Chapter 8:
Computers and Work
By:
Dong Liu
Rony Velasquez
May 14, 2007
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8.1 The Changing Nature of Work
8.2 The Impact on Employment
Dong Liu
2
8.1 The Changing Nature of Work

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Computers have a profound impact on work.
 Jobs are eliminated
 New jobs are created
Some positive effects:
 Repetitious/boring jobs can be done with computers.
 People can work from home (“telework”).
 Employers can better monitor their workers.
Some negative effects:
 Employee-monitoring privacy issues
 Health issues have been associated with computer
usage.
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8.2 The Impact on Employment
(Job Destruction and Creation)
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Unemployment
 The number of bank tellers dropped by 37%
between 1983 and 1993.
 The number of telephone switchboard operators
dropped from 421,000 in 1970 to 164,000 in 1996.
 Railroads computerized their dispatch operations and
eliminated hundreds of employees.
 Travel agencies closed as more consumers made
airplane reservations online.
 As digital camera prices decline, more film
processors will go out of business.
Technology in general and computers in particular
eliminate jobs.
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8.2 The Impact on Employment
(Job Destruction and Creation)

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However, there are positive changes.
 While the amount of telephone operators dropped by
more than 60%, the number of long-distance calls
increased from 9.8 billion to 94.9 billion.
 The bank handles 1.5 million customer inquiries with
fewer service representatives.
 The railroad ships more tons per worker with its new
computer system.
The Federal Reserve reported that in 1998, US factories
produced 3.5 times as much as in 1960 but had only
10% more workers.
During the recession of 2001, productivity increased at a
higher rate than in previous recessions.
 Economists credit faster microprocessors and
increased investment in technology.
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8.2 The Impact on Employment
(Job Destruction and Creation)

If a specific technology is successful, it eliminates some
jobs, but it is likely to create others:
 People build PDAs and write software for them.
 People make cell phones, routers, and servers that
run the internet.
 New jobs in software, web design, and security are
created.
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8.2 The Impact on Employment
(Job Destruction and Creation)

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What is the overall effect?
 Measuring the effects of computers is difficult.
 There are other factors that influence employment
besides computers.
CDs and the internet brought the cost of an individual
“performance” in a private home down so low that music
is available to almost anyone.
 The effect on employment? Thousands of musicians
are able to make a living by burning their own CDs
and selling their music, or even advertising their
music and band products online. File-sharing can be
used to their advantage to expose themselves.
If technology brings the cost of a product/service down
far enough to expand the market, more people will
work in that field.
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8.2 The Impact on Employment
(Job Destruction and Creation)

