Impact Of New Technology

Technological advancements over the past two decades have totally changed the way in which offices across the globe work. The evolution of the personal computer (PC) has provided the platform upon which major advances in word processing, filing, scheduling, communication and access to information have become possible. But just how have such advancements affected the state of employment within offices? During this essay I shall discuss just a few of the major technological changes and identify their impact on office employment over the past two decades. I shall then proceed to analyse what effect these changes have had with regards to gender relations within the office workplace. Finally I shall conclude by giving my insight into future technological developments and what these hold for future employees in the office environment.

It is commonly known that around two centuries ago (pre-1873) the office environment was predominantly a male preserve, where its main function involved the maintenance of accounts and the associated correspondence relating to those accounts. However, a major technological advance, in the form of the typewriter, soon changed all that. Office functions expanded considerably and women were employed in the office for the first time. The technological advance in the past two decades, in the form of the word processor, has all but rendered the typewriter obsolete. The arrival of such a piece of technology can be looked upon from two perspectives. The first, more 'optimistic' perspective sees the use of new technology as a way of enhancing jobs and upgrading the skills of those involved in office work. In the case of the word processor this considers the new features offered - a better user interface, basic editing facilities, and the opportunity to print multiple copies - all of which benefit the typist as the user.

The second, more 'pessimistic' perspective sees the introduction of new technology in the office environment as causing jobs to become increasingly routinised and progressively de-skilled and fragmented. In the case of the word processor, the role of the traditional typist was always seen as requiring certain skills in order to improve productivity through speed and accuracy. The introduction of the word processor could be seen to remove such skills as errors can be corrected without wasting resources, speed can be simply built up through practice and the fine details (margins, alignment etc) are all pre-programmed. This form of deskilling an operation can be seen to have its roots in Taylorism and Scientific Management (SM). Even though the principals of SM have never really been evident within the office environment, one must recall that Braverman claimed there had been a universal tendency towards deskilling throughout the 20th century - so why would office work be any different?

The above example regarding the introduction of the typewriter has been used as a similar theme is seen throughout all the technological advances of the past two decades - that of progressive deskilling. The major technological advance throughout the 80's and early 90's was the wide-spread use of PC's within the office environment. As time has progressed these have offered everything from accounting programs to highly specialised scheduling and filing systems - each of which posses a simple-to-use interface that is available for use by anyone willing to read the manual. This erosion of skill demarcation when new technology is introduced suggests an increase in functional flexibility, undertaken via the multi-skilling of core workers. In-turn, management has been able to bring about reductions in overall employment levels by employing numerical flexibility among peripheral workers by eliminating and deskilling jobs.

The effects such deskilling has had in the office workplace can be see in a form of 'feminization', where the re-organisation of job content