the impact of digitalization at workplace
TRANSCRIPT
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Constantin Măgdălina, Emerging Trends amd Technologies Expert
Point of view
31 January 2017
The impact of digitalization at the workplace
Author: Constantin Măgdălina, Emerging Trends & Tehnologies Expert Few industries will escape the roller of digitalization. Recent studies1 show that 30% of the industry
sectors’ revenues will be achieved through new business models by 2020. Digitalisation constantly
generates new business models. At the same time, it has a major impact on society and employees.
Measured in the lives saved by increasing safety in the workplace, byreducing the time of purchase and
lowering the costs for consumers, digitalization is no longer an abstract concept but part of our daily
program, in the private life, and especially at work.
Digitalization uses the IT infrastructure and the Internet as a technological support. According to the
World Economic Forum, companies which carried out the digital transformation have on average 26%
higher profits than traditional companies. However, the use of technology is only a mean
wherebycompanies couldgenerate transformation,and not an end in itself. Digitalization is as much about
technology as is about the way it transforms the lives of people at work. From this point of view, we
distinguish the following three major components:
1) Resetting the mentality
The first component of this transformation is changing the way of thinking what you do. If you work in
retail you can easily find out if a product is in stockby using the computer. Furthermore, via a smart tag
(with sensors connected to a computer),you can identify the location of the product in the warehouse and
the quantity on stock, whether the package is expiredor was opened,and if the temperature is optimal for
keeping the product in the warehouse.
Thus, the frame of reference changes from simply identifying the product and selling it, to the approach of
the entire process from procurement to sales. In these circumstances,the inventory of products is made in
real time, stock rotation is monitored better and the financial resources are easier released. The
employee is accountable to think the business end-to-end and is empowered by the new role to go up the
rank. In other words, by digitalization every soldier carries a marshal baton in the haversack.
2) Technology serving employees
The second component of the digital transformation refers to harnessing technology for the personal
benefit of the employee. The Internet facilitates matching better the demand and supply of labor, products
and tasks to fulfill. On one hand, it gives employees the flexibility to work, carrying out work at home. On
the other hand, it enablesemployees to work on their own and freelancd to round out their income. It is
common for service providers to outsource routine tasks, and not only, to worldwide freelancers by
accessing specialized platforms. In "the platform economy", as it is known, the employees have more jobs
and sources of income as well. The role and the meaning of the employment market are in question.
1Studies carried out by Intel si CISCO
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Constantin Măgdălina, Emerging Trends amd Technologies Expert
The schedule, minimum wages, payment of the contribution to the unemployment fund, taxes and
benefits are indicators that still governs employer-employee relationship. As the number of jobs will
increase freelancing independent job type, it is very likely to witness the redesignof employment market,
of freelancers contributions and their collecting approachand employee status due to digitalisation.
According to a recent study, in Romania, in the next three years, the number of full-time employees will
decrease by 17%, the number of employees part time will increase by 32%, while those with collaboration
contractwill increase by 31%.
3) Preparing people for future technologies
The third component of the digital transformation envisages preparing people for future technologies.
Economic history shows that innovations like the steam engine, electricity or assembly line had a
disruptive effect. This led to the loss of many jobs in the short term, but in the long term these job losses
were offset by the creationof new ones. New jobs, more productive and more lucrative, brought a
substantially improvementto the living conditions and prepared people for other innovations that were to
occur.
This time digitalisation leads to replacement of routine jobs resulting from standardization of the industrial
revolution (eg. by automating processes using robots) and increases demand for highly qualified skills
and non-routine jobs. From this latter point of view, it is quite possible that in a first phase, digitalization
will have a polarizing effect of increasing demand for experts and paying them substantially compared to
low-skilled workers. Employees who adopt digitalization as a modus operandi will have a competitive
advantage in the job market and will be better paid than those who are less agile. In the second phase,
the job market will be more balanced as digital literacy is disseminated on a large scale.
Conclusion
So, the digitalization regards not only technology, but rather its transformation effect on employee and
workplace. This transformation comprises three major components, specifically: changing the way
employees think, leveraging technology for the personal benefit of the employee, preparing people for
future technologies. These components overlap on a wide range of social and technological
developments that will affect the way we work, we do our shopping and live our lives in the digital world.
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About Constantin Măgdălina
Constantin Magdalina has a 8 years working experience, while he performed in multinationals both in Romania and abroad. Constantin owns a Master in
Marketing and Business Communication at the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest. He is certified Lean Six Sigma and ITIL which provide him a good
understanding of processes and transformations within organizations. The Chartered Institute of Marketing and Hubspot certifications furthered on complemented
his expertise and knowledge in business. In those over 4 years working activity at EY he initiated and conducted studies which analyzed different aspects related
to the business environment in Romania such as the economic growth predictions of companies in 2013-2016, knowledge management, the buying experience
in the age of digital consumers, social media 2013-2015, the utilization of mobile devices in Romania. He is the author of numerous articles on topics related to
innovation, the efficiency of business processes, social media, the consumers’ buying experience in the age of digital, trends and emergent technologies. He is
invited as speaker at numerous events and business conferences.