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According to the text, computer technology did not
cause significant unemployment in the last decades of
the 20th century.
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has been
blamed for massive unemployment.
But consider the Great Depression in the 1930s, which
was not caused by technology.
Wages appeared to decline as much as 10% after 1970.
 This is sometimes cited as an indication that the
value of human work is declining as computers take
over tasks people used to do.
 But while computerization has increased, income and
quality of life has increased too.
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(8.2.2 Changing Skills and Jobs)
8.3 The Work Environment
8.4 Employee Monitoring
Rony Velasquez
9
8.2.2 Changing Skills and Jobs
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Computers are different from earlier technologies.
 Computers eliminate a wider variety of jobs.
 The transition to new jobs will be more difficult
because of the broad impact.
The pace of improvement in speed, capability, and cost
for computers is much faster than for any previous
technology.
This pace will cause more job disruption as people find
their jobs being eliminated and they need to retrain
again and again.
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8.2.2 Changing Skills and Jobs
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Computers eliminate many high-skilled jobs.
 Software makes decisions that used to require
trained people.
 Some computer programs write computer programs,
reducing the need for trained programmers.
In 1996 to 2006, computer scientists, engineers, and
system analysts were expected to double, but the
growth was only 23%.
This might reflect the declining importance of simple
programming, but there is still a growth, not a decline.
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8.2.2 Changing Skills and Jobs
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When large numbers of people lose their jobs in a small
community, difficult social problems occur.
 This is common in a dynamic society where
technology is developing at a fast pace.
However:
 Online training programs help people to learn new
skills at their own pace whenever they have time.
 Websites with job listings help people find good jobs.
Thus, computer technology, especially the internet, can
help people find better jobs and make transitions easier.
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8.3 The Work Environment
(Background Info)
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Computers have changed the work environment.
 There’s teleworking and the impact of computer
technology on business structure.
 There’s monitoring of employee’s work, physical
location, e-mail activity, and all other internet
activity.
Teleworking/Telecommuting
 Working for an employer from home, or anywhere
else outside of the office.
 Computers, modems, fax machines, etc.
In 1990, 4 million American teleworked regularly.
In 2000, it increased to 24 million.
13
“24” on Fox. Example of teleworking disadvantages. Length: 0:54
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8.3 The Work Environment
(Teleworking Benefits)
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Benefits for employers:
 Reduced overhead
 Increased productivity
 No need for large and expensive downtown offices
Benefits for employees:
 Expenses for work clothes are reduced.
 Easier for elderly/disabled people to work from
home.
 Flexible hours
Other Benefits:
 Reduced rush-hour traffic, pollution, and gas
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8.3 The Work Environment
(Teleworking Problems)

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Some employees are less productive, while others work
too much.
Children or spouses can be a distraction.
Other problems:
 Stress, giving up space at home for office
equipment, maintenance of equipment, social
isolation
 Lack of “visibility” in the office can be a disadvantage
when promotions and bonuses are awarded.
Aside from benefits and problems to teleworking, there
are several side effects.
 An urban policy researcher observed that
teleworking might encourage a return to involvement
into one’s local community.
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“The Office” on NBC. At the office, but low productivity. Length: 1:26
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8.3 The Work Environment
(Restrictions on Telework)

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Local governments and labor unions tried to stop
teleworking in the 1980s.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) tried to regulate it in 1999.
Local laws sometimes prohibit home businesses from
receiving deliveries or having customers at their homes.
However, efforts to stop computer work at home quickly
failed since the amount of teleworkers increased
dramatically.
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8.3 The Work Environment
(Changing Business Structures)

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Different observers see trends going in opposite
directions for the impact of computers on the size and
structure of business.
 Some see the trends going toward smaller
businesses.
 Some see computers contributing to the growth of
large, multinational corporations.
 In January 2000, AOL announced plans to acquire
Time Warner. At the time, the merger was the
largest deal in history, combining the nation’s top
ISP with the world’s top media company. (Source:
http://money.cnn.com/2000/01/10/deals/aol_warner
)
There were many big mergers and buy-outs in the
1990s, and more are negotiated regularly now.
But large companies are also splitting up into smaller
units and branches.
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8.3 The Work Environment
(Changing Business Structures)

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Furthermore, the availability of information technology is
causing many businesses to give workers more
information and more decision-making authority.
 Example: Credit-card company service
representatives can make decisions to cancel a late
charge.
The need for middle managers is decreasing.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Background Info)


Old methods:
 Total hours monitored by time clocks
 Total output manually counted
 Phone calls recorded on tape
 Security cameras recorded on tape
With new methods, monitoring with the use of
computers can be constant, more detailed, and unseen
by the worker.
 Remote viewing of a worker’s computer
 Phone conversations, e-mail, internet logs, physical
surveillance can be stored in larger amounts on hard
drives.
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“The Office” on NBC. E-mail surveillance. Length: 1:40
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Data Entry, Phone Work, Retail)

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Employers sometimes set keystroke quotas, and make
these records of employees’ performance public in the
workplace to encourage competition among workers.
Phone number, duration of a call, and the idle time
between calls can be logged.
The purpose is to evaluate individual employees and to
measure productivity.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Data Entry, Phone Work, Retail)

