Digitalization and automation offer opportunities for employees
However, the biggest problem with automation is not the transformation process and digitalization itself, but the uncertainty that this innovation triggers. Despite the advantages that structural change brings, many employees are skeptical about the current trend.
"Many people fear for their jobs due to increasing automation"
says Christian Rampelt, founder and managing director of dfind.com, and he adds:
"New processes also offer great opportunities for the German labor market."
The Leibniz Center for European Economic Research, for example, does not rule out the possibility in an information paper that automation will also have job-saving effects.
After all, the basic idea behind automation is to restructure processes with repetitive patterns. This is intended to simplify workflows and reduce errors.
However, this applies in particular to monotonous and routine processes.
"Automation does not mean that jobs will disappear without replacement. Rather, they are changing"
says Rampelt.
Experts also assume that automation and the associated increase in efficiency will reduce the price of goods and thus increase consumption. This will also lead to an increase in demand for labor.
In general, it can be observed that companies that rely on new automation and production technologies are also growing in terms of employment figures.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology, among others, also confirms that automation helps companies to reduce production costs. As a result, they are more likely to relocate to Germany.
Christian Rampelt explains:
"As wages are also rising abroad and logistics costs are much higher, it makes economic sense to keep production facilities in Germany."
Experts therefore predict that automation will help to preserve jobs in Germany if appropriate training measures are taken.
In six out of ten companies (60 percent), the impetus for further training measures comes from employees. Even more frequently, the specialist departments directly identify a need (84 percent).
This was the result of a joint study by the digital association Bitkom and the TÜV association, for which 504 companies with ten or more employees in Germany were surveyed.
"When it comes to further training, it's not just the company's responsibility. There is often interest, but still too little initiative on the part of the workforce. Employees should also actively demand further training and not take the topic for granted"
says Bitkom expert Juliane Petrich.
Ideally, employees would have already informed themselves about possible useful seminars before a discussion with their line manager and could illustrate their benefits for the company using examples.
In companies, however, various regulatory or technical developments often lead to further training measures being taken.
Confronting complexity
The zeitgeist seems to continue to determine the future of work. This means that contexts are changing faster and more complex, making jobs more intellectually demanding and less clear-cut in terms of tasks.
As several work steps have to be carried out at the same time, this increases the mental strain on employees. This is where AI-based technologies can provide support by supplementing human work in the background.
Automated processes therefore serve employees both to reduce errors and to save time in order to cope better with the increasing speed of everyday working life. This means that job-saving effects are also offset by positive effects.
However, there are different trends between the occupational sectors. While the number of jobs in manufacturing is likely to fall, the demand for IT specialists in particular is increasing.
This offers low-skilled workers in particular the opportunity for further development. Rampelt warns:
"In times of changing qualification and skills requirements, it is essential that managers offer their employees opportunities for further training."
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