Our economy today is rapidly changing and with it so is the future of work. As the shift from a manufactoring economy to a service and knowledge economy continues along with the rapid growth of computing, the very nature of work and the workplace are being challenged. Below I discuss the problems that are created by these changes in the workplace such as computarization, the fall of the traditional workplace, and the growing threat of artificial intelligence to future employees.

One of the main problems regarding the workplace is that work does not happen in the office anymore. As Jason Fried discusses in the TED Talk “Why work doesn’t happen at work” the office is now a place of distractions and “work moments” of 30 minute intervals instead of uninterrupted stretches of productivity. Jason Fried states that the major problems with the current workplace are the M&Ms: managers and meetings. He explains that workers, especially those in creative fields need long uninterrupted hours to tackle problem effectively but instead are constantly interrupted by managers who want updates and uneccessary meetings that cost the company money and time.

Mobile communication and collaboration tools are allowing workers to collaborate and communicate in ways that no longer tie them to a common space. The growth of the internet and information technology has encouraged virtual teams and telework. This computarization along with the current problems regarding productivity at the traditional work environment is leading to the collapse of the workplace. Research done by Boris Grosyberg of the Harvard Business School where a variety of professions were analyzed, shows that top professionals depend on the organizations to make them starts. Although the traditional workplace might not necessarily be an environment where a lot of work actually gets done, it is nontheless a vital part of professional growth. The workplace is most of all a social place, where an individual develops a sense of identity and belonging, creates partnerships, and is motivated to succeed by like-minded peers. The first thing that will be lost if traditional offices go away will be creativity.

Another problem regarding computarization that is affecting the future of work is that artificial intelligence is advancing so rapidly that machines are poised to replace humans across a wide range of industries. There is already evidence that information technology has affected middle skilled employees such as secretaries, administration workers, repairmen, and manufactoring workers. Although for now there will be no androids sitting on your desk, computarization has already made it possible for companies to export jobs abroad, reshaped them so they can be done by less skilled contract workers or eliminated them entirely through the use of software. For example the job description of a secretary largely includes information sorting and managing which can easily be automated with software. And as our machines continue to become more intelligent and exhibit undrstanding, speaking, hearing, and seeing, it is only a matter of time before many low and middle level jobs becomes obselete.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2015/03/16/get-rid-managers/?ss=future-work

http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/herman/reports/futurework/execsum.htm

I will address three pressing issues which are present in the American workplace.

The first is whether college is sufficiently preparing student to enter the workforce. This may depend on the degree the student is pursuing. Only 2% of companies actively seek persons with liberal arts degrees. As compared to 27% seeking engineering/computer information  systems and 18% seeking business. (Rogers) However, the future seems bleak for everyone as a Gallup poll reveals “…only 11 percent of business leaders — strongly agree that graduates have the necessary skills and competencies to succeed in the workplace.” (Alssid) This is contrary to a survey of academic officer. 96% believed “…they’re effectively preparing students for success in the workplace.” (Alssid) There is a significant difference between the skills taught at school and the skills required for work. To resolve this problem we must identify the skills necessary  to succeed in the workplace and incorporate them into higher education. For employers the top three desired characetristics in an employee are, respectively, a positive attitude, communication skills, and an ability to work on a team.

According to a The Head Foundation Study, a significant fear North American millennials have as they enter the work force is being overworked. This fear is not common across the world. 8 in 10 of worker report being stressed due to their job. (Gregoire) Stress also reduces the productivity of a worker. Not only are employees overworked at their workplace but they also bring their work home. 81% of U.S. employees check their work emails at home. (Gregoire) The average work week for a full time employee in the U.S. is 46.7 hours. (McGregor) However, studies show a longer work week does not produce greater productivity. (Gregoire) Employees must find a adequate balance between work life and personnel life in order to be happier and be more productive.

