Research Paper - Part 1

I just want to let my group know that this is NOT what my final paper is going to look like. I found it difficult to get so many of my ideas and information all down and organized in the first draft (and in five pages) so sorry if this seems like a messed up first paper!
See you thursday!


Research Paper - Part 1

There will be a great employment decline and less job opportunities for college students all around the world if technology continue to interfer with the basic skill level of human beings. Technology has become so involved in the work force that people will eventually be replaced by these technologies in their jobs. Two of my biggest concerns are that, as me being one of those college students, I lose an opportunity for my desired job in the future due to advanced technologies. Even in sight that I might get a job, the use of technology is very high in all work forces and my second fear would be that I lose my basic skills to get the job done. In this paper, I will be discussing skill loss and job loss that have been caused due to technologies in the work force.
There has been debate on whether technology in the work force will provide a good outcome to our futures or a bad outcome. David E. Nye presents both issues in his book Technology Matters and gives detail about why each is considered good or bad.
“Tedious and dangerous factory work has been replaced by robots or automatic machines, while millions of people hold jobs that did not exits 150 years ago in industries created around new technologies, such as computing, musical recordking, broadcasting, design, advertising and research and development” (Nye: 109).
In this statement, Nye is saying that many jobs are indeed replacing the jobs of others due technolgies or “robots” in the work force, but also he states that technology isnt necessarily a bad thing in the work force because it presents new opportunities and working availabilities due to these advanced technologies. In my opinion, however, it still concerns me that my future career could be replaced by technologies. Sure, some technologies bring great things to the work force, but I believe they could eventually become an invention that takes over my job completely. It was further discussed in Nye’s novel that these machines or “robots” have been a problem for employment for over 200 years (119). Multiple machines have been constructed to perform our own human-like skills and eventually replaced jobs such as industries, telephone operators, and bank tellers (118). These are the kinds of things that worry me and should also worry many other individuals that are working for employment in college. If technology has slowly, yet surely, started to elimidate jobs one by one, there won’t be many jobs for these students to be involved in. Considering there are such high expectations or education in jobs I think technologies should be narrowed down to only be used for beneficial purposes and not all purposes. By beneficial purposes, I mean the work force should only use technologies that will benefit to their job and not take over their job. Things such as x-ray machines, cat scan machines, and computational machines that form helpful data for ill people at a hospital would be great beneficial technologies. These kinds of beneficial technologies help make our jobs easier by getting information for us quicker. They do not take away our jobs and cause unemployment in doing so.
Additionally, maybe employment won’t be taken away, but eventually a person’s ability to do simple things and simple tasks will disappear. Harold Hellman describe his concerns about the loss of skills due to technologies being used in the work force in Albert H. Teich’s novel Technology and Man’s Future. Hellman talks about how a friend eventually lost his ability to remember how to fix his car due to the fact that technology usually did it for him (25).
Additionally, Christian Heath and Paul Luff did a research study and presented it in their novel Technology in Action that engages in the technologies that are involved in the work place and then provide that information to their audiences so they understand the effects of technology in the work place. These authors actually go to work places and observe the workers in addition to video tapping their observations to share the information with other collegues. The authors observe how the social interactions change the skills of the working and their abilities to have face to face communication. The section of the book covers information to help researchers see that communication difficulties are starting to form due to technologies being used in that work place. Their main stakeholder for this research experiment were practitioners who want to learn about the new skills needed to attain their position in the work force but then end up having problems with their basic skills after using those technologies (Heath and Luff: 2). I think that both of these authors are really trying to tell their readers that technology is becoming more complex in the work force than people thought. As I thought, and many others might think, technology was considered great until you discover the downfalls of it, especially if it portakes in your future career. The stakeholders that were particularly aimed, in addition to the practitioners, were more so individuals that might be entering the work force such as college students and/or people in the work force now that might also have problems such as the practionors did in aquiring new skills.
