A GIFT OF FIRE

THIRD EDITION
SARA BAASE

Lecture 9&10
Chapter 6: Work
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WHAT WE WILL COVER

Changes Fears and Questions

The Impact on Employment

The Work Environment

Employee Crime

Employee Monitoring

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 CHANGES
Computers free us from the repetitious, boring aspects of jobs so
that we can spend more time being creative and doing the tasks
that require human intelligence
But people still do the work.
oNurses care for the elderly
oconstruction workers build buildings
oArchitects use computer-aided design systems, but they still design buildings
oAccountants use spreadsheets and thus have more time for thinking,
planning, and analysis.

computers design buildings? Will audits be automated?

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 FEARS AND QUESTIONS
The introduction of computers in the workplace
generated many fears
 Mass unemployment due to increased efficiency
 The need for increased skill and training widens the earning
gap
New trends still generating fears
 Offshoring and outsourcing of jobs will lead to mass
unemployment
 Employers use of technology to monitor their employees

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 THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT
Job Creation and destruction:
A successful technology eliminates or reduces some jobs but
creates others
 Reduced the need for telephone operators, meter readers, mid-
level managers
New industries arise
 Internet (about 100,000 new Internet-related jobs in 1996 )
Cellular communications (1997, more than109,000 people worked in the
cellular communications industry in the United States)
Lower prices increase demand and create jobs
 Music industry changed from serving the wealthy to serving the
masses, employing more than just musicians
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THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT (CONT.)
Job Creation and destruction:
Unemployment rates fluctuate
 Growth of computers has been steady, while
unemployment has fluctuated widely
Are we earning less?
 Since the 1970s, wages decreased but fringe benefits
increased
 People work fewer hours since the Industrial Revolution
 Decrease in take-home pay may be due to other factors
(e.g. increased taxes)
 Purchasing power increases as prices fall

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THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT (CONT.)
Changing Skill Levels:
The new jobs created from computers are different
from the jobs eliminated
New jobs such as computer engineer and system
analyst jobs require a college degree, where jobs such
as bank tellers, customer service representatives and
clerks do not
Companies are more willing to hire people without
specific skills when they can train new people quickly
and use automated support systems

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 THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT (CONT.)
A Global Workforce:
Outsourcing - phenomenon where a company pays another
company to build parts for its products or services instead of
performing those tasks itself
Offshoring - the practice of moving business processes or
services to another country, especially overseas, to reduce costs
In-shoring - when another company employs thousands of
people in the U.S. (e.g. offshoring for a German company means
in-shoring for U.S.)
Almost 5% of U.S. workers are employed by foreign companies

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 THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT (CONT.)
A Global Workforce (cont.):
Problems and side effects of offshoring:
Consumers complain about customer service
representatives, because accents are difficult to
understand
Employees in U.S. companies need new job skills
(e.g., managing, working with foreign colleagues)
Increased demand for high-skill workers in other
countries forces salaries up

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 THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT (CONT.)
Ethics of Hiring Foreign Workers:
Is it ethical to hire foreign worker at low price when work
force available in local market?
Several countries have passed legislation to restrict the hiring
of foreign workers for some industries.
Some people believe it is unfair to both the countries’
workers that the foreign workers get the jobs by charging less
money. It is equally logical, however, to argue that paying the
higher rate for local workers is wasteful, or charity, or simply
overpayment.
Some Governments have passed laws to require that the
same salary be paid to all
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THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT (CONT.)
Getting a Job:
Learning about jobs and companies (Employee)
 Online company histories and annual reports
 Job search and resume sites
 Online training
Learning about applicants and employees (Employer)
 Search online newsgroups and social networks
 Hire data-collection agencies such as ChoicePoint
 Prospective employees may craft an online profile

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THE IMPACT ON
EMPLOYMENT DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
What jobs have been eliminated due to
technology?

What jobs that were once considered high-skill

jobs are now low-skill due to technology?

 What new jobs have been created because of

technology?
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 THE WORK
ENVIRONMENT
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting:
Telecommuting
Working at home using a computer electronically
linked to one's place of employment
Mobile office using a laptop, working out of your car
or at customer locations
Fulltime and part-time telecommuting

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THE WORK
ENVIRONMENT (CONT.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
Benefits
Reduces overhead for employers
Reduces need for large offices
Employees are more productive, satisfied, and loyal
Reduces traffic congestion, pollution, gasoline use,
and stress
Reduces expenses for commuting and money spent
on work clothes
Allows work to continue after blizzards, hurricanes,
etc.
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 THE WORK
ENVIRONMENT (CONT.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
Problems
 Employers see resentment from those who have to work at the
office
 For some telecommuting employees, corporation loyalty
weakens (Lacking immediate supervision, some people are less productive, while others
work too hard and too long)
 Odd work hours
 Cost for office space has shifted to the employee (Arrange space for
office in house)
 Security risks when work and personal activities reside on the
same computer
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 THE WORK
ENVIRONMENT (CONT.)
Changing Structure of Business:
Increase in smaller businesses and independent
consultants (‘information entrepreneurs’)
‘Mom and pop multi-nationals’, small businesses on
the Web
Growth of large, multi-national corporations
Not all changes due to technology

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THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Would you want to telecommute? Why or why
not?