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Negative views of employee monitoring:
 Diminished sense of dignity
 Confidence destroyed
 Workers are treated like machines
 Causes stress
 Too much emphasis on quantity instead of quality
Many argue that monitoring customer service calls is a
privacy issue.
 Employers argue that there’s no privacy issue. The
calls are not personal ones, they’re calls with a
customer/client.
 They’re supposed to be related to the job.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Data Entry, Phone Work, Retail)

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Complaints about monitoring led to many large firms
and industries to establish clear and detailed monitoring
policies.
According to a recent study, companies are also
concerned about making sure e-mail isn’t used to leak
company trade secrets or other intellectual property.
 According to the survey, more than “one in three”
companies investigated a suspected e-mail leak of
confidential information in a 12 month period.
 More than “one in four” companies have fired an
employee for violating e-mail policies in a 12 month
period.
 (Source:
http://news.com.com/Companies+ramping+up+email+monitoring/2100-1022_3-5738134.html)
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Data Entry, Phone Work, Retail)
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In retail environments, employee monitoring is used to
reduce theft.
Theft by retail-store employees amounts to more than
losses from shoplifters.
Some stores use software that monitors transactions at
the cash registers, searching for suspicious patterns.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Location Monitoring)

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Electronic ID badges used as door keys provide better
security.
 This can be a privacy issue, because it allows
monitoring of employees’ locations.
But there are cases where monitoring might be
necessary.
 Some hospitals have their nurses wear badges that
track their exact location so that they can be found
quickly if there’s an emergency.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(E-mail and Voicemail at Work)
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The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)
prohibits interception of e-mail without a court order, but
the ECPA makes an exception for business systems.
Approximately half of the major companies in the US
monitors employee e-mail, voicemail, and other
computer files.
Employers claim they have the right and need to monitor
the use of their facilities.
Some companies read employee e-mail only if there’s a
complaint or suspicious activity, while other companies
read all e-mail.
 E-mail is usually filtered for content that violates
laws or company policy, or content that can lead to
lawsuits.
 A common e-mail problem is harassment.
(Source: http://www.email-policy.com)
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“The Office” UK Version on BBC. Inappropriate e-mailing. Length: 1:04
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Law and Cases)

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Computers, mail, and phone systems used at work are
the property of the employer and are provided for
business purposes.
Employers are permitted by law to monitor phone calls
for business purposes.
 However, an employer must stop monitoring a call
as soon as it is apparent that the call is personal.
Clear statements of monitoring policies by the employer
is essential from an ethical perspective.
 From a practical perspective, a clear policy reduces
disputes and abuses.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Law and Cases)

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Some courts rule that if employers allow employees to use their own locks
on their lockers, the employee has an expectation of privacy.
An employee fired by Microsoft tried to sue the company, using this locker
analogy.

He claimed that Microsoft invaded his privacy by accessing e-mail that
he had stored in a personal folder, protected by a password on his
computer at work.

The court ruled against him, saying that lockers are a physical space
for storing physical items, but the password-protected folder on the
work computer is supposed to be for work purposes only.
In October 2003, Microsoft fired a worker over a blog posting.

The worker had taken a picture of a shipment of computers at the
loading dock on his way to work.

He posted the picture online, and posted that it was at Microsoft’s
shipping-and-receiving facility. The next day, his manager told him
that he was being let go.

The post was considered a security risk because a careful reader could
figure out the location of Microsoft’s shipping-and-receiving
department.

