The Future of Labor: An Analysis of Consequences

Introduction

The phenomenon behind industry 4.0 is that the industrial environment will morph into one with endless interlinks among all components and elements. This revolution will create a situation where workers collaborate with machines as opposed to operating them. At the same time, machines can also operate autonomously. Labor is a fundamental element of any industry and is bound to change amid such a revolution. As such, it is important to discuss the expected changes and how they will affect the various stakeholders. This paper seeks to demystify the consequences of future labor in reference to industry 4.0. The discussion focuses on the following key areas. First, how pervasive industry 4.0 will be in terms of employment and job security. Secondly, the role and direction of working online or remotely through crowd-work platforms. Thirdly, matters concerning the relationship between machines and people once the fourth industrial revolution occurs. Fourth, the effect of big data on the industry 4.0 workforce. Finally, issues on work-life balance and the organizational structure.

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The radical revolution inherent in industry 4.0 elicits controversy among global players. The bone of contention is whether the expected digitization will expand or contract the current employment situation. According to Frey and Osborne 2013 (pp 27), an estimated 47% of jobs in the United States are at the risk of redundancy after the current wave of automation. This is particularly relevant for routine jobs that can easily be overtaken by machines. This statistic could more or less present the global labor market environment. This means that the future labor market will consist less of routine jobs and more of non-routine ones. In this case, none-routine jobs being those that require higher levels of perception and manipulation skills (Frey et al., 2013). It is noteworthy that despite a looming decline in labor demand on ubiquitous automation sectors such as IT, research and development will experience a surge in employment opportunities. In addition, ongoing digitization brings about the question of training and skills development. More so the requisite skills that the labor market should focus on and the pace at which they are availed to match the growing demand.

In the wake of digitization, facets such as crowd-working have materialized as an alternative source of labor in various organizations. Online platforms will merge into the daily life for both individuals and corporates and have also traversed into the labor market. As such, a question arises as to how sustainable such outsourcing is in the future labor environment. Are companies willing to engage freelance workers who make up the majority in crowd-work platforms as part of their workforce?

To analyze the relevance of such platforms one needs to consider which industries would actually benefit from such options. The I.T industry is by far the largest beneficiary of crowd working since it consists of tasks that can primarily be broken down into smaller tasks to ease distribution. Serfling (2018, pp 5-20) asserts that crowd-working consist mainly of younger demography. Therefore, the idea of crowd-working may actually churn into a fundamental facet of the future labor Given that this group consist of a big part of the future working population.

The onset of platform services in the labor market raises new issues in matters of human resource. One such issue is the protection of workers' rights. Most of these platforms encourage cut-throat competition among labor providers and the tendency of some platforms to form monopolies exacerbate the matter. Such that only a few platform providers may actually be used both by the providers and consumers of the labor provided. This aspect may expose workers to exploitation in the event that there are no policies in place to address such a shortcoming. As such, the future labor would have to account for externalities in the event that organizations take up the above alternatives.

It is of importance to note that those offering micro tasks have a high exposure to the said exploitation as opposed to those offering specialized skills. Skilled platform workers have better bargaining power and actually, earn more than their unskilled counterparts. As such, both consumers and providers of labor need to understand the skill gap at any particular level and consequently mitigate risks inherent in the future labor market with the introduction of such platforms.

The industrial world today operates in an environment characterized by enormous amounts of data, that is, big data. The progress in data collection has traversed all business sectors including labor and the interrelationship between the two will only get pervasive over time. The concept of cyber-physical space that is prevalent in industry 4.0 and basically means that there is real-time data collection and sharing across various interlinked components. This fact means that at any one time there is an enormous amount of data in the public domain regarding both the companies and individuals. There is a moral dilemma among those concerned on what are the benefits of collecting such data at the expense of the privacy of the people from whom the data is collected. The other point of concern is the extent to which such data is shared and to whom. Using big data an organization can better understand the behavior of its human resources and consequently plan the best way forward. In an era where data can actually be sold a company may be in a position to analyze both current and potential workers.

