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Unemployment
The introduction of information technology into many workplaces has caused unemployment. The area most affected has been manufacturing industry (e.g. car production) where human production lines have been replaced by robots and control technology. To a lesser extent office workers have been affected by the introduction of information processing systems.
However it can be argued that many of the manufacturing jobs that have been lost as a result of the introduction of computer technology would have been lost anyway. Most of the lost jobs were low-skilled jobs which would otherwise have been transferred to poorer countries where less well educated workers would perform the work for less money.
Training
The impact of information technology is now also being felt in the retail sector as many services are being offered for sale over the Internet. Banks and financial institutions are closing branches throughout the country and providing on-line and telephone banking systems instead. Many other products which are suitable for posting can be purchased over the Internet by e-commerce and supermarkets have introduced home shopping and delivery services.
This has resulted in a change in the type of work that people employed by many companies have to do, and a need for workers to retrain to use modern technology. This has been particularly difficult for older workers who have had little previous experience of computer equipment. The systems used in many industries now change so frequently that people need to be retrained every few years.
Home Working
Cheap communications, the availability of broadband technology and applications such as electronic mail and video conferencing have made it possible for some people to work from home. This can be very helpful for some employees. For example :
The downside of teleworking is that many "teleworkers" find that they actually work longer hours now that they work from home, as there is no clear dividing line between work and leisure time.
New Jobs
The computer industry has also created jobs. Some careers, such as programming and systems analysis have been created directly. Further employment has been created indirectly. Technology based jobs tend to be well paid, and well paid workers have more money to spend in their leisure time, creating employment in the leisure industry.
Globalisation is the increasing integration of industry and economies around the world. The world wide web gives companies the ability to advertise their products worldwide and by using e-commerce to let customers buy their products from anywhere. This increases the amount of goods that are bought and sold between countries and so contributes to globalisation.
GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004