A Gift of Fire

Third edition

Sara Baase

Chapter 6: Work

IT-214 Fall 2011

 What We Will Cover
• Fears and Questions
• The Impact on Employment
• The Work Environment
• E l
Employee C
Crime
i
• Employee Monitoring
 Fears and Questions
• The introduction of computers in the workplace
generated many fears
– “Experts”
Experts saw computers as threat to workers
– Mass unemployment due to increased efficiency
• Fewer workers required to do the same work
• What happens to workers no longer needed?
– The need for increased skill and training widens
the earning
gggap
p
• Those who acquire new skills for computerized
workplace become more valuable
• Those who do not acquire new skills become less
valuable
 Fears and Questions

• New trends still generating fears

– Offshoring
g of jjobs will lead to mass unemployment
p y
• Opponents fear it will eliminate a huge number of jobs
here at home
– Employers use of technology to monitor their
employees
• Technology gives ability to monitor employees far beyond
what was p
possible in the traditional workplace
p and
beyond…
 The Impact on Employment
Job Creation and destruction:
• A successful technology eliminates or reduces some jobs
but creates others
– Reduced the need for telephone operators, meter readers, bank
tellers
• Operators dropped 60% - long distance calls increased nearly 10-fold
 The Impact on Employment
Job Creation and destruction:
• New industries arise
– Internet
– Cellular communications
– Dad’s mobile phone vs today
• Size, range, capability
 The Impact on Employment

Job Creation and destruction:

• Lower pprices increase demand and create jjobs
– Clothing industry
• Much more productive = initial decrease in jobs
• Prices dropped dramatically
• Demand rose dramatically
• End result was more jobs to meet demand
– Electronics industry
industry….
 The Impact on Employment
(cont.)
Job Creation and destruction:
• Unemployment
p y rates fluctuate
– Growth of computers & technology has been
steady, while unemployment has fluctuated widely
• Other economic/social factors influence
– Children are working less that in the past
• Technology eliminated some jobs they performed
 The Impact on Employment
(cont.)
Job Creation and destruction:
• Are we earning less?
– Since the 1970s
1970s, manufacturing wages decreased
slightly, but fringe benefits increased
• Total compensation up 17%
• Disagreement
g about figures
g and whether computers
p are
a causal factor
 The Impact on Employment
(cont.)
Job Creation and destruction:
• Are we earning less?
– People work fewer hours since the Industrial
Revolution
• 10 – 12 hr days
days, 6 day work weeks no longer norm
• Some choose to work more for increased benefit
– Purchasing power increases as prices fall
• Quality of life measure in terms of how long we must
work to purchase needed/desired items
• 3# grnd rnd $1.00 @ hrly wage vs price & wage today
 How
H long
l g we work
k tto
buy….
y
Product 1900 1920 1970 1990 -
2000
Milk (1/2 gal) 56 min 37 min 10 min 7 min
Chicken 2 66 hrs 2.5
2.66 2 5 hrs 22 min 14 min
Bread 13 min 4 min 3.5 min
Air travel 12.75 hrs 102 min 62 min
(100 miles)
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
Changing Skill Levels:
• The new jobs created from computers are different
from the jobs eliminated
• Changed the nature of traditional jobs
– Require different skills
• More and more jobs involve the computer
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
Changing Skill Levels:
• New jobs such as computer engineer and system
analyst jobs require a college degree,
– Education system adapts to offer required training
• Changes in public education curriculum
• Me vs you
• Companies are more willing to hire people without
specific skills when they can train new people quickly
and use automated support systems
– Programs to analyze loan applications, etc.
– Require less training/knowledge for users
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
A Global Workforce:
• Outsourcing - phenomenon where a company pays
another company
p y to build p
parts for its p
products or
services instead of performing those tasks itself
– Can’t afford resources in-house
• Personnel
• Computer equipment
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
A Global Workforce: (cont.)
• Offshoring - the practice of moving business
processes or services to another country,
p y, especially
p y
overseas, to reduce costs
– Has negative connotation for many
• “Corporate greed”
• Challenged as “unethical”
– What are “ethical” considerations? p. 322 - 325
• Responsibilities to?
• Ownership?
O hi ?
• Workers in either country?
• Customers?
