Challenges of individuals and organizations in light of low-skilled workers.

Challenges of Individuals and Organizations in Light of

Low-Skilled Workers

Introduction

The complexity of the jobs is increasing across all the industries invariably . This trend is geared by a large number of innovations in information technology as well as information and communication technology . The demand for skill has been showing an increasing trend in the case of large firms which make considerable investments in research and development , information and communication technology or any other technological improvements . The less skilled workers often do not possess the necessary skills for working on

the new and latest technologies and processes . As a repercussion of this the wage levels of the low skilled workers are either reduced or they tend to lose their jobs (Machin 2001

Factors Responsible for Lowering the Skill Levels

It is the argument offered by several authors that apart from the innovations in information technology that causes lowering of the skill levels , organizational change can also induce `skill-biased technological change . The factors that demand an upgraded skill level in the work force are actually a combination of

Innovations in the information and communication technology

Reorganization of the work place or processes and

Introduction of new and improved products and services

All the above or a combination of the above factors are responsible for the importance of upgrading the skill level of labor force in any organization (Caroli Van Reenen , 2001 Bresnahan , Brynjolfsson Hitt 2002 . This also implies that the complexity of the jobs increases much larger than the upgrading of the skills on the basis of the technological developments and therefore there is a constant gap in the skill levels

Impact of Technological Changes on Skill Levels

Apart from necessitating the improvements in the skill levels demanded by the labor market , the technological and organizational changes also cause shifts in the types of skills required by various organizations Green et al (2000 ) observe that skills like trouble shooting skills communication skills , computing skills and social skills are some of the areas where there has been an increased demand , while the demand for manual skills are showing a declining trend . The rapid technological and organizational changes may result in the obsolescence of human capital in the areas where the changes are numerous . This phenomenon may seriously affect those workers who had a break in their employment careers . Changes in the technology and organization may also seriously hit the employment potential of older workers who possess older skill sets who might suffer from skill obsolescence

Position of Individual Low-Skilled Workers

The necessity for continuously upgrading the skill levels in most of the occupational fields virtually threatens the safe position of the low-skilled work force in the labor market . This is especially the case with those low-skilled workers who are thrown out of their traditional occupational fields and who are searching for new domains to continue their employment (Borghans De Grip , 2000 Jacobebbinghaus Zwick 2002 . This implies that the low skilled workers are bound by the contracts they have already entered into which...