The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 14
COVER STORY
" Technology in the workplace has provided immense benefits
for humanity, but it also has been a threat to the way people
have worked, which has often reduced some humans to mere
automatons. For example, if you think about large employers
in North America-such as Amazon, or Walmart-they have
used technology and technological systems to make the
production and distribution of goods far more efficient. But,
this has reduced workers to what often feels like mere cogs in
a broader system. "
THE OFFICE
The history of workplace technology in the office is recent
enough that many will remember having worked through
previous iterations.
" From the 1970s to 1990s, much of office work required us
to be tethered to desks that included typewriters or computers
or other administrative tools. Given the events of recent years,
there's been a huge shift around where we do our work. This
has been accelerated by advances in online software that allow
us to have virtual meetings or share documents. "
Workplace technology developed for fields broadly referred
to as knowledge work provides an interesting counterpoint to
the previous example of the assembly line.
" The most important development in office work has been
the smartphone, which takes all the old capabilities of the
office and shrinks it down into the palm of our hand. It has
taken the office out of the office and made it an aspect of
people's existence throughout the day.
" Technology allows individual workers to be much more
efficient, which means they are expected to do more. The
biggest lesson is that humanity's use of technology obviously
has benefits, but it can also have drawbacks. And it's not a
panacea for all of our problems in the workplace or elsewhere. "
THE FUTURE
Looking back on assembly lines to today's Amazon
warehouses, it's easy to see how workplace technology can be
used in a way that benefits society and the economy, but at the
workers' expense. Although many recent advancements have
somewhat had the opposite effect, freeing workers to find new
ways to accomplish their goals.
" There is a real difference in the way we think about
technology in the workplace. It can be a form of work or toil
or can allow our workplace creativity to flourish. Most jobs
are places where technology is used in a fairly simple way that
makes work more efficient and speeds up workplace processes.
" Increasingly, there are a lot of workplaces where technology
allows people to embrace the creative and avoid the less toiloriented
outcomes in their jobs. My hope is that in the future
more work becomes directed towards creative outcomes and
that workplaces are less burdened by technology and instead
are more liberated by it. "
Technological change is inevitable. But as we adopt new
technologies, it's worth pausing to ask, is this technology serving
workers or asking them to serve it? Instead, we need to act as
the stewards of change, using new advances as they become
available to us to build the tomorrow we all want to be a part of.
14
THE ONTARIO BROKER
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5
Contents
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - Cover1
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - Cover2
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - Contents
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 4
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 5
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 6
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 7
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 8
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 9
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 10
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 11
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 12
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 13
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 14
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 15
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 16
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 17
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 18
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 19
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 20
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 21
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 22
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 23
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 24
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 25
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 26
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 27
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 28
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 29
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 30
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 31
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 32
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 33
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 34
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 35
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 36
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 37
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 38
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 39
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 40
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 41
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 42
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 43
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 44
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 45
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 46
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 47
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 48
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 49
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 50
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 51
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 52
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 53
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 54
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 55
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 56
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 57
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - 58
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - Cover3
The Ontario Broker - Volume 22, Issue 5 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com