Addressing the effects of technological change in our society and the strategies used in the Philippines to address the skills shortage.
Technology invention and innovation has been very fast approaching in the past years. Work has never been easier and accurate than with the manpower labor of the ancient working policy. The certainty of jobs has been fast approving to the society as the consumers and users. Industrial technologies make the work more regular and precisely scheduled and machinery is not cost effective when used irregularly. The emerged of technology in the world has brought easiness and trends that make the work much efficient but technology innovation has also brought negative effects to the society and the environment. The suitable term of the sudden change of technology in the society is simply called ‘technological change’. The word is simple but the sense is very deep and has to be extremely understood. The term simply described the process of invention, innovation and distribution of technological development. It is merely the development of technology through inventions, continuous development process and the distribution to the industries and society.
According to Adam, et.al., “An understanding of the process of technological change is important for two broad reasons. First, the environmental impact of social and economic activity is profoundly affected by the rate and direction of technological change. Second, environmental policy interventions themselves create new constraints and incentives that affect the process of technological change.” The two reasons simply explain that new technologies may provide additions to pollutions and/or may mitigate existing pollution state in the society and the policy interventions may have implications for the further policy decisions, important consequences in the terms of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness policy analyses and welfare analyses.
Technological change is a term that is used in economics to describe a change in the set of feasible production possibilities. According to the number one (1) Internet site reference, “Technological change has profound effects not just in terms of work, but also on other aspects of our lifestyles. Some of technological change has been positive and negative effects in the society, which are the following:
1. Employment
the emerging of technology simply means labor saving in the industries such as the decline in employment in manufacturing and/or industrial work. Number of workers in manufacturing has declined 30% of labor force. In agriculture, it has been a direct consequence of mechanization of agricultural production. Small farmers have been forced off the land because of incapacity to operate or manage a large scale to use modern agricultural machinery. More and more white-collar occupations exist and technology plays an important role in this work. It has been suggested that the computer industry will take over as the major area of employment, as more and more people and business use computers. Computer has created the need for greater expertise in clerical work and act as the electronic equivalent of a supervisor.
2. Work
Technological change has led to a greater degree of specialization of function in the workforce. This is called division of labor. The worker on the factory line who performs only one function repetitively has replaced the tradesperson of the nineteenth century and earlier. This is referred to as deskilling. Skilled tradespersons and professionals are replaced by semi-skilled of unskilled workers on production lines, rendering jobs repetitive and personally unrewarding. With the division of labor, manufacturing production costs is reduced; it makes managerial control easier, the factory workers are not specialized and can be easily discarded and replaced when industrial actions occur, and manager rather than worker’s control regulates production.
3. Quality of life
The invention of labor-saving devices is said to have taken the toil out of housework, freeing up more time for leisure. In fact, people are spending more time working to pay for the appliances, which are supposed to save them from boring household task that are totally correct and approving. Advances in technology have also brought the increases in other diseases, such as some cancers and heart disease.
4. The environment
the implementation of new technology has been consumed high rate in natural resources. With the completion of technology distribution, scarcity to natural resources exists and exposed damage to the environment such as the burning of fossil fuels, incorrect waste disposal, and modern agricultural system like chemicals as pesticides and insecticides.
5. Urbanization
As employment decline in agriculture has brought flow rate in the population to the urban sites and cities where manufacturing industries and factories are located due to the transfer for employment from rural areas. The concentration of population into cities has meant that facilities like transport, entertainment, hospitals and schools can be provided at a relatively low cost. The improvement in standards of living resulting from the availability of these amenities must be offset against the negative consequences of city living.”
With the appearance of technology and its effects either positive or negative, reactions from workers have generally been unfavorable. Faced with loss of jobs and livelihood, workers have reacted against the introduction of new technology. Some of such reactions are industrial action and strikes, greater labor turnover, increased absences due to illness and industrial sabotage, such as interfering with machines.
These effects are really happening not only in foreign countries but also in our country, which locally happen in earlier years. Some factory decreased workers due to the economic crisis happening in the country; and this is also due to the technological change factors. To address the skill shortage, the government had made some agreement and step to help minimize the increasing number of unskilled and unemployed people in the country. These were made true by the following:
1. In January 2008, the government of the Philippines is particularly receptive to partnering on international recruitment. The agreement targets the sectors most in need of skilled employees - tourism and hospitality, retail and construction. This British Columbia agreement with the Filipino government will provide employers effective, quicker access to foreign workers. The British Columbia is looking to attract temporary or permanent immigrants in areas where they have labor shortages. The same kind of agreement was also finalized and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Philippines and Honourable Hector Goudreau, Minister of Employment and Immigration of Canada. Under the MOU, both governments will explore shared priorities, such as meeting occupational standards, improving recruitment and employment practices, and promoting employment opportunities in Alberta. Investigated key immigration issues impacting the flow of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) and immigrants from the Philippines, including strategies to address fraud and credential assessment. The department of Labor and Employment also endorsed recruitment of work in South Australia as the country is in need of workers to address their skill shortage. To address the skill shortage in the Philippines, the department of Labor secretary said that South Australia would welcome Overseas Filipino Workers, which are recognized as hardworking, productive, adaptable, dependable, and very respective individuals.
2. Another is by the increase of employment in Call Centers presently located all over the country. Call center has been a greater help in employment especially for graduate, which have not found any job opportunity after college. In the country, the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her state of the nation address has vocally endorsed it in just this year 2008.
3. Another strategy is the line of marketing taking the issue in skill shortage. In just recently, the major stakeholders in the Philippines' business process outsourcing (BPO) market recently forged an agreement to address the acute labor shortage plaguing the services sector. Representatives of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and IBM Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help develop a relevant curriculum to ensure that the products of the country's colleges and universities can be absorbed by the outsourcing industry. The kind of skills required now by industry requires a lot more technical as well as management skills, particularly this service science management. Call center is an example of companies, which can benefit with this kind of agreement.
Skilled shortage is an issue in the working industry now a day. Other countries are in much need of skilled workers like the Australia and Canada and the Middle East. In the country, Filipino workers are most suitable and somehow recognized for the job vacancy. And to address the labor shortage in our country, it is best for job recruitment for immigrant workers to fight the acute state of labor shortage and economic crisis.
As an observation, technology has brought skill shortage in every part of working industry. Because of the appearance of new technology for cost effective and beneficial purposes, lack of skilled laborers was emerging and is increasing in number due to the supposedly work they should do is transferred to the electronic machineries. Technology henceforth is very important but somehow it has also caused the economic problems and lacking in some aspects of the industry, in the environment and in the society. To address this, let us just work and strive hard to the real world competitions and survival of work and living.
References:
1. http://www.intcul.tohoku.ac.jp/~yamaguch/JPG/systemic_room_supplement/systemic_room/sfl_images_resources/value_as_metaphor/history%20is%20life/technological_change.html
2. http://www.hrmguide.net/canada/jobmarket/bc_skills_shortage.htm
3. http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/rrm/RRM-MIN_expensereport_08.pdf
4. http://www.dole.gov.ph/news/details.asp?id=N000002261
5. http://www.cw.com.hk/article.php?id_article=2110
6. http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/soctechchange/soctech10.htm
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_change
*Assignment 5 due December 26, 2008
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