Abstract
People and organizations have been witnessing tremendous changes taking place in the job market. Technologies (ex. AI, machine learning, IoT) are pushing individuals away from their comfort zone and forcing them to adapt, to develop new skills and to reinvent their job positions. Reports on the changes in the workplace and on the workforce have been raising concerns about the potential of AI to replace humans in job positions. The current challenges, brought by the 4th IR, have been providing countless opportunities for business growth, optimization and internationalization; however, tremendous concerns are currently raised regarding the sustainability of the human resources which are currently on the market and of those who are being trained to enter it. In this chapter, the authors focus on administrative job positions, which have been pointed out as one of the most prone to be taken over by AI and identify the already available technologies that can perform the job description tasks, as a current diagnose of the profession.
TopThe 4th Industrial Revolution (4th IR) and the digitalisation are transforming the way we live, socialise and work. Besides the changes being visible in the business models, in communication and collaboration, in the relationship between our working and private life, in the structure and organisational hierarchies, technologies are also impacting the employment itself. According to a study carried out by the Oxford University (David, 2015; Frey & Osborne, 2017), 47% of the job occupations in the United States are at risk of being replaced by technologies or automatization and work becomes more digital, virtual and remote. Moreover, according to the report of the WEF 2018 (WEF, 2018), “the wave of technological advancement is set to reduce the number of workers required for certain tasks” (p. v). It is also stated that there will be an increase in the “demand for new roles” and a “decrease demand for others”. Of course, these changes will not be the same all over the world and in all industries, but the trend is set globally (Arntz, Gregory, & Zierahn, 2016).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Automation: Refers to the set of sustainable technologies that are used to support traditional ways of operating in an organization or an industry by technological means.
Digital Transformation: The processes by which the technology-immersed workplace affects the formats of work, communication, and collaboration. Used as a synonym for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Fourth Industrial Revolution: Industrial revolution is driven by systems involving entirely new capabilities for people and machines. Represents new ways to embed technology in society and induces new ways of working and thinking for human and corporate matters. Used as a synonym for Digital Transformation.
Innovation: Refers to the set of disruptive technologies that are used to fundamentally challenge and change the work practices and the requirements of the workforce.
Executive Assistants: The top level of the career of administrative job positions, in which the professional is expected to perform tasks related with communication, problem-solving, negotiation, and support to the top-level executives of a company/organization.
Skill: Understood as the proficiency developed through training or experience and is the sum of skills, knowledge and abilities. Define a specific learned activity, whereas ‘ability’ is the capacity of performing a task regardless of the proficiency and can be innated (not learned). Skill is used as a synonym for Competence.
Administrative Assistants: The basic level of the career of administrative job positions, in which the professional is expected to perform operational tasks, and to possess instrumental knowledge or knowledge competence mainly in clerical, computer and electronics domain.
Workforce 4.0: Refers to the high technological profile, requirements, and challenges of the next level workforce. Used as a synonym of Industry 4.0.
Artificial Intelligence: Refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.