(Source:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/146115_blogger30.html)
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Law and Cases)

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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sets rules
and decides cases about work-employer relations.
Workers have a legal right to communicate with
coworkers about work conditions, and the NLRB rules in
some cases that they may do so on company e-mail
systems.
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8.4 Employee Monitoring
(Surfing the Web at Work)

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For many people, their first access to the internet was at
work in the late 1990s.
 One study counted 12,823 visits to Penthouse
magazine’s website in a single month in 1996 from
computers at IBM, Apple, and AT&T.
 Visits to adult and pornography sites were soon
overtaken by visits to chat rooms, and sites about
sports, shopping, and gambling.
Some companies found that employees spent more than
2 hours a week on nonwork internet activity.
 Employees are not working the hours that they are
paid to work.
 Another problem is that websites can determine
where a visitor is coming from.
 It can be an embarrassment if a company’s
employees are reported to be visiting pornographic
sites, or even job-hunting sites while at work.
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“The Office” on NBC. Safety and health info. Length: 1:03
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8.5 Health Issues
Dong Liu
35
8.5 Health Issues

Manufacture and Use of Computers
 Possible Health Problems:
 Radiation exposure from computer terminals
 Toxic wastes from discarded computer parts
 Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) from frequent use
of keyboards and other automated gadgets
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8.5 Health Issues
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What is RSI?
Repetitive Strain Injury

Some Possible Causes:
 Extended use of computer terminal and/or mouse
 Extended use of automated system (e.g. bar-code
scanner)
 Improper user technique or posture
 Poor ergonomic work area
Who gets RSI?

Someone whose work requires repetitive hand motion

Computer users are the newest significant group of RSI
suffers.
Ergonomic Solutions

Ergonomically-designed keyboard and mouse

Ergonomically-designed work area

Retraining proper technique (including rest breaks)
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8.5 Health Issues
Microsoft Traditional Design
Source of Pictures: Newegg.com
Microsoft Ergonomic Design
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8.5 Health Issues
Microsoft Traditional Design
Source of Pictures: Newegg.com
Microsoft Ergonomic Design
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8.5 Health Issues
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8.5 Health Issues

The Role of Management
 Be proactive with health issues.
 Give credence to employee complaints.
 Money spent to prevent injury is less than money
needed for treatment.
 Study and modify work tools and procedures to
reduce or prevent RSI.
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8.5 Health Issues

Legal Issues
 Linking keyboard usage to RSI is not clear.
 Conclusive scientific studies have not been done.
 Should input device makers be held liable for
injuries?
 Should OSHA set legally binding standards for
keyboards?
 (Discussion at the end.)
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8.5 Health Issues
Health Warning Label
from keyboard maker:
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8.5 Health Issues
(Australian Epidemic)
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In the early 1980s, Australia experienced a sudden
epidemic of RSI. The number of cases reported in one
state of Australia more than quadrupled in a five-year
period (1979-1984).
Because of the odd characteristics of the epidemic, this
study and others are considered hysteria, a phenomenon
where the physical symptoms are real, but the causes
are psychological—what we informally call the power of
suggestion.
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8.5 Health Issues
(Education and Choices)
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
Employees should learn the proper techniques for use of
tools.
Employers should provide training for employees in
proper use of tools.
Correctly choose what to do.
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Class Discussion

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
1. If more and more people started working from home
(“teleworking”), how would that affect a community? Will
being in the same area, doing errands locally, eating in local
restaurants, and so on, generate an interest in the safety and
vitality of the community? Or will teleworkers become more
disconnected with the real world?

What about differences between work habits at home and
work habits at the office? Is there a difference with the
amount of productivity?
2. What is your opinion on employee monitoring?
Employers can monitor work, communications, physical
locations, and internet activity of workers. All of this can
potentially affect productivity, privacy, and morale. Should
monitoring be limited? What are some suggestions?

Is web surfing an actual problem for employers, or is it a
high-tech equivalent of reading a newspaper or listening to
the radio at one's desk?
3. Who should be liable for RSI-related injuries? The
manufacturer, employer, or the workers themselves?

Also, is the manufacturer expected to produce a quality
product? Should the employers have to research about the
items they provide for their workers? Or should it be up to
the worker to figure out if office equipment is safe?
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