The Role of ICT

Computers and Employment
Many people have lost jobs because of computers (e.g. banking and factory work) but lots of other jobs have been created because of computers. Computers have changed the way people work
Compare "then" and "now"
* taking cash out of a bank
* producing a newspaper
* making a long distance telephone call
* typing a letter
* technical drawings
* accounts

Teleworking
Look at this link on Teleworking
Benefits:
* It may be easier to concentrate at home
* Environmental and economic benefits of less commuting
* Workers enjoy greater flexibility (good for working mothers)
* Employment opportunities for disabled people
* Employers save the cost of office space, heat and light
* People can be recruited from a wider geographical area (see "remote working")

Problems:
* How can management control the workforce?
* (conversely) how can unions prevent workers being exploited?
* Employees may feel isolated and lonely
* Employees may find it difficult to separate work and home lives
* Employees may be distracted at home
* Employees may find it difficult to work in teams

Remote Working
In the industrial revolution, people moved from the countryside to the cities. Now, this trend is being reversed. People can work in "telecottages" on the other side of the world to their employer's business. e.g. workers in India do data processing sent to them overnight by London Transport. Workers on farms in Northern Ireland do work for Silicon Valley companies who can't afford to employ local labour. The attraction to employers is that they can recruit the cheapest labour in the world, whilst keeping their offices in prestige locations.

News Item: Pros and Cons of Moving UK Jobs Abroad (BBC)
Personal qualities needed by IT professionals
N.B. look at job adverts for IT positions. IT professionals obviously need to know how to use a computer but employers also look for:

* Communication skills (a high standard of written English is important but it is also important to have the ability to communicate with non-technical end users.) N.B. According to past AQA mark schemes oral and written communication skills count as two personal qualities.
* The ability to take the initiative
* Management skills (Project leaders and network administrators will have to manage budgets, schedules, people etc. The ability to motivate others and to manage change is important. For lower level employees, the ability to work as part of a team)
* Design Skills (obvious if you work in graphics or DTP but systems and applications themselves need to be well designed to make them intuitive to use)
* Problem solving (especially for user support/after-sales service, network technicians, programmers)
* Trustworthiness ( IT professionals often have access to sensitive data and they can be in a position where they could "snoop" on people. Many companies run background checks on job applicants)
Source: http://www.thekjs.essex.sch.uk/yates/it01_-_4.htm