– How prevalent is it?
• Is it really putting domestic workers out of jobs?
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
A Global Workforce (cont.):
• Problems and side effects of offshoring:
– Consumers complain about customer
service representatives, because accents
are difficult to understand
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
A Global Workforce (cont.):
• Problems and side effects of offshoring:
– Employees in U.S. companies need new job skills
(e.g., managing, working with foreign colleagues)
• Different labor laws
• Different cultures
• Time differences
• Sometimes advantage – staggered work hrs
• Sometimes not - meetings
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
A Global Workforce (cont.):
• Problems and side effects of offshoring:
– Increased demand for high-skill workers in other
countries forces salaries up
• Economic advantage
g may
y eventually
y be lost
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
Getting a Job:
• Learning about jobs and companies
– Online company histories and annual reports
– Job search and resume sites
• Apply on-line
on line more common
• Sometimes required
• Internships
• Can
Can’tt interview unless on-line
on line app submitted
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
Getting a Job:
• Learning
L i about
b t applicants
li t andd employees
l
– Search online social networks
• Is social networking information public or
private?
 The Impact on
Employment (cont.)
Getting a Job:
– Prospective employees may craft an online profile
and presence geared towards the job they want
• Odie
– Is it ethical for employers to search social
networking sites for info on applicants or
employees
• Seiple
 The Work Environment
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting:
• Telecommuting g
– Working at home using a computer
electronically linked to one's place of
employment
–Access resources remotely
–Server shares & information
–Office PC
 The Work Environment
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting:
• Telecommuting g
– Fulltime and part-time telecommuting
–Many
Many people access workplace
resources part-time or occaisionally
–Some work full time
–Company may be in another state
 The Work Environment
(cont.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
• Benefits
– Reduces overhead for employers
– Cheaper to provide computer – laptop – than to
provide traditional office space
– Reduces
R d needd ffor llarge offices
ffi
– Employees are more productive, satisfied, and
loyal
– Some are more focused, work on their own
schedule
– Avoid long, aggravating commutes
 The Work Environment
(cont.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
• Benefits
– Reduces traffic congestion,
congestion pollution,
pollution gasoline
use, and stress
– Reduces expenses for commuting and money
spent on work clothes
– Work at home in your jammies
– My gas costs for commute $2,000.00 per year
– Allows work to continue after blizzards,
hurricanes, etc.
– No snow days?
 The Work Environment
(cont.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
• Problems
– Employers
Emplo ers see resentment from those who ho ha
havee
to work at the office
– Some jobs not suitable for telecommuting
– For some telecommuting employees, corporation
loyalty weakens
– Role is more similar to independent contractor
than to company employee or team member
– How does it fit with trend towards more
collaborati e emphasis in most businesses?
collaborative b sinesses?
 The Work Environment
(cont.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
• Problems
– Odd work
ork ho
hours
rs
– Some work “too much” – some not enough
– Available for contact duringg “office hours”?
– Cost for office space has shifted to the employee
– Should employee be given increased $$$?
– Work place physical standards?
– Employee safety
– Security of company records
records, docs
docs, etc
etc.
– Establish policy?
 The Work Environment
(cont.)
Job Dispersal and Telecommuting (cont.):
• Problems
– Security
Sec rit risks when
hen work
ork and personal acti
activities
ities
reside on the same computer
– What is company’s & what’s mine?
– Common practice is to provide laptop or PC
with company configuration and security
– Authorized for company use only
– VPN and other special security
 The Work Environment
(cont.)
Social implications:
• Sense of communityy
• Telecommuters more or less isolated?
• Loss of contact with co-workers
• Workplace social interaction
• Spend
p more time in community
y
• Allow more involvement?
• Vs traditional commuter
 The Work Environment
Discussion Questions

