Given the significant changes that are expected in the nature of work as a consequence of rapid technological advances, it is crucial that society finds ways to maximize benefits while recognizing and mitigating related challenges. In this context, in order to fill the research gap on how aware and prepared affected workers are for the challenges predicted by research, and after conducting an in-depth analysis of the data we collected at Future for Work Institute for the study “los trabajadores españoles ante la automatización” published in March 2019, Carolina Rodriguez-Bustelo, Joan Manuel Batista-Foguet, and Ricard Serlavós, from ESADE Business School, have written an article that has been recently published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

The article, titled Debating the Future of Work: The Perception and Reaction of the Spanish Workforce to Digitization and Automation Technologies, reveals the existence of various significant relationships among workers’ characteristics and their attitude towards automation. The results surprisingly showed that respondents’ level of fear appears to have little influence on their level of preparation for the future. In contrast to this, the results indicate that workers’ perceived opportunity does significantly positively impact their preparation for automation. Furthermore, the characteristics that showed the greatest influence not only on fear but also on preparatory steps taken by respondents are their level of education, work complexity as well as work position (occupation, industry, and sector). 

The authors conclude that the results of this article could provide a way for researchers and stakeholders to differentiate between types of workers and identify their specific needs more reliably. In order to consequently adequately address these needs and the labor requirements of the future, awareness and opportunities for personal development have to be ensured in the workplace and wherever future workers are educated by all relevant parts of society.

Reference

Rodriguez-Bustelo C, Batista-Foguet JM and Serlavós R (2020) Debating the Future of Work: The Perception and Reaction of the Spanish Workforce to Digitization and Automation Technologies. Front. Psychol. 11:1965. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01965