Content1 - The Digital Workforce and The Workplace - Slides PDF

CONTENT 1
WORKFORCE IN THE DIGITAL AGE

The Digital Workforce and the Workplace
Prepared by
Crowd Business Innovation Group UiTM
Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved

Topics
.
The
background of
The technology
digital
that shapes the
workforce
workforce
The current landscape

of Digital Workforce

2
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this content, students should

be able to:
1. Understand the background of digital

workforce
2. Explain how technology is shaping the

workforce
3. Describe the current landscape of Digital

Workforce
Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 3
Background of Digital Workforce
• The world workforce is continually changing likely to be associated with greater, faster
and different transitions than previously experienced. There are many possibilities
about the changes which could transpire and reshape the business environment.
• One of the factors that lead to the changes is the widespread and the growing role of
the technology in our lives. In 2015, more than three billion people had access to the
Internet worldwide.
• While that number represents slightly less

than half of the world’s population,
access is more widespread in developed
countries, with almost 90% of North
Americans having Internet access
(Internet World Statistic, 2015).

• In today’s world, the development of the younger generation is greatly affected by
digitization. Technology changes the experience of childhood not only socially but
also in both economical and cultural aspects.
• Young people is known as one of the heavy users of technology.
• Technology has the greatest influence and are constantly surrounded by it.
• Prensky (2001) coined the term “digital natives” which is referred to young
generation who rely heavily on technology for learning, communicating, and
entertainment.
• The digital natives is young people within
the range of 8 years old to 18 years old
who used technology heavily in their
everyday activities .

Who are the digital natives?
▪ Multitasking brain capacity
▪ Learn via participation
▪ See the world in less

hierarchical terms
▪ Heavy user of technologies
▪ Intuitive learners

• However, digital natives are not the only heavy users of technology. “Digital
immigrants” are people who was born before the widespread adoption of digital
technology.
• The term digital immigrant may also apply to individuals who were born after the
spread of digital technology and who were not exposed to it at an early age.
• They can be considered as adults who have readily adopted technology as it has
become available are also increasingly comfortable with and reliant on
technology.
• With this increasing use of technology, major changes have occurred in the way
that people live their lives. We are in near constant communication with one
another, and our lives are chronicled for friends and followers in real time on
social media.

Driving Forces of Digital Technology Adoption
i. Technological Advance
• The maturity level of many existing and new technologies has lowered the
barriers to adoption significantly. Some technologies for example smart phone
can be bought at lower cost and easier to use. Technologies not only advance,
but also extended reach.
• Rapid development of technology infrastructure for example cloud computing,

mobile computing, data analytics, and information security have emerged and
influenced the development of advanced applications such as mobile first,
software as a service, social media, predictive analytics, machine learning,
drone and many more.
• Cloud computing for example enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on demand

access to a shared pool of computing resources.

• The cloud assists businesses to overcome economical, technical and
geographical limitations.
• It also offers a multitude of benefits of agile systems and environments,

reduced costs, device and location independence, low maintenance,
multitenancy, enhanced performance monitoring, increased productivity,
reliability, scalability and elasticity, security.
• It also assists geographically diverse groups of workers to collaborate and

share files, data, information and the ability for businesses and workers to
utilise fluid workspaces, flexible working arrangements, and co-working
environments.

• Such flexible work environments promote and enable greater collaboration,
increased outsourcing, offshoring and crowdsourcing of work, and superior
specialisation capabilities.
• These leading a third wave of digitisation following on from the personal

computer and Internet in the 1990s and mainframes in the 1970s.
• These directions then became the foundation of new capabilities in the

organization and the building blocks of new products in the business.
• Digital technology will continue changing workplace structures, operations and

relations.

ii. Digital Literacy
• Digital experience was influenced by the widespread adoption of technologies.
The traditional channels of sales and services, along with other areas, have
expanded with digital channels for example social networks and social media.
• The rapid advances and adoption of digital technology have increase people
ability to use digital technology, communication tools or networks to locate,
evaluate, use and create knowledge and information.
• The ability of people to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment also

include the ability to provide technology integration and innovation related to
new structures, processes, and skills within the organizations.
• High digital literacy of people can mitigate the risks and can improve the
chances of successful adoption.
iii. Economic Development
• The measures of economic development are most often based on the increase in
income, job creation and clientele for organizations.
• The growth of and development of the businesses can bring the greater IT adoption.
This lead to more technology being purchased and an improvement in the organization
and its environment including the users of the technology
• However, the greatest gains to development are not from the adoption of ICT in itself,
but from the innovative ways in which technology has been adopted.
• The innovations is the implementation of a new change that affects and alters a market
which enable businesses to survive businesses cycles.
• The entrepreneur who are mostly most digital natives and digital immigrants is the agent
of innovation whose adoption of the innovations will enable the business to survive and
potentially grow.
Review Questions
Understand the background of digital workforce
1 Explain digital natives and digital immigrants?

