DB FPX 8410 Assessment 5 The Future of Work

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Capella University

DB-FPX 8410 Addressing Problems in Human Resources and Compliance

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Introduction

In February 2020, businesses worldwide had to adapt to a new way of working to keep their companies operational. COVID-19 compelled companies to innovate to maintain workforce productivity. Many businesses successfully transitioned numerous employees to remote work, while others implemented a hybrid schedule. All companies had to identify essential employees who needed to remain on-site. Human resource departments were tasked with making critical decisions to ensure fairness and continued operations.

The world was compelled to look beyond traditional office operations. Transitioning current staff to remote work was a significant task, but an even greater challenge was transitioning hiring and training to a virtual environment. Leveraging new technology and adjusting traditional processes led to a successful transition for most companies (Nagdeman, n.d.). This paper will examine the effects of current trends on the future of work, including issues that will shape the future of the U.S. workplace, the impact of the pandemic, the use of robots and artificial intelligence (AI), and the pros and cons of the future.

Issues Shaping the Future of the U.S. Workplace

Social Issues

Socially, it has become the norm for office-based employees to transition to working from home. While working from home has benefits for both employers and employees, there are social impacts of this transition. Employers are seeing an increase in different kinds of burnout. Among full-time work-from-home employees, 86% are experiencing burnout (McCain, 2022). Some reasons for this burnout include feeling pressured to work more hours than before, lacking employer support, and experiencing higher stress levels. Remote workers often find it difficult to separate work from their personal life, leading to increased working hours as work is always present. Burnout is not the only issue that employees are experiencing. There has been a significant impact on the mental health of remote workers. Employees who transitioned from office-based work to working from home experienced a 67% increase in loneliness (McCain, 2022).

Of those who reported increased loneliness, 12% indicated that their quality of work decreased due to loneliness (McCain, 2022). As the trend of remote working continues, employers could potentially face low morale leading to lower productivity. Additionally, the societal trend of increased mental health issues will likely continue to rise due to the mental effects of remote working. Changes in consumer habits, such as increased online shopping and having groceries delivered, are already evident. Services like DoorDash and Uber Eats have reduced the need for people to put themselves in social situations. This trend will negatively affect face-to-face interactions. The more remote workers we see who also shop online and have food delivered, the fewer face-to-face interactions there will be, creating a digitally-based social environment.

Technological Issues

Advances in technology have made working remotely seamless with tools using real-time audio and video communication. As more companies adopt a more digitalized workforce using technology, automation will likely replace many human jobs (Parikh, 2021). Despite automation, there will still be a need for humans to work with machines, which gives human productivity a different shape than we have seen so far (Parikh, 2021). Machines still require the human element, meaning there will still be jobs, but they will look different.

It is projected that by 2025, 50% of workers will need reskilling as automation will require a shift in roles (Parikh, 2021). With reskilling and shifting employees, there will be a transition from technical jobs to creative roles that require more strategy and innovation (Parikh, 2021). The shift in roles and skills in the workforce due to automation will likely result in many college students changing their career goals and choosing different majors. Technical majors may slowly decrease as careers such as UI/UX design increase due to the need for innovative ideas.

Ethical Issues

As the transition to a more automated workplace continues, there will be increased ethical questions, raising the importance of ethics in the workplace (Weinstein, 2021). Technology advances quicker than most people can comprehend, which means there will need to be an increased awareness in hiring and promoting only honest and accountable employees to prevent security breaches due to hackers knowing more about technology than the management team. Another aspect of ethics to consider is the mentality of remote workers feeling as though they need to constantly be working. Employers will need to get creative in promoting a healthy work-life balance.

It is unethical to expect employees to work more hours just because they are not in an office setting. Even if that is not the expectation, it is the company’s responsibility to ensure it is not happening due to employees feeling that way. If there is not an ethical focus on this issue, companies will see higher turnover rates and unemployment rates will rise as employees burn out and quit without backup jobs. Future ethical considerations could shape the workplace and society as a whole.

Impact of the Pandemic

As the pandemic spread worldwide, many employers were able to send employees home to work. Currently, approximately 26% of U.S. employees work remotely, with an expected continued increase by 2025 (Flynn, 2022). At the peak of the pandemic, the remote worker percentage was much higher. However, approximately 66% of the U.S. workforce currently works on a hybrid schedule, being in the office part-time and at home part-time (Flynn, 2022). The pandemic increased remote work as companies maintained productivity while their employees were at home, proving this model to be beneficial. Nearly every sector of the workforce has increased automation and the use of robots, replacing employees (Lee, 2021). Jobs as simple as taking money at toll booths have been replaced with electronic payment systems.

