The Impact Of Technology On The Workplace

In our modern society one of the seemingly least controversial topics is the minimum wage. The popular opinion wants to raise the minimum wage, but is the popular opinion always right? Throughout recent years, politicians have made promises to raise the minimum wage to help low-income earners live a better life. Contrary to popular belief, raising the minimum wage actually hurts low-income earners and low-skilled workers. We must first define a low-skilled worker. A low-skilled worker does not mean that particular employee is not intelligent; it simply refers to a worker who cannot perform as efficiently due to low educational attainment. Through this paper, I hope to inform you, Mr. Randall L. Stevenson, and our company, AT&T, about the disadvantages of raising the minimum wage.

An increase to the federal minimum wage adversely influences the training opportunities afforded to unskilled and low-skilled workers. Minimum wage impacts a company’s willingness to take a risk in hiring

Federal and state minimum wage laws will ensure that employees are paid equally and compensated in that it will also ensure that employees can earn above poverty level wages. In addition to ensure that as many capable people are in the workforce, it will also trigger other possible characteristics in the workplace. “A rise in the minimum wage increases the demand for workers with greater skills because it reduces competition from low-skilled workers” (Wilson, 2012). However, most employers need to function within their budget. This is true in the not-for-profit organization that we work for, as the majority of the cost must go to the children and family in care. Nevertheless, in order for best practice services, there is a need to hire experienced employees at a competitive rate. The increases in the in the minimum wages will require some organizational plans that may not be beneficial to running the business, such as “firms may reduce work hours, such as with fixed employment costs and worker heterogeneity, but maintain headcount” (Wilson, 2012).

In the United States, there are more than 30 million people who work in jobs that pay poverty wages and provide few if any benefits (Low, 2015). The lowest income bracket has been getting increasingly poorer and since 1968, the real value of the minimum wage has progressively declined (Dietrich, 2004). Most low-wage employers do not offer health insurance to their employees and if they do, premiums are too high for employees to afford. Sick pay and retirement benefits are not likely to exist in these types of jobs. Due to a lack of training or continuing education benefits, most workers are unable to advance themselves and are locked into these low-wage positions. Although many people assume that fast food restaurants and large chain stores are the only low-wage employers, they are wrong as low-wage, low-reward jobs are all around us and include such jobs as security guards, nurse’s aides, child-care workers, pharmacy assistants, and hair dressers. Low-wage service workers have little power to change their situations as many political, economic and corporate decisions have weakened the bargaining power of the average worker (Low, 2015). Unions that once negotiated contracts that propelled autoworkers, steelworkers, machinists, and truck drivers to middle-class status have grown weaker over the years (Greenhouse, 2015). Currently, only 11 percent of workers belong to a union which is a far drop from the 35 percent back in the 50’s and 60’s (Greenhouse,

When compensation for work done is increased for individuals the satisfaction for the job also increases, when renumeration is comparable to employ expectations there is less pressure for a person to get minimal training and change positions outside the initial company. A job being filled than vacated quickly is a burden to employers due to cost of initial training and low levels of productivity from new hires. However detractors of an increase in the minimum wage cite that a national policy doesn’t take into account the diverse socioeconomic regions of the United States. a “one-size-fits” all approach to wages hurts the communities with a lower cost of living by increasing the effects of inflation on goods and services provided in the area (Biggs and Perry, “A National Minimum Wage is a Bad Fit for Low-Cost

The authors in this article focused on the adverse effect of some US legislation have on the workforce, in which it was intended to help. While some policy makers set out to good for the citizens of the country, everyone will not benefit. In this article, inexperienced and undereducated individuals may be more affected by some legislation, than those with experience and higher level of education. An increase in wages offers many advantages; however, it can also create some disadvantages as well. While an increase in wages can offer minimum wage earners a better quality of life, an increase can also increase high school and college drop-out rates. The authors continued with, that all workers should earn equal pay for equal work. However, some

“A sea of more than 23 million unemployed or underemployed workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, creates downward pressure on wages and working conditions, and means there are plenty of workers willing to accept increasingly low-paid, non-union jobs with few or non-existent benefits” (Paterson).

