With the evolution in digital transformation, you are left behind if you are not up-to-date about the trends. If your business is not digitally evolved, chances are you will be left behind. Digital transformation along with technology is bringing new changes to automation. If you went back a few years ago, you would notice that modern technology’s impact on humans has always been a controversial topic.
Today, we are noticing the impacts of digital transformation. While some say digital transformation is challenging, there are a lot of positive impacts as well. Let’s take a look at how digital transformation has affected the way we work.
Digital transformation is inevitable
As you look back at various points in history, modern technology has altered how work is done, which is evident with every continuous cycle over the generations. We are looking for new ways that make our labour more efficient and effective.
Today digital technologies are not just about how internal businesses are done. Instead, it’s a part of customer expectations and how companies must be up-to-date about providing them with various features digital technology provides.
Stating the obvious, new technology doesn’t mean redundancy for humans – rather, it means switching the skill such as moving from a paper-based system to cloud-based.
Overall, you will notice that with the workplace becoming digitized, there is life outside work too. For instance, almost 90% of people in the US are online, while 77% have a smartphone. With the technology available at the palm of your hand, you can use them to buy products and services.
Digital transformation – the good aspects
The trends in digital transformation directly impact how users interact using technology and how people work and connect with their work atmosphere.
In many ways, digital transformation is opening up more opportunities for both workers and employers. For example, without digital technology, how many companies would offer remote work today? Furthermore, how would many independent or freelancers function successfully? Last year, around 43% of Americans worked from home for at least some time, while freelancers now add up to around 35% of the US workforce. Of course, few people have been working remotely, but the numbers have skyrocketed since digital technology made their job easier.
For employees, it provides a more flexible option that goes beyond the 9-5. People who have been removed from the workforce or struggling to find a job (such as stay-in parents) can now have a way forward with digital technology.
For businesses, this means they can find the best team members even if they are working remotely and significantly cut operating costs where they no longer require working in multiple offices. Many companies have also reduced the cost of their wages and salaries by hiring staff in areas where they cost much less.
Digital Transformation: The Bad aspects
The most clearly expressed downside of digital transformation is the ability of machines to replace humans. The growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) makes more tasks possible, which means that robots can be easily trained via machine learning to make decisions while maintaining certain parameters.
Will Self-Driving Cars put Taxi Drivers at job risk? How about drones that deliver packages or robots so advanced that they can even train new robots to work in factories?
The bottom line is that many fear that digital technology may rob millions of people of their jobs within a short period. What will happen to the economic well-being of countries? Many ideas are floating around, including introducing a “robot tax” on places where they use robots instead of humans to ensure that taxes will still pour in.
Other changes caused by digital technology are also seen negatively based on whose perspective you are in. Furthermore, offshoring skill work (such as coding and programming) has been made easier via remote staff, thus giving companies cheaper labour. However, this is conducted at the expense of local workers. Many companies have “restructured” to move functions like call centres or IT teams abroad and cut out thousands of local staff.
Conclusion
Digital transformation is crucial for businesses who want to stay in the competition, but it is changing the uniqueness of work as we know it. Latest technologies enable us to streamline advanced levels for businesses that change how we interact with our offices and the tasks we perform. Digital transformation holds both positive and negative aspects – what will the future hold? Time will tell.
