we will give some examples of how working patterns and practices have changed as a direct result of computer technology.
Tele-working
People have more opportunity to work from home now (called 'tele-working'). They can organise their working life around their home life, which might be important if someone has children, is a carer for a relative or has a disability. A range of computer equipment now allows someone to do their job and stay in contact with their employers. They might use a computer and an Internet connection with a tablet, a printer, a webcam and microphone, a smartphone and a FAX, for example. If a company is based in Australia, they no longer need to look for employees just in that country for some jobs - they can use tele-workers based anywhere in the world, especially from countries where the salary expectations are much lower. Equally, an employee from a developing country has opportunities for higher paid jobs in other countries and doesn't even have to move there! Many computer-based jobs, for example, writing software, can be done from anywhere in the world. India and Malaysia, for example, has a pool of very highly-educated English-speaking programmers that can be employed at much cheaper rates than western programmers.
Robots
Many mundane jobs have been replaced by computer-controlled machinery. For example, some welding jobs in car factories can now be done with robots. The quality of the work is better. The robots can be run for 24 hours a day with only a limited amount of time down for maintenance. They don't go on strike or need to be paid (although the initial cost of the robots is considerable). Robots, however, need specialist skills. Someone has to design them, build them, maintain them, program and re-program them, for example. This has meant new opportunities for workers willing to be trained in newer technologies. One general pattern that has emerged over the years is that whilst jobs at the low-skill end of the job market come under pressure as a result of computing technology, opportunities for people with higher level computing skills rise. Robot technology and use is a classic example of this trend.
Email communications
Email has replaced a lot of communication that was done on paper. Initially, people talked of a 'paperless society' but a healthy dose of reality has set in. Many communications, however, are now done electronically. Both internal and external communications are instant, relatively cost-free compared to the post and have reduced the amount of paper consumed, which is good for both the company and the environment. Many text documents including email are now also quickly and easily dictated using voice recognistion software. The need for secretaries has diminished in the last 10 years, although the need for Personal Assistants (PAs) with better skills has increased, and the jobs are better paid, too!
Video conferencing
Travelling to a meeting can cost a company a lot of time and money, especially if the meeting is abroad. Travel tickets have to be paid for, hotels booked, cars rented, meals paid for and then the person going to the meeting is often not very productive as they travel to and from meetings and recover from long flights. With the advance of video conferencing, the reasons for people to be out of the office for days while they travel to meetings in distant parts has been reduced. This has meant that they can be doing more constructive things.
Call centres
It costs a lot of money to support businesses that are 'customer-facing' such as airlines dealing with tickets, electricity, gas and water companies, who have to deal with thousands of customers daily, businesses like Amazon, Sky and telephone companies, who also have to deal with many customer contacts. These businesses are always trying to drive down costs to get a competitive advantage over their rivals. One way of doing this is to use call centres based in foreign parts where English is common. We have already mentioned India and Malaysia but there are other countries, too, such as South Africa, which Amazon uses for call centre staff. This is made possible because phone calls from your phone can be re-routed instantly via the Internet at negligible cost to a call centre operative in a foreign land, where salaries and running costs are a fraction of those in the UK or USA. Not everyone likes this set-up, however! Customers sometimes complain about not understanding accents and there are cultural differences between people that can lead to misunderstandings, for example, words and phrases used by one person in one country may appear rude to a person in a different country.
Education
Teachers now use a range of technology to do their jobs, including interactive whiteboards, tablets and software for tracking progress, attendance and behaviour. The software could, for example, automatically contacts parents on their mobile phones by SMS e.g. if a student isn't registered so they know immediately their child is missing lessons for some reason.
Cloud computing and team working
Team working is an important aspect of companies. The rise in recent years of cloud computing as helped this. Cloud computing means that documents are stored centrally 'on the Internet' somewhere, usually by as third party, who is paid to deal with backing-up data and security issues as well as to provide space. At the same time, workers have a copy of the central document on their own local computer or tablet PC. Workers on a project can share and modify any document a team is working on and those changes will automatically be synchronised so that copies kept centrally and locally on team members' computers are updated automatically when the team member next logs onto the Internet.
Businesses e.g. supermarkets
Supermarkets and other retail outlets make use of a lot of computer technology as the market place is very competitive - each supermarket needs every edge it can get over its rivals! Computers are used to control stock in warehouses, to automatically order shelves to be re-stocked and items to be re-ordered. Loyalty card schemes track what people buy and can personalise offers made to individuals based on their past buying habits. Data mining techniques (looking at huge quantities of data to find meaningful and helpful patterns) are now used to identify trends in buying, so that exactly the right products can be in the right place on the shelf at the right time in the right stores and at the right price to maximise profits. Communications around the store is now common. You will often see employees walking around with Bluetooth headsets on so that everyone is always in touch and can be doing something constructive. Computers keep track of fridges and freezers, to ensure food is fresh. They look after security, everything from CCTV and face-recognition software to catch known shoplifters, to anti-shoplifting equipment and burglar alarms. The uses are really endless!
Online businesses
Anyone can set up an online business now very easily. There are many stories of people setting up a business using eBay, for example, and making their fortune selling online. With the right business model, products and price, anyone can do it without any technical details of how to get a web presence. Online businesses can be a one-person business but appear as if they are competing with much larger businesses. They can sell across the world and 24/7 and all the main functions like receiving orders, confirmations, tracking receiving payments, providing support and so on can all be done online and all be automated. Of course, other people have made their fortunes by buying a Domain Name and domain space for a website and then setting up an online shop using some free or paid-for software and selling that way. The software for many shops online these days (called 'Shopping Cart software) are nearly always 'Content Management Systems (CMS) and really can be set up in a matter of minutes (reading up on how to do it might take an hour, though!). A CMS is simply a framework that allows you to drop content (e.g. text, a picture, a video) into a place on a page. The software does the web design bit while the shop owner concentrates on the business. Facebook is a CMS - you add content and play with settings but you don't actually design the layout yourself. Common CMSs are Joomla, Wordpress and OpenCart. This website was originally written in code but is now done using Joomla.
Telecommunications in developing countries
The rise of digital communications, mobile phones and wireless technology has seen a major surge of business innovation in many countries and not least those in Africa. It has been traditionally very difficult to install fixed line communications in countries that are geographically spread out. The economics of putting in such an infrastructure don't add up and the additional problem of non-existent, poor or intermittent electrical supplies didn't help. With little access to information, many people have been denied knowledge and opportunity. Cheap mobile phones, smart phones and tablets combined with good features and excellent battery usage has been a game-changer for many Africans, however. Many enterprising Africans have started up highly successful businesses as a result and often, they are based mainly around SMS messaging! It's estimated that nearly 60% of Africans now own a mobile phone and the percentage is increasing all the time. Most still use 2G services for data but 3G and 4G services are gaining ground. It's now possible for farmers to see what prices their products are fetching, and avoid being ripped off by middlemen, nurses and doctors to use apps to help them diagnose problems, businesses to send and receive payments electronically, Governments to track payments between people and organisations and reduce corruption and tax avoidance, students to receive a better education via information delivered across networks, people can receive valid information to help them fight diseases such as HIV or to fight diseases that are attacking crops or animals, fishermen can receive accurate weather reports and so on and on the uses go. Exciting things are happening in the world of business in Africa and beyond!