The fourth industrial revolution and the future of manufacturing work in Australia: challenges and opportunities

Dean, Mark; Spoehr, John

doi:10.1080/10301763.2018.1502644

Cited by 47 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The significance of the issue of the impact of Industry 4.0 on employees and the jobs performed by them, results from the belief that the industrial revolution will translate into a rapid increase in the efficiency of enterprises [15,16]. Human capital is the main resource of each enterprise [17], and its proper use allows for the achievement of the enterprise's goals and meeting the current and future market requirements [18], as well as gaining a competitive advantage.…”

Section: I4mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on Employees—Insights from Australia

Ejsmont

2021

Sustainability

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Currently, Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is the most popular concept relating to changes in the functioning of industrial enterprises. Industry 4.0 has been discussed in the actual literature mainly from a technological perspective, overlooking social challenges regarding this fourth industrial revolution. The objective of this article is to diagnose the impact of I4.0 on employees. This aim will be achieved by (1) a literature review of existing research efforts, (2) conducting structured interviews, and (3) summarizing the current state of knowledge and providing a definition of further work. Scopus, Web of Science, and a set of specific keywords were used to select peer-reviewed articles showing evidence of the impact of I4.0 on employees/jobs in given countries or industries. After determining the current state of research in this area, it was decided to conduct structured interviews questionnaire in the country (Australia) and industry (horticulture), which had not been covered by the research in this topic so far. The main contribution of the article was the development and validation of a comprehensive research agenda on the impact of I4.0 on employees. The obtained results suggest that the impact of I4.0 on employees is significant, and the changes occur in many different categories related to human work. The impact of I4.0 was identified both at the macro (labor market) and micro (jobs) level.

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Section: I4mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on Employees—Insights from Australia

Ejsmont

2021

Sustainability

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“…• Compromised health, well-being and work-life balance (Dean and Spoehr, 2018;Sharma, 2020); • Housing insecurity (Beer et al, 2016); • Negative impacts upon family planning and social life (Anwar and Graham, 2020; Chan and Tweedie, 2015); • Reduced social mobility (Burgess et al, 2013).…”

Section: Emergence or Resurgence Of The 'Gig' Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Australian Government’s business-friendly employment response to COVID-19: A critical discourse analysis

O’Keeffe

Papadopoulos

2021

Econ. labour relat. rev.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has created economic crises and considerable loss of employment throughout the world. In the Australian context, social distancing restrictions and business closures contributed to a dramatic increase in unemployment, with 780,000 people losing work within weeks of the first COVID-19 outbreaks. Job losses were concentrated in casualised industries such as retail, recreation, arts and culture, hospitality, and accommodation. We examine policy discourses framing independent work, entrepreneurial workers and flexible work relations as essential for ‘economic recovery’, where this means business flexibility, productivity and future economic prosperity. We draw on these framings to show how the equation of flexible work relations and productivity underpins the Australian Government’s response to unemployment caused by the pandemic, as reflected in policy announcements and proposed changes to industrial relations law. In these proposals, constructions of ‘job creation’ and ‘economic recovery’ rationalise industrial relations changes that further empower business, through conflating public and business interest. At the same time, ensuing labour market deregulation and the changing profile of business renders the very idea of ‘jobs’ tendentious. JEL Codes: J08, J28, J31, J38

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“…Some governments are coming up with digital strategies to unlock the benefits of 4IR to their economies. The Australian government came up with a number of initiatives which include a National Innovation and Science agenda, the Next Generation Technologies Fund of the department of Defense to assist SMEs in supplying digital products to the defense forces, the Prime Minister's Industry 4.0 Taskforce and agreements with the German on collaboration among others (Dean & Spoehr, 2018).…”

Section: Regulators and Policy Makersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jobs 4.0: Are Botswana Workers Ready?

2021

DCS

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This paper attempts to unravel the potential social effects of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) on Botswana employees. The authors investigated employees' level of awareness and preparedness for an era of full blown 4IR adoption. Utilizing purposive sampling, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 52 employees in Gaborone. This work employed the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT). The major findings of the study are: 50% of respondents confirmed their preparedness for the adoption of 4IR technologies; 48% believed that the rest of employees in their organization were prepared for 4IR; 65% said they were prepared to embrace and take advantage of the efficiencies brought about by 4IR; job roles are likely to change significantly with some roles disappearing and new roles emerging; and critical thinking, complex problem solving, innovation and digital related skills are bound to be more in demand. The outcomes of this research will serve as a wakeup call to Botswana employees, to equip themselves and future generations with requisite skills, for the changing roles. Furthermore, organizations will also use the outcomes to consider reskilling their employees accordingly. For educators, the study will encourage consideration and alignment of the curricular while in terms of and for policy formulation, it will engender reflecting on the regulatory frameworks to align them to the demands of the new era.

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The fourth industrial revolution and the future of manufacturing work in Australia: challenges and opportunities

Cited by 47 publications

References 22 publications

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on Employees—Insights from Australia

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on Employees—Insights from Australia

The Australian Government’s business-friendly employment response to COVID-19: A critical discourse analysis

Jobs 4.0: Are Botswana Workers Ready?

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