The final issue I want to address is workplace discrimination. To many  this may seem like a thing of the past but it continues to occur far too often. Discrimination based on sex, race, and other factors still exist. A study conducted by Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes revealed overweight persons are perceived to be less competent. (Peck) This is an issue which may seem irrelevant to most people. However 1/3 of the American population is considered to be obese. (Peck) Yet this form of discrimination is thought to be more acceptable than discrimination based on sex, race, and religion. There also exists discrimination against the LGBT community. Currently there are no federal law protecting LGBT persons from discrimination in the workplace. (Peck) Considering the many studies which suggest a diverse workplace is beneficial, discrimination should not be a common workplace occurrence.

Sources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julian-l-alssid/a-new-gallup-survey-says-_b_4862669.html

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/05/20/is-college-adequately-preparing-students-for-workforce/

https://hbr.org/2015/02/what-millennials-want-from-work-charted-across-the-world

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/09/02/the-average-work-week-is-now-47-hours/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/workplace-discrimination/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/20/discrimination-obesity_n_6716230.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/30/lgbt-discrimination_n_6571832.html

The general view on how technology will affect jobs in the future usually splits into two opinions. The optimists believe that it will lead to world in which there are no more tedious tasks and everyone can focus on more meaningful jobs and careers. The pessimists believe that, with more jobs being automated and populations projected to increase, it will lead to a world where the vast majority will have to struggle to find jobs after the jobs they would have formerly been able to obtain have been taken by machines. I’m not sure which end of the spectrum the future will actually lean toward, but I think that if we’re going to try to lean as far as possible toward the more optimistic outcome, then education needs to be seriously improved, and made more available to others.

While I do believe that technology will take away many of the jobs we currently have, I also believe that many new jobs will be created as a result and that, within reason, there will be enough to sustain our population. However I also believe that those jobs will require much more skill than the ones that are currently disappearing and that just because there will be enough jobs does not mean everyone will be qualified for those jobs. The solution obviously is improved and more available higher education. Attempts at this are already being made, such as President Obama’s plan to make community college free for students that maintain a 2.5 GPA and meet other requirements. However, if the education students are receiving isn’t of sufficient quality, none of that will matter as it will quickly become obvious whether or not someone can handle the more technical jobs of the future.

Another problem I see within the future of work is the balance between workers’ quality of life and employers’ demands. There is a lot of talk about the benefits of a flexible work schedule, both for the employee, and the employer. However, those that are willing to put in more overtime and show extra effort with their jobs are more likely to stay hired and move up the ranks. In a world where less complicated jobs are mostly gone, even if flexible work hours become more common, it is whichever employee is capable of fitting their employer’s preferred schedule that will most likely end up being more successful. If a more rigid schedule is found to be more effective for certain positions (I highly doubt it will be the case for all positions), then employees hoping to move up within those fields will ultimately still be forced into rigid time slots. Unless policies are implemented to make sure jobs don’t infringe too much on an employee’s quality of life, we may end up having workers who must complete even more complicated tasks than those that currently exist and do so on rigid, sleep-depriving, wellness-limiting schedules similar to those of today.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/upshot/will-you-lose-your-job-to-a-robot-silicon-valley-is-split.html?abt=0002&abg=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/upshot/the-roots-of-obamas-ambitious-college-plan.html?abt=0002&abg=1

http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/does-your-work-fit-your-life/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/upshot/how-technology-aided-by-recession-is-transforming-the-work-world.html?abt=0002&abg=1

Year after year, computer technology continues to become faster, more economical and more pervasive to the point of absurdity. The majority of Americans, at this very moment, have in their pockets computers more powerful than the NASA Guidance Computers used in the Apollo missions. Any American, if he were so inclined, would be able to re-create the entire roster of calculation which landed human kind on the moon.

And yet, amazingly, the pace of advancement accelerates faster still. In coming decades, many analysts foretell a future of self-driven cars and an automated workforce within our economy. Let us, for a moment, consider the impact of automated car technology on the workforce alone. Vivek Wadhwa, in his article “We’re heading towards a jobless future, no matter what the government does”, describes a future where automated vehicles “will eliminate the jobs of taxi, bus, and truck drivers” in the same way that “automobiles displaced the horse and buggy.” He imagines that benefits of a world free of drivers that might “complain, join labor unions, or get distracted” at the hiring cost equal to the “salary of an average Chinese worker”; it is an employers dream.