Technological innovations continue to change the workplace. The Industrialization changed thousands of jobs as they became automated and controlled. What once was an enjoyable job became boring and unskillful. Technological advancements required limited skills to complete a task, leaving workers brutally bored with leisure time. However, Csikszentmihalyi explained earlier that flow is only reached when a certain level of skill and challenge is present. As technological innovations made their way into the workplace, workers became disrupted from flow because their tasks did not involve skill. Unfortunately, the skill level lessened as challenges continued to increase forcing workers to feel anxiety on the job. The job of an assembly line worker

Over time the workforce has change in different areas. People tend to change jobs in their lifetime. Also, job is not what they use to be in terms of your job title. Such as a doctor; there are different types of doctors who make different amounts of money and doctor on different areas. Technology has changed the workforce, and technology is also replacing different types of work. Technology has also made people less-skilled depending on technology to get their job done. Technology has had a big impact on the workforce, because it took jobs away, but also created new jobs. An example of that would be telemarketing.

The world we live in today is more complicated, competitive and technologically advanced, and there is always a demand for resource and if the existing resources are not utilized properly it leads to poor results. Technology is a component that can be used for the productive use of resources. But employees in the organization often resist adapting to technology. Introducing new technology and tools into an organization can increase productivity, boost sales, and help you make better, quicker decisions however getting every employee adjust to the change in technology is often a challenge. Organization very constantly face the challenge of adapting themselves to the technology and it depends on its employees to overcome the change and employees need the stimulation to adapt to the change and this reminds me of a famous quote “You can't build an adaptable organization without adaptable people--and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to” (Gary Hamel). As per Gary Hamel individuals only change when they have to’ or when they want to and Motivation is a factor that can drive individuals to change or adapt to technology. Motivation is the key ingredient to bring about a change in the employees which can lead to the success of an organization. Organizations even though they have all the technical skills, will not be successful if they are not able to motivate their team to take up change. The manager or leader or the organization should have the skill to

Technology has changed so many of the ways in which we live our lives, from the invention of the wheel to the advanced systems we use and take for granted everyday. Technology was once taboo in most house holds while people still clung to the idea that life was built on life experiences. Nicholas Carr stated in, Is Goggle making us stupid? "Back in the fourth century, BCE, Plato complained that writing (then a fairly new technology) was destroying peoples memory, yet he wrote dozens of books. For half a century, television has been accused of rotting our brains and making us fat and lazy, but most people depend on it for info, news and entertainment." Technology has changed our understanding of the way things work and

Technology occurred before the human kind and it has improved people’s lives positively and negatively. The influence of technology is really great that it has absolutely changed our lifestyle. Computers, the Internet, Gadgets all these things have transformed our working system completely and our productivity has increased unbelievably. As everyone knows with every positive that have to be a negative, technology is really great, but it also has a huge affected every part of family life. We are spending more time indoors than we are outside. The time we spent on the computer, watching TV, and other electronics drive is about 8 hours a day. During this time, we are usually spent alone and not with the rest of the family. With all the electronics drive, we currently have, we don 't need to get out of the house anymore, you can do everything from the luxury of your home. Almost everything revolves around technology now. Don’t get me wrong, I love computer and all the technology we have now, with every new invention coming out I have them all, Apple Watch, iPhone7 Plus, iPad, new Apple TV, and new headphone, most of my product is around Apple because I love the company they produce a good product, good design, and it last for a long time. On June 29, 2007, about 9 years ago, when the first generation of the iPhone came out, people will wait outside the stores to buy it. The estimated sales of this first generation iPhone were around 250,000 and 700,000 units in the first weekend

media. The idea of technology in the business world is not new. However, it is becoming an

The United States is undergoing an unprecedented societal trend that is affecting the dynamics of its workforce. According, to the United States Department of Labor, the generational trend is a result of the flux of birth rates between the late 1920’s through the 1990’s. It is projected that over the next decade, “40 million people will enter the workforce, about 25 million will leave the workforce, and 109 million will remain,” which will lead to skill gaps as technology continues to

The use of a timeclock to monitor only select employees negatively impacts the workplace, as it creates an environment that lacks trust and causes morale to plummet. Even so, many good-intentioned managers implement timeclocks as a way to manage some, or all employees, believing this will be a way to keep employees honest as well as become a money-saving endeavor. What they fail to realize is that it can actually cost the company in several ways; it may lead to financial loss for the company in unearned wages and can be the cause of losing quality employees.