In concerns of the research information Heath and Luff had gathered from the practitioners, Teich discusses the use of a simple machine known as the copy machine in saying that many people have them at work, but do not know how to use basic or common knowledge to use them (Teich:24). We have a fear of technology because it requires an uneasy amount of knowledge that many employers may not beable to aquire on the first, second, or even third time around (24). I believe that this is a common reason as to why technology causes unemployment. If many employees cannot work the technologies that are placed in their work forces, then why not just make a “robot” techological invention that can do the job. In stating this, another thought as to why many are losing their jobs could be the simple idea that owners or managers of a work force or facility want the best work possible and if humans aren’t able to do what they need them to do to get the job done, then they will find someone or something to get the job done no matter what or who it is.
Another reason that there has been great decline in employment due to technology is because of competition involved in the new technologies (Mittelhauser: 18). Multiple problems have evolved over the years involving a higher competition for companies due to the technological use in the work force (18). These problems come about due to the uses of technology in that specific company(18). It’s quite possible that companies have better technologies than others and, for that reason, companies being forced out of business because they can’t keep up with the more advanced technologies. This is also a concern to not only myself, but a concern to all college level students and the individuals that are in these kinds of textile or apparel factories because technology in the work force is now dealing with the quality of the technologies and how companies use them. Mark Mittelhauser states in his Job Loss and Survival Strategies in the Textile and Apparel Industries article that multiple jobs have been lost due to fierce domestic and international competition in businesses with textile mills and appearal factories (18). Mittelhauser believes that it is expect that textile and apparel workers are expected to lose jobs at an even faster rate thatn during the past decade (19). “The effects of trade and technology will combine to negatively effect the labor market for textile and apparel workers” (19). Additionally, the imports from trade will most likely supply net growth in the domestic market and will eventually lead to little or no growth in the textile markets (19). In stating this information, this leads me to believe that it is not only a concern that technologies cause job loss to individuals because they lose their ability to do basic skills, but people lose their jobs additionally because new technologies in the work force are too much for not only the employees, but also the companies themselves.
The future jobs of farmers, police officers, physicians, utility workers, salespeople, consultants, scientists, doctors, factory workers, pilots, and teachers are also at stake in regards to these kinds of new technologies in the work force. Andy Hines recognizes what is known to him as the “Big Four” or the four highly used technologies in these specific jobs. The big four include computer networks, imaging technology, massive data storage, and artificial intelligence (9). These “big four” are skills that many of these workers need to utilize to be able to have a greater impact on their futures and careers, however, if these technologies are not used wisely and correctly, they could lead to bad outcomes involving these technologies completely taking over the employee’s jobs. Hines bases his article not only on the “Big Four” but also on the information technologies, or better known as infotechs, of the work force and the future of those individuals that are currently employeed in these infotech careers. Hines states
“By the year 2010, information technology (infotech) will make many jobs more challenging and rewarding, but it may also lead to job loss, boredom, and depersonalization. Consisting primarily of computing combined with telecommunications and networking, infotech includes expert systems, imaging, automation, robotics, sensing technologies, and mechatronics” (9).
Many of us may see these technologies in this work area to be a benefit because it allows us to get information quicker and better, but Hines information seems to portray that, yes, these technologies are great for these jobs, but they will eventually take over these jobs completely because the technologies do so much in that work force for the employers (9).
Ultimately , technolgy is considered to be a highly greatful invention to all individuals who use it, but it is my concerns that people do not see the big picture as to what technology can really do to our world. Throughout this paper, I have discussed the effects on technology and how it has caused job loss and, if not, basic skills needed for use in the work force. Technology is slowly changing the world for college students who are working hard in their educations to get a good career. I believe that these technologies are slowly going to take over the work force and there will not be much employment left for not only college students, but anyone for that matter. Technology is a big idea and the world doesn’t see that if we don’t do something now to attain our basic skills and use technologies only to an advantage to help employers get the job done easier and/or quicker. I believe that we can stop these technologies from “taking over” if we sit down and see what is has already done to our society and what will happen to our society and our future careers and abilities if we let it continue to do so. Technology is not in control, we are in control.