2 Give the five characteristics of digital natives.
3 Identify and explain two driving forces digital technology
adoption.

Topics
.
The background
of digital The technology
workforce that shapes the
workforce
The current landscape

of Digital Workforce

14
Impact of Digital Technology to Workforce
• According to Accenture (2015), most business leaders expect to see
improvements in terms of cost efficiencies, productivity, innovation,
agility and quality of work based on the adoption of digital
technologies.
• Digital technologies also provide benefits to organization in many

areas including to the organization workforce.
• The skills and capabilities required in a digital age will vary based on
industry and role.
• Labour will be expected to be comfortable working with technology,

such as sophisticated mobile devices that support field force workers,
and engineers.

• As more basic tasks are automated, labour can expect to take on

higher value roles that require data collection, data analysis and
problem-solving skills.
• Foundational skills will also be in high demand, including

communication and negotiation skills, and strong business acumen.
• Finally, new jobs might be created with their own specialized skill sets,
such as digital copywriters, scrum masters in IT, or digital product
managers.

The growth in
technological capabilities
force management
research to examine the
assumption and effects of
the changing workforce. Digital
The wide technologies technology
adoption has shaped
identity development and
Identity development
interpersonal relating, and Interpersonal
competencies and Relating
workforce trends.

Impact of Digital Technology Adoption
i. Identity Development and Interpersonal Relating
• Emerging research shows that the increasing use of technology has complex
effects on the development and expression of identity.
• The ubiquitous presence of technology in our lives may limit opportunities to

develop deep levels of self-awareness and to behave authentically.
• For example, while waiting in line at the grocery store, most people with smart
phones will be busy texting or curating a social media profile, thus provide
limited opportunity for reflection that increase our self awareness.
• Opportunity to create aspirational image rather than presenting authentic self

for example through social media profile and photos may obscure people’s
awareness of who they really are and their ability to act authentically

i. Identity Development and Interpersonal Relating
• The prevalence of technology may also impact the quality of interactions and
communication.
• Most digital natives prefer communication via text through social networks
and email. Connecting via text is seen as more efficient and allows us to edit
compared to face-to- face or telephone conversations.
• As a result of their reliance on communicating via email or text, employers say

that some digital natives and digital immigrants trouble starting and ending
conversations and report that talking on the telephone makes them nervous
(Turkle, 2015)
• This also reduces ratings of closeness, trust, and relationship quality

ii. Competencies of Digital Workforce
• The digital workforce is competent, proficient and comfort in achieving desired
outcome using technology which often referred to as “digital fluency” (Briggs
& Makice, 2012)
• Both digital natives and digital immigrants may have achieved a level of
proficiency that allows them to manipulate information, construct ideas, and
use technology to achieve strategic goals (Hsi, 2007).
• However, digital activities engaged by a digital workforce also able to develop

other skills as well for example managerial skills

ii. Competencies of Digital Workforce
• As mentioned before digital literacy is needed alongside numeracy and literacy.
These capabilities will be threshold requirements for most jobs thus, important
for future job seekers to master.
• For example, skills in computer programming might become essential for a

wide variety of jobs in tomorrow’s knowledge economy. Identifying and
teaching these enduring skills will be a priority for educators.
• Even traditionally labour-intense occupations like nursing or aged carer are

likely to require an ability to work with computers and operate complex
machines.
• A builder might as well need to understand and be able to connect the

multiple devices and smart systems of future homes.

iii. Workplace and Workforce Trends
• The device connectivity, data volumes and computing speed is
reshaping the workforce and redefining jobs.
• The internet of things (IoT) is at the early stages of growth. The internet
of things make technology become more functional, with impacts on
jobs and employment markets.
• Digital technology and the new world of ‘platform economics’ is

changing employment markets and organisational structures. Jobs of
the future are likely to be more flexible, agile, networked and
connected

iii. Workplace and Workforce Trends
• New technologies are enabling workplace innovations such as remote
working, co-working spaces and teleconferencing.
• Organizations are likely to have an ever-smaller pool of core full-time

employees for fixed functions, backed up by colleagues in other
countries (offshoring), external consultants and contractors for specific
projects (outsourcing) and external talent pool of individual expert
from the crowd (crowdsourcing).

Review Questions
Explain how technology is shaping the workforce
1 Discuss the impact of digital technology adoption on

individual identity development and interpersonal relating.
2 Provide one example of digital competency of digital

workforce.
3 Explain how digital technology adoption influence the

workforce trends.