One also needs to consider how much control they actually have over what information is collected on them and consequently shared. Companies are now more than ever expected to put in measures to protect their workers' private information present in their domain. These measures should ensure that access to such information does not violate the privacy of the workers involved. Despite the perceived danger to a person's privacy that big data poses, each individual is actually responsible for how much data they can avail to the outside world. People can exercise such control by being selective and deliberate on the services and applications they use and to what extent depending on their privacy needs and ideals. Industry 4.0 will certainly shape the relationship between organizations and the general public on matters of big data and whether the inherent tradeoffs are actually worth incurring. Therefore, there is a need for collaboration between employees and organization that sets out a code of conduct on how personal data is collected and used

The first industrial revolution set the pace for the interaction between humans and machines. In industry 4.0, this relationship is even more complex and interlinked. Particularly with the growth and development in AI such that the production process continuously encapsulates machines and people. Future labor stakeholders will have to deal with the blurry line between machines and people in the course of productions. AI has enabled machines to actually take up duties that were solely meant for people and even increased the efficiency of the same. According to Jha and Topol (2016, pp2353-2354), the future worker is faced with imminent danger of being faced out unless he can continuously increase his worth to match the changing landscape of production. The bulk of the work for future labor stakeholders lays in protecting the psychological health of current and future workforce. Once machines have taken over what role will people play in the production process? One matter of concern with regard to A.I is the incessant apprehension that the general public feels about the entry of robots into their space. Most importantly who controls the other between the human being and A.I robots? On the flip side once A.I is fully incorporated into the workforce the issue of achieving a work-life balance may actually be resolved as workers may have more free time.

The work-life imbalance is a contentious issue in the realm of human resources and labor in general. There are no specific solutions to the issue thus it is logically expected to affect labor in industry 4.0 the matter of concern being locational and time flexibility. Working from home or work options that do not require workstation presence have sufficed as a plausible solution enhance work-life balance for employees. With digitization being imminent in industry 4.0 more can carry out their duties without necessarily being in the office. As such, they can plan their time towards accommodating other responsibilities particularly those with young children. Nonetheless, the locational flexibility that comes with working from home present new challenges. One such issue is the fact that the boundary between work hours and leisure hour is blurred since employees would be expected to be on call at any one time. In addition, it may prove difficult to establish a balance where both the corporates' and individuals' needs are met with to their satisfaction. Considering that operational times often clash with societal needs such as family duties.

The discussion on work in industry 4.0 also brings about the question of how the traditional organizational structure will change. Traditionally the structure emphasizes the need for hierarchy and the longevity of tenure among employees. On the other hand, the work environment in industry 4.0 is fueled by the need for interlinked employee roles and knowledge sharing. That said, how will the principles such as unity of command and unity of direction play out in the changing industry Interlinked workspaces mean that at any one time junior employees may be under the authority of different superiors. Industry 4.0 is geared towards having flexible companies preferably those with a small core so as to easily adapt to wider peripheries. The need for such flexibility is fueled by the fact that innovation cycles are shorter and more customer focused. According to Chesbrough (2006), companies need to collaborate with others to spur innovation and flexibility beyond their core operation boundaries. Therefore, employees in different companies need to interact with their counterparts in other organizations. This factor in itself challenges the traditional organizational structure and consequently the standard corporations. This begs the question of how such companies will actually fair in the emerging trends. The move towards outsourcing certain services in the course of production further complicates the matter. The point of concern is how much control the managers in any particular organization can exercise over the external workforce especially where crowdsourcing is applied. Admittedly there is no clear view of how companies will forge forward in terms of the structure since there is no single model that works for all.

Conclusion

Following the above discussion on the implication of industry 4.0 to the workforce, it is important to consider the possible alternatives that stakeholders could apply to beat the inherent challenges. The question of imminent change in job profiles dominates the bulk of concerns on the future of labor. Bonekamp and Sure (2015, pp33-40) adduce that job loss will be pervasive both to the highly skilled and also those that have lower skill levels. The danger of such loss is attributed to the fact that technological advancement brings forth smart machines that may take over even the most skill-intensive tasks. Consequently, there is a need for intensive research and partnership between the industry and educational institution. All stakeholders should be involved in mapping the future skills...