Topic How Technology Affects LaborManagement Relations 3 ful

Topic: How Technology Affects Labor/Management Relations

3 full double-spaced pages and a maximum of 5 pages, not counting your title page or listing of resources. You may use your textbook as a source, but you must have a minimum of 3 non-text sources as well. Please document your sources professionally and include a bibliography

Solution

Answer :-

Technological change and its impact on the work force have become a focus of attention in the United States and abroad. The innovations include advanced communication systems, industrial robots, flexible manufacturing systems, computer-assisted design (CAD), and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM ). These modern technologies incorporate powerful and low-cost microelectronic devices that have the potential to increase productivity in office and factory production tasks. They share widespread appeal and are being diffused throughout the world. There are, however, conflicting views about the implications of changing technology for employment . Some experts say that the pace of technological change is accelerating and that thousands of workers in plants and offices are affected as laborsaving innovations are diffused more widely . These experts contend that recent innovations represent a sharp departure from earlier changes, and that techniques for maintaining job security will be essential . Other analysts assert that technological change is beneficial for all groups in our society, that the changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary in nature, and that technology ultimately creates more jobs than it eliminates . Concern about changing technology has been continual over our history-usually increasing during periods of higher-than-average unemployment, and abating somewhat when the economy and employment are expanding. Consequently, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been studying technological change and its impact on the work force for a long time . Assessing the impact of technology is very complex . Technological changes interact with, and are affected by, changes in output, consumption patterns, international competition, and other factors, and the relationship between changing technology and employment is by no means clear. Although the Bureau\'s technology studies do not provide comprehensive answers about any relationship, they do yield some useful insights . This article reports on some of the findings of these studies.

Conclusions :-

Several conclusions emerge from the Bureau\'s research on changing technology . Employment in the United States has experienced and is expected to continue to undergo vast changes in its industrial and occupational structure . The pace of technological change varies considerably by industry and among plants within industries . In most industries studied, technological change displaces few workers when introduced, but is more likely to create dislocations involving transfer of employees to alternate jobs . The analyzed changes in technology show professional and technical occupations increasing, at least in part because of new technology, while operative, laborer, and other lower skilled jobs decline-at least relatively-with the advent of new technology.