Robots were added to many assembly lines during the pandemic as that was a logical option when Americans were confined to their houses due to quarantine. In the first quarter of 2021, North America (mostly the U.S.) saw a 20% increase in robot orders (Lee, 2021). Many employers are forced to transition to robots and other technology for automation as they struggle to find people who want to work for lower wages (Lee, 2021). Another trend that emerged from the pandemic is a higher emphasis on well-being and mental health (Rooney, 2021). Many people around the world experienced more stress during the pandemic. The World Health Assembly recommended in May 2021 that governments consider adding mental health support into emergency planning, such as during the pandemic (Rooney, 2021).

Increased Usage of Robots and AI

An increase in robots and AI in the workforce would have positive outcomes for companies in terms of productivity. These technological advances will still need human contributions, as they will still need to be monitored and maintained. There will be some job losses with the increase of robots and AI. However, most of these jobs have recently become difficult to fill as they are lower-paying jobs, and most people are striving for higher pay. Matt Tyler, CEO of Vickers Engineering, uses robots and AI to supply auto parts and has 200 employees (Lee, 2021). New career paths were created for employees of his company, such as engineers directly responsible for automation (Lee, 2021). The utilization of robots and AI will positively impact the company as they will experience higher efficiency. It will also positively impact society as products will be available quicker and more consistently. For example, shortages of many products during and after the pandemic could have been reduced by robots and AI.

Pros

Robots and AI save companies money, as they are cheaper than human employees (Barden, 2022). Outside of wages, utilizing robots and AI means the company does not have to worry about benefits, employees not showing up, and robots can work around the clock. There is a decreased likelihood of error when utilizing robots and AI (Anch, 2019). With more advancements in technology, these machines evolve and continue to reduce errors.

Cons

There are also cons of implementing robots and AI into the workforce. Robots and AI are only as good as the programming within them, meaning they cannot make decisions in the moment when things go wrong (Barden, 2022). Most robots still require some human element, so companies will have to pay some employees, not fully eliminating their payroll (Barden, 2022). Another consideration is the reduction of human skills and the absence of creativity (Anch, 2019). The lack of creativity of AI could easily result in inaccurate decisions being made, causing issues for a company (Anch, 2019).

Limitations

Limitations of robots and AI are the human element. These resources cannot think for themselves and pivot in times of change. This limits their ability, requiring humans to be involved with the automation process these tools offer. Programmers and engineers are needed to maintain robots and AI, and in many cases, humans are still needed to oversee the operations in the event something changes or goes wrong, and the robots cannot adequately handle the situation.

Universal Basic Income, Guaranteed Federal Job, and Reduced Work Week

A universal basic income is where the government pays each citizen a set amount of money per month. The idea behind this concept is to put most citizens on an equal playing field in terms of income. A pro of this concept is a reduction of the stigma that surrounds government benefits such as food assistance and welfare (Gaille, 2019). If there are parameters around who qualifies for the payments, it would encourage people to still work while getting the payment (Gaille, 2019).

Currently, many Americans are forced to barely make it while they work or quit work and utilize government assistance, which makes it easier for them to survive. This concept could negatively affect employment, as some people may take advantage and decide not to work at all (Gaille, 2019). It would not fully solve financial inequality, as significant disparities would still exist. The concept could contribute to the government’s debt (Gaille, 2019).

The guaranteed federal job concept considers having a job a fundamental right (Congressional Research Service, 2022).

DB FPX 8410 Assessment 5 The Future of Work

This concept is based on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Economic Bill of Rights (Congressional Research Service, 2022). A pro of this concept is it would eliminate unemployment. A potential con is the government would incur more debt, and the competition between the public and private sectors for workers could become an issue (Congressional Research Service, 2022).

A reduced work week is when companies reduce their employees’ schedules while still paying them for the full week. One potential benefit is increased employee productivity (Prater, 2023). Another benefit is employees will experience less burnout and have better work-life balance (Prater, 2023). The downside of this concept is the inability for many businesses to implement it and still meet their business needs (Prater, 2023).

Conclusion

Many trends indicate a significant shift in the workforce and the type of work people will be doing. Technology has created an increase in remote work, changing the social aspect of the workforce. Automation will continue to require companies to have employees to maintain the robots and AI. While there will be some job loss due to robots and AI, many companies are already struggling to fill low-wage positions, so the loss will not significantly impact people who would otherwise be working. While the future of the workforce looks different, the changes have the potential to create positive impacts.

References

Anch, A. (2019). “Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence.” Medium.

Barden, J. (2022). “Robots: How Companies Save Money on Their Workforce.” Investopedia.

Congressional Research Service. (2022). “Guaranteed Federal Jobs.” crsreports.congress.gov.

Flynn, A. (2022). “Remote Work Statistics.” Flexjobs.

Gaille, B. (2019). “19 Advantages and Disadvantages of Universal Basic Income.” futureofworking.com.

Lee, J. (2021). “More Robots, Fewer Workers: Pandemic Accelerates Labor-Force Automation.” Wall Street Journal.