This technology by itself has the potential to derail large components of the American Economy. Here in New York City, 50,000 or so taxi drivers would find themselves bereft of employment, but the bigger issue is in the commercial trucking industry. Today, for 29 states nation wide, trucking is the most common occupation by far. The trucking industry employs 1,701,500 Americans directly and contributes to supplementary services like the hospitality, restaurant and automotive repair industries. Because the certification  process is not academically rigorous or costly, trucking is also a blue collar shelter industry that provides employment to individuals who come from other, less-successful, careers in manufacturing and maintenance. With this considered, it is easy to see how an immediate upgrade from conventional to driverless vehicles could endanger the income of businesses across highways all over the country as unemployed and “obsolete” human drivers strain to rebuild their careers in other industries.

Similar layoffs would likely occur for bus and taxi drivers, as well as rail operators in public transit and freight transportation. However, the issue is not so much that there will be unemployment, but that the unemployment will be functionally complete; the problem is not that jobs will be hard to find, no, like an elevator operator of yesteryear, in the future, truck drivers will simply no longer exist. Also unlike the elevator operator, employees in the transportation industries take up a large portion of the economic development in certain areas of the country. Without truck drivers, much of the midwest will find itself without an alternative means of income. So, simply allowing transport-related occupations to slip into obsolescence will likely bring with it an immense economic impact. However, one has to ask: what can possibly be done for this population of workers who, as it seems, are only educated in one trade and are perilously close to loosing it? How could the transition be anything but abrupt; truck drivers don’t have time for night classes or part-time vocational school, which might make for a smooth career change. With a median pay of  $38,200 per year, it is also likely that many do not have savings to rest on, so they could learn a new trade while unemployed. The issue is clear: transportation jobs are vital to the livelihoods of an enormous number of Americans, but at the same time retaining them when a better technology exists makes no financial sense. It is a conflict of interests that necessitates a creative solution.

As a child my parents told me, “Go to college and get a well-paying job so you can support us when we are old and wrinkly.” It seemed so simple. All my life I thought that if I continued with my studies until I eventually graduated, I would be set. A job would be waiting for me the minute I stepped off my campus with my degree. The harsh truth is that no job is waiting for me when I graduate. In the United States today, adults between the ages of 18-34 account for half of the 10.9 million people unemployed. Finding or even keeping a job in this market is not a simple task, and there are many reasons for this.

Colleges are teaching us the skills. We are learning how to do the technical work, how to solve an equation or memorizing definitions. The problem does not seem to lie in the skills that must be put to use in a job; the problem is how we implement these skills. A survey done by St. Louis Community College shows us that 60 percent of employers said that applicants are lacking communication and interpersonal know-how. This is why the applicants are not being hired. Not because we don’t know how to do the work, but because we as a whole do not know how to work together. We become so focused on the grades and technical aspects of college that we forget successful work requires collaboration and communication. Employers value both “hard” technical skills and “soft” interpersonal skills equally, but our generation is very one sided.

The next problem has to do with how we are paid. Recently minimum wage has been a huge topic of controversy in the United States. Many feel that minimum wage should be increased because the current standard does not provide enough to survive. Although true, raising the minimum wage and just minimum wage in general is a huge problem. If one cannot survive off what they make if they are making minimum wage, they might be forced to be unemployed. This raises unemployment and hurts the economy tremendously. More people will be out of jobs, the flow of money in the economy goes down, businesses sell less and it just becomes an overall mess.

From this arises another issue, automation. With minimum wages not being sufficient for low-wage workers, calls to raise the wage are made clear. Companies do not want to pay more than what they already are paying for the same work so they are looking towards other options, specifically robots. Companies are finding it cheaper to automate tasks that are normally done by humans because instead of paying hourly wages, they are paying only cents to keep a machine running with electricity. A robot doesn’t get tired, wont make mistakes, can work endlessly and won’t even complain! It becomes not only a cheaper option but also a more efficient one that helps the company but hurts the workforce. This raises unemployment and increases competition for higher-level jobs which both harm the workforce and those who are really trying to get a job.

