Impact of Technological Advancements on Employee Relations

Impact of Technological Advancements on Employee Relations

Introduction

Throughout every era of human history, time has changed many things in totality. Many systems have been announced as being obsolete and many new things have been accepted as better than their predecessors. One such change has been seen in the way that the relationships between employers and employees have altered within the past few decades.

Technological additions to the methods of manufacturing and selection of outsourcing as an improved alternative to investing on employees have emerged as the new way of doing business. In order to better understand about the changes in employment with reference to the New Age of Trade and Technology, and the implications of labour and employment law in this regard; an in depth discussion regarding the relevant factors is required.

Discussion

Changes in Employer and Employee Relationships

Dau -Schmidt (2001) highlights that there are two types of employments namely short term employment through spot labour market and life-long employment; however, both of these types have their own perks and disadvantages (p. 8).

If we look at things in depth, we come to know that undoubtedly every choice has its own ups and downs, but that does not simply direct towards the proposition that the employers should keep changing their decisions with the requirements of times.

How Things Used to Be: The Golden Time of American Labour Market

There was a time when things were quite simpler and easier to understand. People did not have to evaluate a list of long terms and regulations before making a decision regarding their actions. In the labour market of the United States, a new era was having birth where companies would start working to achieve the best in everything throughout investments in their most important assets, their employees (Dau-Schmidt, 2001, p. 9).

Henry Ford, the legend behind the Ford Motors laid the building block of this investment in the labours and employees. The major developments in that era of American Development include:

Recognition of Employees as the Best Assets of a Company

Extensive Investments in the development of Employee Skills and Abilities

Development of efficient and effective work processes within the Company which required major investments in the skill sets of employees.

Acceptance of lifetime employment as the “best” management practice by majority of the managers (Dau-Schmidt, 2001).

The Rise of Contingent and Short-Term Employment Practices

After a few decades of excessive investments in employee development and acceptance of employees as the best resource of a company, some shocking changes came within the world market. Apart from United States, Japan and Europe rose as equal competitors in the field of manufacturing (Dau-Schmidt, 2001, p. 10).

Moreover, with this rising competition came some subsequent changes within the employment strategies of the United States of America. The following changes among these are of significant importance:

The thinking of management took a change of paths from developing extremely efficient work systems to development networks and adopting the path of vertical integration.

Instead of making investments in the development of labours, all the work relevant to labour usage was ...