1.2 Employment oportunities
The types of jobs people do, where they do them and how they do them have changed dramatically, largely, through not exclusively, as a result of ICT. There are three vital, but related aspects to this: automation,globalisation and flexibility. Particularly hard hit have been the careers of people with specific skills that are capable of being directly or indirectly automated. In the manufacturing sector, some factories have been replaced, either in th UK or overseas, by factories employing CNC, automated machines and robotics.
Shorthand and touch-typing represent the other decntralised end of the spectrum. Most small or large businesses used to employ more than one person in this role. They would take notes, write up letters, memos, reports and invoices, and do any other small volume jobs that require good presentation rather than doing all of this by hand and making it look non-presentable. The advent of office software such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases and presentation software had meant that many administrative and managerial staff can do the work themselves faster than if they involved another person. The demand for shorthand typists has therefore diminished enormously. There is still an active and strong demand for good secretaries, but more at the personal-assistant rather than typist end of the market. At the same time as many jobs have dissappeard as the result ofICT and related economic factors, many jobs have been created, the most obvious area is that of IT itself. There was a vast grow in IT jobs up to the end of the last Millenium, and in internet and e-commerce jobs during the boom of the late 1990's.
One of the most successful instances of the globalisation phenomenon has been the call centre. Modern telecommunications equipment not only allows induviduals to work successfully from home, but also allows centres that can handle calls to be placed in the most economically and socially advantageous position. People phoning their local bank branch, insurance broker or computer helpdesk on a free or local access telephone number these days may be phoning Scotland, Ireland or even India without realising.
Shorthand and touch-typing represent the other decntralised end of the spectrum. Most small or large businesses used to employ more than one person in this role. They would take notes, write up letters, memos, reports and invoices, and do any other small volume jobs that require good presentation rather than doing all of this by hand and making it look non-presentable. The advent of office software such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases and presentation software had meant that many administrative and managerial staff can do the work themselves faster than if they involved another person. The demand for shorthand typists has therefore diminished enormously. There is still an active and strong demand for good secretaries, but more at the personal-assistant rather than typist end of the market. At the same time as many jobs have dissappeard as the result ofICT and related economic factors, many jobs have been created, the most obvious area is that of IT itself. There was a vast grow in IT jobs up to the end of the last Millenium, and in internet and e-commerce jobs during the boom of the late 1990's.
One of the most successful instances of the globalisation phenomenon has been the call centre. Modern telecommunications equipment not only allows induviduals to work successfully from home, but also allows centres that can handle calls to be placed in the most economically and socially advantageous position. People phoning their local bank branch, insurance broker or computer helpdesk on a free or local access telephone number these days may be phoning Scotland, Ireland or even India without realising.
posted by kirsty @ 3:56 AM
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