• Would you want to telecommute? Why or

why not?
 Employee Crime
• Embezzlement - fraudulent appropriation of
property by a person to whom it has been
entrusted
• Trusted employees have stolen millions of
dollars
• VW $200
$ million loss ffrom ffraud by high-
level employees
• Technology often enables act & concealment
• Access to databases vs locked file cabinet
• Electronic transfers vs p physical
y documents
• Remote vs physical presence
 Employee Crime
• Angry fired employees sabotage company
systems
• Standard practice with dismissals
• Lock accounts immediately
• Escort to collect belongings and exit
• Danielle situation
• Long notice required
• Backup PC, restrict access
• Make changes while notice being given
 Employee Crime
• Logic bomb - software that destroys critical files
(payroll and inventory records) after employee
leaves
• Manufacturing sys admin
• Ex- sys admin crashed system via secret
back-door access to system
• Tried to extort company to fix
• Prosecuted and jailed
• Recent example
 Employee Monitoring
Background:
• Monitoring in the past
– Early monitoring was mostly ‘blue-collar’
jobs
–Time-clocks
Ti l k
–Monitor work hours
–Work
Work logs
–Monitor activities
 Employee Monitoring
Background:
• Monitoring in the past (cont.)
– Output counts at the end of the day
–Monitor productivity
–Expect x number of widgets per hour
– Bosses patrolled the aisles watching
workers
–Physical “surveillance”
–Fairly
Fairly obvious when under way
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today
• Data entry
–Key stroke quotas
–Minimum standard
–Encourage competition
–Incentives for exceeding minimum
standard
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today (cont.)
• Phone work
– Number
N mber and d duration
ration of calls
–Standards for both
– Idle time between calls
– Randomly listen in on calls
–“This call may be recorded or monitored
f quality
for lit assurance purposes…””
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today (cont.)
• Retail
– Surveillance to reduce theft by employees
–Video surveillance
–All those plastic bubbles in ceilings
–Analysis of cash register activity
–Identify
Id tif suspicious
i i ttransaction
ti
patterns
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today (cont.)
Location Monitoring:
• Cards and badges used as electronic keys
increase securityy but track employee
y
movements
• Project labs OU213x security system
• University ID card
• Corporate buildings require card to move
from area to area
• IBM, Poughkeepsie – “no tailgating”
• Open door alarms
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring
M it i ttoday
d ((cont.)
t)
Location Monitoring:
• GPS tracks an employee
employee's
s location
– Used in some hospitals to track nurse
locations for emergency purposes
–Also shows where they are at lunch, etc.
–Track employee associations?
–Implications?
Implications?
–When they use the bathroom
–Appropriate?
Appropriate?
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring
M it i ttoday
d ((cont.)
t)
Location Monitoring:
– Used to track long-haul trucks to reduce
theft and optimize delivery schedules
–Location of truck
–Suspicious stops or detours from route
–Detects driving speeds
–Duration
Duration of drive time between rest
breaks
–Duration of rest breaks
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today (cont.)
Location Monitoring:
• Employees
Emplo ees often complain of loss of pri
privacy
ac
• What’s appropriate?
• Cell phones w/GPS?
• Company plan
• Provided as “benefit”
• Should it have limits?
• Chip implants?
• Access to high security areas?
• Public policy / law?
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today (cont.)

• H
How iis employee
l monitoring
it i with
ith ttoday’s
d ’
technology different from employee
monitoring in the past?
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
Monitoring today (cont.)

• H
How iis employee
l monitoring
it i with
ith ttoday’s
d ’
technology different from employee
monitoring in the past?
• More pervasive
• What, when, where
• Less
L obvious
b i / iinvisible
i ibl
• Employees don’t know if, when
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use:
• E-mail and voice mail at work
– Who “owns” your email account
–ISU email?
–Faculty/staff vs student?
– Employees often assume passwords mean
they are private
–How private is it?
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use:
• E-mail and voice mail at work
– Roughly half of major companies in the
U.S. monitor or search employee e-mail,
voice mail
mail, or computer files
– Most companies monitor infrequently,
some routinely intercept all e-mail
e mail
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use:
• E-mail and voice mail at work
– Why do companies monitor email?
–Liability for misuse of company
resources
–Complaints and civil actions not
uncommon
–Lack of efforts to prevent abuse or
enforce ppolicy
y can lead to liability
y
exposure
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use:
• E-mail and voice mail at work
– Why do companies monitor email?
–Protect proprietary business information
–Trade secrets, customer lists, etc
–Investigate complaints of harassment
–Investigate possible criminal activity
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
• Law and cases
– Electronic
El t i Communications
C i ti P
Privacy
i A
Actt
(ECPA) prohibits interception of e-mail and
reading stored e-mail without a court order
–Makes an exception for business
systems
– Courts put heavy weight on the fact that
computers, mail, and phone systems are
owned by the employer who provides them
for business purposes
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
• Law and cases (cont.)
– Courts
C t haveh ruled
l d against
i t monitoring
it i d done
for purposes that are not considered
legitimate, such as:
–Snooping on personal information
–Snooping on union activities
–Tracking
T ki down d whistle
hi tl blowers
bl
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
• Law and cases (cont.)
– Many
M employers
l h
have privacy
i policies
li i
regarding e-mail and voice mail
–Such
Such a policy may provide a “reasonable
reasonable
expectation of privacy” if it explicitly
states that employee email is “private”
–Commonly,
Commonly policies explicitly state that
company email systems are “not private”.
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
• Some companies block specific sites (e.g.
adult
d l content, sports sites,
i jjob
b search
h sites,
i
social-network sites)
• Black lists vs white lists
• Content filters
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
• Employees spend time on non-work activities
on the
h WWeb b
• Lost productivity
• Concerns
C over security
it th
threats
t suchh as
viruses and other malicious software
• Vulnerabilities in web applications
• Downloading infected files
 Employee Monitoring
(cont.)
E-Mail, Blogging, and Web Use (cont.):
• Concerns about inappropriate activities by
employees
l ((e.g., h
harassment, unprofessional
f i l
comment)
• Could be traced back to company system
and lead to liability or embarrassment
• Government agency employees
activities traced back
 Employee Monitoring
Discussion Questions
• To a large degree, people act the way they
feel they are expected to act. Does intense
monitoring send a message that influences
behavior?