The Changing Nature of Jobs and Its Psychological Aspect

Covid-19 and Paradigm Shifting

Every life-threatening crisis creates pressure on the existing paradigm and brings forth a lot of alternatives to reflect. The global coronavirus pandemic is no exception. It has forced the whole world to think twice and reconsider many options which are immensely popular but nobody thinks that these will perish so early.

It is no doubt that the global pandemic is the biggest catastrophe in modern human history, which has already taken over four million lives worldwide in less than eighteen months. The pride of human greatness comes to a standstill.

Moreover, it gets still reminded again about the vulnerability of the human race, the most wonderful creature of the Almighty on the planet. Disaster is not always bad because it always makes humans rethink, redesign and shift the paradigm.

We are going to discuss below what reflections are now in perspective especially in work and can be a reality very soon.

The Disappearance of Physical Atmosphere of an Office

It has been almost two years that we are struggling hard to cope with the pandemic. Strict lockdowns have been imposed and going on for months.

Companies have been forced to get most of their work done while keeping their workforce at home. This trend is increasingly becoming a new normal for many companies which generally spend a lot of money each year for their physical base year.

Suddenly, a shift in paradigm has taken place. More and more companies are accepting this reality every day and shrinking the number of their activities performed in the formal office structures. It is saving huge operational costs for many. The pandemic will be over one day that may be sooner or later but will the companies come back to their physical base again?

Most of the Job Done Online

Most of the jobs are now being done online except the ones which require human presence mandatory. For example, many companies have been able to reduce hard paper-based documents which require manual handling before. The Workforce that does this has become unnecessary.

Even the most critical documents are being stored in clouds. Physical verifications are also declining. All these have a changing effect on the work, which mandate people to come to their workplace before.

Change in the Way How People Communicate

With the decline in face-to-face communication, most of the communications are done online now. This has mixed reactions. Face-to-face engagement is more effective communication in the sense that it is easier to read emotions, feelings and surroundings which help to empathize and understand the matter truly.

But online communications miss those aspects, resulting in more confusion, misunderstandings and conflicts. Virtual meetings are effective though. It saves a huge amount of time which was lost previously in the formal meetings.

Change in Social Aspect of Work Place

The social aspect in a workplace means how people exchange or interact with their thoughts, emotions, feelings. In the case of face-to-face communications, these are direct and clear. As a result, there is little chance of failed communications.

Moreover, people can engage in other ways like passing some spare time, making fun, energizing themselves. These social aspects may be outdated and put into the museum after few days.

Imminent Changes in Cultural Aspect

Culture or cultural changes are lucrative topics. One of the most demanding jobs as well. But the question is that what would be its nature if there is no physical formal office atmosphere and usual social aspects become completely vanished. What would be the cultural aspects in the digital age is probably yet to be defined.

No Geographic Barrier

This is no more a new concept. In the digital age, the job space is the whole world. There is no geographic boundary. As a result, huge effectiveness is achieved in terms of choosing the right types of candidates from anywhere with a relatively lower salary and fewer benefits.

In addition, this has also opened up an opportunity for the poorer nations because the developed ones are now looking for equally skilled persons with more enthusiasm and energy.

Increased Risk in Virtual Workplace

Virtual workplaces are immensely beneficial but there is no doubt that it is associated with a heightened level of risk as well if the security system is fragile.

If digital criminals take control of those once, they will steal everything from the system and the whole system will collapse. Overnight, it can also cause damage to any type of assets including, money, personal data, sensitive information etc.

The severe loss that a company may incur is the loss of confidence among the customers regarding the authenticity of the systems.

Most of the Jobs are Getting Automated

Any type of job is getting automated very quickly. More and more jobs are done every day without the human touch. More and more cutting-edge technology is being available in the market to get the job done more effectively.

Just think of the 3-d printer. It can build a house in hours with utter precision. No workers are needed. Just give the instruction through computer software to an automated cooking machine and put the ingredients, the food you are fond of will be made in minutes.

Automation will also take up more jobs in the next few years, especially during the pandemic. It is true that automation is leaving people jobless. But companies must move on to easier and cheaper solutions whenever these are available.

This trend will be more widespread with the bustling potentials of Artificial Intelligence. Probably, after waiting for too long, this era is going to experience the greater potentiality of the machines more than ever.

Too Much Simplicity, Too Much Complexity

Simplicity is a blessing but, on the other hand, complexity is also increasing. People are losing jobs. How will this growing number of people be taken care of? The company’s income is increasing with the help of automated jobs.

A great level of efficiency is being achieved. But who will pay for the families of those who are destitute and poor? There is an acute unemployment problem in almost every country in the world. The rich ones are no exception either. But in poor regions, the problem is unimaginable because of a huge population with fewer employment opportunities.

Managing Livelihood in Coming Decades

Once, it is thought that livelihood is just for one time in life. Complete your study, get a job and the whole life will be run based on a single job. This concept has changed massively.

Now, the generations are more dynamic. Their tendency is to change jobs frequently and looking for better packages. The future will certainly offer more adventures for them.

Moreover, The nature of the job is also changing very fast. The number of manual jobs is declining and machines are taking the place. Various types of outsourcing jobs are creating multiple opportunities for the youths and the income they are generating from those is significant.

In the coming decades, the rich will spend lots of spare time because of automated jobs and still earn a sizable amount of money from social security benefits. The poor will pass a busy time doing the jobs which will be outsourced from the rich countries. The income of the poor will also increase significantly.

Compulsory Social Security Benefits for All

Governments have to impose special taxes on the machines which are taking away human’s jobs. The money collected from those will then be distributed to the economically vulnerable classes.

Now the question is that if almost 75% of all jobs get automated, what will the humans do? Actually, it is going to be the new normal very soon.

it is right that they will not have a job but this will not matter too much. Still, their prosperity will go up as they will get a significant amount from their governments as social security benefits.

Many will live a luxurious life even without a job. People will have more spare time. Another positive visualization is that most of the people will spend most of their time in creative activities.

Breaking Down of Social Status Quo

A job means a lot to an individual. It means source of earning, fulfillment of expectations, happiness, satisfaction etc. A job is also a symbol of status in social hierarchies.

Because of a job, people get respected, listened and prioritized. But if the job is not there, what will happen? Will these social parameters vanish? Maybe, the answer is yes. More sense of equality will be established and the job-related status quo will be demolished.

Last Words

For ages, there has been a superstition that if technology takes over, human welfare will reduce. Moreover, A certain group of people also perceive technology as a threat to their existence. The history never testifies that.

Always human’s opulence has gone up with the innovation. Human life has become easier and day-to-day living has been cheaper. So, there is no reason to fear that mass technological development will wipe out all the contributions of humans.

But the governments must impose taxation in an exact way for the proper distribution of wealth among the poor. If these steps are taken at the right time, there will be no negative impact on human psychology.

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