Fear is a natural response whenever we are unsure of the outcome of a situation, which we mostly are for everything that comes our way. Technology seems to be intimidating us more than usual. One study found out that 55% of the employees surveyed fear of losing their jobs because of automation. When this happens, that trust between the employees and the management gets broken. What you fear becomes more real because you are giving in to the fear and becoming less productive.
Even businesses feel this way. Now that many businesses rely on video agencies in London or other cities, traditional advertising agencies fear that they are losing their grip on a niche that was once exclusively theirs. But what can you do about development? They say that change is the only thing constant in this world, and that is true even in terms of the nature of your work. Technology will continue to evolve. Unless you give in to these developments, you will find yourself and your business on the losing end.
Fear of Learning
What people fear more than losing their jobs is having to learn something new. Where will they find the time to learn this new software? What if they misunderstand how to use it and they end up doing their jobs wrong? Technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics process automation have eliminated the need for workers in rote and repetitive tasks. Factory workers have been laid off because the machines can do more than what they can in an hour.
People have become so used to how they do their jobs that they cannot fathom any other way of doing it. But everyone gave in eventually, didn’t they? People were afraid of the Internet before. They said that Google couldn’t ever replace libraries and reading actual journals. What happened to that fear now? It was replaced by the efficiency and effectiveness of having Google right on your hands.
Addressing Your Fears
The fear isn’t misplaced, though workers have a role in attending to these fears. Automation, for example, won’t take away jobs. But it will change the nature of your jobs. You have to adapt to these changes. Technology will not take away jobs. It will just change the requirements of these jobs. In accounting, technology will teach you how to analyze big data. In communications, it will teach you how to reach more people. In retail, it will teach you how to understand customer demands.
Think more broadly about how your position can benefit the new technology. How can you grow along with it? If it’s going to free up your time, how can you use that time to learn new things? You are responsible for protecting your position. You cannot depend on technology becoming obsolete so that you can hold on to your job.
Companies also have a responsibility to train their employees. Lifelong learning is an organizational ethos that every company should follow. If as a company, you invest in the knowledge of your employees, you will reap the benefits of this investment in the long run.