How has technology made entrepreneurship

easier? Harder?

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EMPLOYEE CRIME
Embezzlement - fraudulent appropriation of
property by a person to whom it has been entrusted

Trusted employees have stolen millions of dollars

Angry fired employees damage company systems

Logic bomb - software that destroys critical files

(payroll and inventory records) after employee
leaves

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MANAGEMENT CRIME
Management fraud:
 Converting company assets for personal benefit

 Fraudulently receiving bonuses

 Fraudulently increasing personal holdings of company stock

 Manipulating of accounts

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CORPORATE OR
ORGANIZATIONAL CRIME
 Price fixing: Conspiracy to set and control prices

 Deceptive pricing: Occurs when corporations use incomplete

or misleading information to fulfill contracts (defense
contractors)
 False claims and advertising: Involves unjustified claims
about a product (telemarketing)
 Worker Safety/Environmental crimes: includes unsafe
working conditions and pollution
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CONTROLLING CYBER
CRIME ON WORKPLACE
Controlling Internet Crime
 Identity Theft and Assumption Act-1998

 Creation of working groups

 Internet Fraud Complaint Center

 Private security companies

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 EMPLOYEE MONITORING AND
COMMUNICATION
Learning about Job Applicant:
Employers have long done various forms of screening,
including criminal background checks on prospective
employees
The Web and social media provide a vast new collection of
information on job applicants.
Some employers read applicants’ blogs to learn how well they
write.
Many privacy advocates object to social media searches on job
applicants. Some argue that employers should restrict the
information they collect about applicants to what is directly
related to job qualifications
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 EMPLOYEE MONITORING AND
COMMUNICATION
Risks and Rules for Work and Personal Communications:
Employers have always monitored the work of their employees.
Supervisors listened in on the work of telephone operators and customer
service representatives.
Employers use now are the modern version of the time clock and
telephone extension.
Newspaper editors, senior lawyers, and customer service supervisors can
remotely observe the computer screens of the workers they supervise.
Employers prohibit employees from using their work email, computers,
and other devices for personal use.

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EMPLOYEE MONITORING AND
COMMUNICATION
Risks and Rules for Work and Personal Communications:

What about employees using personal email accounts, social media,

laptops, smartphones, and other devices for work?

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EMPLOYEE MONITORING
Background:
Monitoring is not new
Early monitoring was mostly ‘blue-collar’ (factory)
and ‘pink-collar’ (telephone and clerical) jobs
Time-clocks and logs

Output counts at the end of the day

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EMPLOYEE MONITORING
(CONT.)
Data Entry, Phone Work, and Retail:
Data entry
 Key stroke quotas
 Encourage competition
 Beep when workers pause
Phone work
 Number and duration of calls
 Idle time between calls
 Randomly listen in on calls
Retail
 Surveillance to reduce theft by employees
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 EMPLOYEE MONITORING
(CONT.)
Location Monitoring:
Cards and badges used as electronic keys increase
security but track employee movements
GPS tracks an employee's location
 Used in some hospitals to track nurse locations for emergency
purposes, also shows where they are at lunch
 Used to track long-haul trucks to reduce theft and optimize
delivery schedules, also detects driving speeds and duration
of rest breaks

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EMPLOYEE MONITORING
(CONT.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use:
E-mail and voice mail at work
Employees often assume passwords mean they are
private
Roughly half of major companies in the U.S.
monitor or search employee e-mail, voice mail, or
computer files
Most companies monitor infrequently, some
routinely intercept all e-mail
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 EMPLOYEE MONITORING
(CONT.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
Law and cases
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)
prohibits interception of e-mail and reading stored e-
mail without a court order, but makes an exception for
business systems
Courts put heavy weight on the fact that computers,
mail, and phone systems are owned by the employer
who provides them for business purposes

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EMPLOYEE MONITORING
(CONT.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
Law and cases (cont.)
Courts have ruled against monitoring done to snoop
on personal and union activities or to track down
whistle blowers (Who expose a misconduct)
Many employers have privacy policies regarding e-
mail and voice mail
The National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) sets
rules and decides cases about worker-employer
relations
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EMPLOYEE MONITORING
(CONT.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
Some companies block specific sites (e.g.
Entertainment sites, sports sites, job search sites,
social-network sites)
Employees spend time on non-work activities on
the Web
Concerns over security threats such as viruses and
other malicious software
Concerns about inappropriate activities by
employees (e.g. unprofessional comment)
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EMPLOYEE’S CONCERN

Employee feel that their privacy effected by

Employer of job place monitoring. What you say
about it?

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EMPLOYEE MONITORING
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How much privacy is reasonable for an
employee to expect in the workplace?

Under what circumstances is it appropriate for

an employer to read an employee's e-mail?

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CONCLUSION
Work place environment
Changes due to technology in workplace
Workplace crime
Employee crime
Employee monitoring

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