As an undergraduate student during the age of surging technology, it is clear that my peers and I face an uncertain future in the workplace. The culture we grew up in, where adults became lifetime employees of one company or corporation, is rapidly disappearing. The incredible technological advances that are happening everyday compensate for, and even exceed, much of the work that humans now do. Moreover, new technologies make the work-“place” almost unnecessary.
This brings me to my first issue which is the change in the meaning of the word “work”. An article by New York Magazine stated that as new technologies make it possible for workers to be involved from the comfort of their own homes, “work” will cease to describe a place [1]. Less business space that companies have to rent and lower travel costs for employees; what could be the issue? As an interviewee from Knoll’s paper stated –“How do we make sure that the employee in their fuzzy bunny slipper and pajamas is still engaged with his/her co-workers and with our company?” [2]. Although video chat technology allows workers from all over the world to communicate and virtually “meet”, that might be the only interaction they have with their collegues. This creates an impersonal workplace, that lacks the support that can result from being gathered with people you know for a common purpose [1]. In addition, the spontaneous collaboration and networking that can happen when individuals share common space for 40 hours a week is lost. While the convenience and economic benefit of these new machines is apparent, workers will suffer a loss of interpersonal connections and skills.
According to an article by the Harvard Business Review (HBR) [3], the value of certain jobs are decreasing in this new age of work. As robots become increasingly popular, cheap and most of all more intelligent, more and more workers will continue to be displaced. For example, Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer currently has one million employees, and plans on installing one million robots that can do the same jobs [3]. This is just one corporation, but at this rate of growth, it has been estimated that almost 100 million workers could be displaced by 2025 [3].While new technology is creating jobs, at the same time many citizens are losing all economic value.
In a culture where a bachelor’s degree is becoming increasingly popular, it takes even further education to set graduates apart. In addition, an article called “Employing the Next Generation”, states that employers often turn down college grads because of a “lack of experience” [4]. Although students with a degree may have gained a factual understanding of their particular major, industry experience is missing in most undergraduate educational tracks. Most students need to find some sort of volunteer experience or industry internship to even be considered by an employer upon graduation [4]. If institutions of higher education are not turning out career-ready individuals, the workforce will severely suffer, and this is yet another social issue with the rapidly changing nature of work that must be addressed.
Sources:
[1] http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/12/what-we-give-up-when-we-become-entrepreneurs.html
[2] https://www.knoll.com/knollnewsdetail/five-trends-that-are-dramatically-changing-work-and-the-workplace
[3] https://hbr.org/2014/12/what-happens-to-society-when-robots-replace-workers
[4] http://www.futureworkforum.com/PDFs/NEXT%20Report%202010.pdf
As a fellow a college student, I’m sure you feel the same immense pressure constantly put on us to get internships and research positions. Rather than incorporating this necessary experience into our education and converting monotonous classroom memorization into practical work, it has become yet another responsibility dumped on the laps of students. I recently came across an eye-opening Forbes article titled “Why Your Unpaid Internship Makes You Less Employable.” To be honest, currently working as unpaid intern for the last year, it scared me. The study claims that unpaid interns barely have a difference in hiring rates compared to those with no experience at all. Internship labor is essentially stolen, and those who try to call out big companies are essentially put on a blacklist for whistleblowing. The article claims that corporate and education worlds have schemed together to justify the labor by offering course credits in return. This is an important argument to consider as we talk about the changing face of work. Are these positions just capitalizing on our need for experience or are they truly helping us? If your job is just to fetch coffee, take notes, make copies, and push paper, what are you truly learning at your internship?
Personally, I think there needs to be push to offer better and more paid internships on the market that give interns actual responsibilities and incorporate them into the work structure. As young students, we need to be wary of traps that use our resources without any personal benefit.
I’ve linked the article below if you’re interested:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/01/16/why-your-unpaid-internship-makes-you-less-employable/