Topics
.
The background
of digital The technology
workforce that shapes the
workforce
The current
landscape of Digital
Workforce

25
The Current and Future Landscape of
Digital Workforce
The changes landscape of jobs and employment
i. The era of the entrepreneur
• The availability of ideal jobs within a large organisation may not be
enough compared to an increasing number of future job seekers.
• Individuals will need to create their own job which require

entrepreneurial skills and aptitudes. Digital technology enabled
models of lean innovation which is the fast fail approach operate at
low cost and scale-up rapidly.
• Digital technology provides options for new market entrants to

compete with longstanding competitors and access a global market for
example through e-commerce platform.

Digital Workforce
ii. Peer-to-peer and freelancer economy
• Currently, there is a growing population of portfolio workers or a
freelancer who provides services to multiple employers.
• Facilitated by digital technology, labour is becoming mobile and

independent.
• Through peer-to-peer economy, individual can deal with another

individual to buy or sell goods and services directly with each other,
without intermediation by a third-party, or without the use of a
company of business thus encourage the expansion of freelancer
concept.

Digital Workforce
ii. Peer-to-peer and freelancer economy
• Flexibility of portfolio or freelancer employment offers new ways of work for
business and individuals, but it comes at a cost of uncertainty.
• However, existing regulations, laws and policies will have to be adjusted and
keep pace with the changing working conditions and emerging issues.
• Freelancer has its challenges, such as lack of stable income and difficulty
finding work, but advances in technology and more globally connected
environments are drastically changing these dynamics.
• Although change is inevitable, future destinations are not. Based on this

narrative of the future, individuals, communities, companies and governments
can identify and implement transition pathways that achieve better outcomes
World Bank Group:
The Global Opportunity in Online Outsourcing
(June 2015)
Growth Rate And Market Size of Global Crowdsourcing Industry
• Online
outsourcing
firms have
growth by 33%
on average per
year
• Market size of
US$15 – 20
billion by 2020
Source: The Global Opportunity in Online Outsourcing, World Bank Group, June 2015

The Future of Jobs
Drivers of change, time to impact on business models
Share of respondents, %
Sharing Economy, crowdsourcing are top 10 trends

effecting the following industry:
1. Professional Services (25%)
2. Financial Services & Investors (18%)
3. Information & Communication Tech (11%)
Source: World Economic Forum: The Future of Jobs, Jan 2016.
Source: The Global Opportunity in Online Outsourcing, World Bank Group, June 2015

Digital Workforce
Crowdsourcing, the sharing economy, and peer-to-peer Platforms

Crowdsourcing contributed about 12% as the key driver of change
to current jobs. With peer-to-peer platforms, companies and
individuals can do things that previously required large-scale
organizations. In some cases, the talent and resources that
companies can connect to, through activities such as
crowdsourcing, may become more important than the in-house
resources that they own.
Reference
World Economic Forum, 2016, The Future of Jobs, pp 7-8.
Review Questions
Describe the current landscape of Digital workforce
1 Describe the peer-to-peer economy.
2 Discuss the top five of future jobs.

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CONTENT 1

WORKFORCE IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved

The current landscape

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved

Upon completion of this content, students should

1. Understand the background of digital

2. Explain how technology is shaping the

3. Describe the current landscape of Digital

• While that number represents slightly less

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 4

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 5

▪ Multitasking brain capacity

▪ Learn via participation

▪ See the world in less

▪ Heavy user of technologies

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 6

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 7

• Rapid development of technology infrastructure for example cloud computing,

• Cloud computing for example enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on demand

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 8

• It also offers a multitude of benefits of agile systems and environments,

• It also assists geographically diverse groups of workers to collaborate and

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 9

• These leading a third wave of digitisation following on from the personal

• These directions then became the foundation of new capabilities in the

• Digital technology will continue changing workplace structures, operations and

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 10

• The ability of people to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment also

1 Explain digital natives and digital immigrants?

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 13

The current landscape

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved

• Digital technologies also provide benefits to organization in many

• Labour will be expected to be comfortable working with technology,

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 15

• As more basic tasks are automated, labour can expect to take on

• Foundational skills will also be in high demand, including

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 16

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 17

• The ubiquitous presence of technology in our lives may limit opportunities to

• Opportunity to create aspirational image rather than presenting authentic self

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 18

• As a result of their reliance on communicating via email or text, employers say

• This also reduces ratings of closeness, trust, and relationship quality

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 19

• However, digital activities engaged by a digital workforce also able to develop

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 20

• For example, skills in computer programming might become essential for a

• Even traditionally labour-intense occupations like nursing or aged carer are

• A builder might as well need to understand and be able to connect the

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 21

• Digital technology and the new world of ‘platform economics’ is

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 22

• Organizations are likely to have an ever-smaller pool of core full-time

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 23

1 Discuss the impact of digital technology adoption on

2 Provide one example of digital competency of digital

3 Explain how digital technology adoption influence the

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved Content 1 24

Copyright © 2017 UiTM, All rights reserved

• Individuals will need to create their own job which require

• Digital technology provides options for new market entrants to