4.6 Employment

Question 1

State 3 effects of ICT on the employment of individuals.

Answer 1

• Reduced number of manual jobs
• Creation of new and interesting jobs
• Need to continually update skills

Question 2

State 2 examples of changes to traditional workplaces.

Answer 2

• Car manufacturer - spray-painting in car factories is now carried out by computer-controlled robots
• Warehouse work - stock is moved from one place to another using computer-controlled fork-lift trucks

Question 3

What is a global workplace?

Answer 3

One where employees are communicating with customers and other employees from across different countries.

Question 4

State 3 changes businesses have made to operate in a global business.

Answer 4

• Available 24 hours a day due to the time difference between countries
• Local employees have to work shifts which cover daytime and nighttime hours
• Increased use of email has lead to a greater proportion of the employees’ day being spent reading and answering messages

Question 5

What is meant by job displacement?

Answer 5

When an employee who has an established working history is separated from the job or the job position is eliminated leaving the individual unemployed. EG filing clerks have been made redundant due to increase in ICT-based alternatives.

Question 6

What is meant by de-skilling?

Answer 6

The process by which skilled labour within an industry or economy is eliminated by the introduction of technologies operated by semiskilled or unskilled workers. EG modern multimedia software allows users to produce professional documents with very little training.

Question 7

Explain why continuous training is necessary.

Answer 7

The modern technologies increasingly used in businesses are changing and updating continuously, and so workers must be trained regularly in order to make use of the devices.

Question 8

Why is re-training necessary?

Answer 8

Radically changing technology means that the worker’s current knowledge is no longer sufficient and they must be re-trained to use new and updated devices.

Question 9

List 3 sectors of jobs created from new technologies.

Answer 9

• Design and maintenance of ICT systems, eg programmers, software engineers
• Web design
• ICT Security

Question 10

What is teleworking?

Answer 10

Using ICT to work from home.

Question 11

State 2 developments in ICT which have enabled teleworking.

Answer 11

• Communication advances, eg email, VC and handheld devices like PDAs.
• Intranet access from home

Question 12

State 3 advantages of teleworking.

Answer 12

• Saves on travel cost and travel time to and from work
• Organisations do not need to rent expensive city centre offices and pay for heating and lighting costs
• Fewer cars on the road reduces pollution and traffic congestion

Question 13

State 3 disadvantages of teleworking.

Answer 13

• Employees may feel isolated due to loss of social interaction and teamwork
• Employees need an office or workroom at home, which may be difficult to find
• Managers will find it more difficult to monitor employee activity and productivity since they are not in the office