It is not as easy as it seems. Getting a job and keeping one becomes harder and harder as we move into the future. If we don’t make a change now, it will only get worse.

References:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101373230#.

http://valuesandcapitalism.com/minimum-wage-good-intentions-bad-policy/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/your-new-fast-food-worker-a-robot/

As our current generation matures, graduates from college and moves onto the professional world, we are faced with problems with our position in the work force that were unknown to the generation before us. Job security, company loyalty and making a good living were generally promised in the past, even without a college degree; however, now we face major issues such as advanced technology taking the place of traditional work force systems and laborers, which are the major cause, for what most economists predict, “a jobless future.”(1)

In my opinion, the biggest difference between our generation and those before us is our incredibly advanced technology. Scientists and engineers predict that within two decades we will have almost unlimited energy, food and clean water, advances in medicine that will allow us to live longer and healthier lives, and robots and artificial intelligence that will be able to do tasks for us such as drive our cars, manufacture our goods and do our daily chores. (1) These advances will greatly impact our lifestyles as well as the state of our workforce and how to runs. We have already seen a trend towards alternative-types of companies, completely different than what we are traditionally use to. An example of this is Uber, a car service company and app that was founded in San Francisco, California in 2009. It has only been running for six years but already operates in fifty-three different countries and made more than $1 billion in sales in 2014 alone. SherpaVentures, a venture-capital company, calculated that in 2013 Uber and two other similar car services, Lyft and Sidecar, made $14 million in revenues in San Francisco, which is half of what the established taxi companies made. (2) Another example of this is the upcoming company and app Handy. The company finds its customers self-employed home-helps available in the right place and at the right time. The company provides service in twenty-nine of the biggest cities in the United States, as well as Toronto, Vancouver and six British cities. Much like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, Handy has been giving established construction and repair companies a run for their money. Since its founding in 2011, it has raised more than $40 million in venture capital. (2) While these apps and companies are very convenient for consumers, it is causing major issues for companies and laborers. As these companies continue on the rise, they will beat out traditional companies, like taxi services and repair companies, causing many people to lose their jobs.

While traditional companies are in risk of being beat out by these “high-tech” companies, laborers in general are also in risk. One article I found while researching, “We’re heading towards a jobless future, no matter what the government does” by Vivek Wadhwa, painted an incredibly futuristic and “jobless” future:

“Self-driving cars will be commercially available by the end of this decade and will eventually displace human drivers – just as automobiles displaced the horse and bus – and will eliminate the jobs of taxi, bus, and truck drivers. Drones will take the jobs of postman and delivery people … The pesky humans crash into each other, suffer from road rage, rush headlong into traffic jams, and need to be monitored by traffic police … The operating cost of some robots is now less than the salary of an average Chinese worker and unlike humans, robots don’t complain, join labor unions, or get distracted … Robots will take the jobs of farmers, pharmacists and grocery clerks.”

Robots clearly have a great advantage over humans and in times of economic hardship, many companies will choose to “hire” robots rather than humans. While a workforce completely overrun with robots seems like a far stretch, with our continued technological advances it is not impossible.

In 2014, the unemployment rate for the United States was 5.5%. While unemployment rates have been on a relatively steady decrease over the past couple of years, it is still a major issue in our country. With the advancement of technology, some economists predict that we will be faced with another unemployment crisis, one that will be a lot harder to find the solution to. (3)

Sources:

1) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/07/21/were-heading-into-a-jobless-future-no-matter-what-the-government-does/

2) http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21637355-freelance-workers-available-moments-notice-will-reshape-nature-companies-and

3) http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate

Growing up I thought all that needed to be learned in life was taught in school. However, recent data suggests that as work continues to evolve, the range of skills needed for the workforce are not necessarily incorporated into our education systems. A 2013 survey conducted by EIU/SHRM found that there is a gap between what is learned in higher education and that, which is needed in a work setting. This issue makes it hard for employers to evaluate perspective employee’s qualifications. What further complicates this issue is the lack of standardization across the various education systems, especially in a global setting. According to Manpower Growth 2012 Talent Shortage survey, 49% of employers reported struggle to fill jobs. There are jobs that need to be filled, however there are not the right applicants to fill them. Part of the issue, according to Forbes magazine, may be that our static education systems are not designed for the fast changing nature of work. Curriculums are not changed at the same rate the workforce is. Interestingly, many of the jobs that exist today did not exist a few decades ago, which raises the point – how are we supposed to ready ourselves for a workforce that we can’t predict?

As the nature of work begins to change, so has the layout of the office. Individual office spaces are beginning to disappear. Companies are now toying with a new approach- shared space. According to the International Management Facility Association, seventy percent of American employees work in an open-space office. These open offices, in theory, provide easy access to other employees in the hopes of stirring up collaboration; however, some argue that this layout makes it hard to concentrate. The idea behind the open office space is reasonable. The hope is that by grouping employees together in a big space, people will collaborate and therefore be more effective. In actuality, this plan does not take into account different work ethics. Collaboration is certainly important for success, but so is focus and privacy. Workers need space to do both of these things. Since the open space model does not account for privacy there is often too much noise and distraction, which hinders employees from working effectively.

The United States has one of the worst maternity leave policies in the world. Our country, along with only five others, does not require employees to provide paid maternity leave. Maternity leave is not our only issue. Studies show that workplace policies for families in general (i.e. paid sick days) are lacking compared to other countries. As discussed in class, freelance work is becoming more and more prominent. I fear the job security of a pregnant women in need of maternity leave will eventually be at risk if we do not implement a policy to protect them.

Sources:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2013/08/02/can-we-fix-the-skills-gap/

http://futurehrtrends.eiu.com/challenges-human-resource-management/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/05/17/why-the-open-office-fails-and-a-solution/2/

http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200702/family.html

Problems with workplace has been issued and discussed throughout the past generations. In the past, people seemed to worry more about the how safe and clean their workplace was. However, the continuous problem with workplace seems to be how to get hired and stayed hired. How can you get the job? How long can you continue this job? This problem seems to arise due to multiple reasons including the lack of college education and experience, high unemployment rate, and the lack of workplace benefits.

College education is deemed to be necessary for employment. However, recent studies have shown that college graduates lack preparation for jobs. According to Times, more than 60 percent of the job applicants lacked “communication and interpersonal skills.” Also, according to a survey, more than 80 percent of the employers wanted to hire college graduates that completed a formal internship. In contrast, only about 8 percent of the students completed such internship. With this lack of experience and education, many college graduates are not being hired.

Even though many college graduates are not being employed, President Obama is trying to employ workers without a college degree to work in the technology jobs. According to USA Today, there are 500,000 jobs available in the tech-related fields but they are not being filled because the job requires a college degree. Therefore, the president is trying to allow people without a college degree to work in this area. This news can become another issue, because if people with college degree are not being employed but people without college degree is being hired, college is going to seem unnecessary. Conclusively, the necessity of college degree is being questioned, while the necessity of experience is being emphasized.

Furthermore, another problem with work is the unemployment rate. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate is around 5.5%. Unemployment is not only an issue for the college graduates, as stated before, but also for the disabled, minorities, and people who were formerly incarcerated. There never seems to enough jobs for everyone and many people are struggling to find a job. Also, since there are people who are trying to keep their jobs, there is a lack or replacement or addition of employees.

Lastly, there is a problem with lack of benefits in workplaces. According to the U.S. News, in 2012, only 46% of the employees participated in workplace retirement plan. This data illustrates that more than half of the employees lack retirement plans. The problem with this lack of benefit is that there is no backup for people who are ready to retire. Since they do not have this plan, they will be more unwilling to retire, leading to lack of space for new workers to join the work force. Then, this problem will also turn into the issue of unemployment.

Through the problems discussed in the workplaces, it is evident that a change is necessary in the work force. The lack of benefits should be addressed to help those who want to retire and there should be enforcement of experiences for people who want to be employed.

Resources

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/09/obama-techhire-technology-jobs-linkedin/24641077/

http://business.time.com/2013/11/10/the-real-reason-new-college-grads-cant-get-hired/

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2013/08/30/half-of-workers-lack-retirement-benefits