---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 18:07:55 +0100
From: Swasti Mitter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: (ICT-JOBS): ICT and Work: Changing Patterns
My research focuses on the challenges and opportunities in the areas of
paid work that ICT brings to developing countries and to traditionally
excluded groups, such as women.
It is the convergence of the three 'c's: computer, communication and
consumer electronics that are bringing profound changes in the way we
work, the way work gets organised and the way the pattern of trade changes
between the developed and the developing countries. These changes affect
the working life of most people, either because they are included, or
because they are excluded from the emerging information society. It all
boils down to unequal access to resources, infrastructure and training.
The phenomenon of distant working epitomises the way in which the
telematics revolution is altering the mode of working as well as the
pattern of trading. As the proportion of information processing work
increases in the total production cost the possibility of outsourcing work
on-line from high waged developed countries to low waged, English-speaking
pockets of developing countries becomes cost effective. The phenomenon is
compatible with the novel management practices of lean management and
downsizing that lead to virtual or networking organisations for efficiency
or productivity. The application of groupware now transcends the
boundaries of nations. Given the right bandwidth and connectivity, as in
Bangalore or Manila, some pockets, or 'bubbles', could attract jobs that
are related to information processing. There is already a panic about the
'exodus of OECD jobs to India and other Asian countries',and yet very
little research has been done to quantify the size of this exodus, or the
net gain or loss of jobs in the developing countries resulting from it.
In my Institute we have done research to go beyond the anecdotal evidence.
There is a paucity of data and inadequate statistical classification that
makes it difficult to quantify the extent of this outsourcing. There are
reasons to be cautious about the future trends. Image processing, voice
recognition and other technological changes make the future of feminised
data entry work, for example, uncertain. Even in the field of software,
most of the outsourced work is at the low end of the required cognitive
skills, such as coding and testing. These tasks also are amenable to
automation. R&D-intensive areas of software production, as was the case
with previous technologies, are still in the rich countries. The new
international division of labour assumes the old pattern.
And yet there are reasons to be optimistic as well. With a growing market
for information processing work, including that in software, it is
possible to visualise a world where jobs in one part of the world need not
be at the expense of others. As the millenium bug phenomenon indicates,
in certain areas there are more jobs globally than the availability of
existing expertise. The developing countries will have to identify their
own niche market where they will have comparative advantage in terms of
low wages and comparable skills.
Finally, export-oriented information processing jobs have without doubt
opened up new opportunities for women. In the Bangalore Science Park,
twenty per cent of the programmers are women. In data entry jobs, the
proportion is even higher. However, the question remains as to whether
they can sustain their place in the coming round of technological changes.
It is in this context that the experiment with telecommuting becomes
important. Women often drop out of the workforce, not only because they
cannot keep up with the requirements of continuous skill changes, but they
do so also because it is often difficult for them to combine the demands
of childcare with that of careers related to cognitive skills.
Mr. Kohli, the Vice President of Tata Consultancy Services in Mumbai,
India, affirmed that TCS regrets the departure of trained women from the
company. It is to reverse this trend that the corporate organisations
and/or the policymakers in India and Malaysia are undertaking research in
collaboration with UNU/INTECH to explore the scope of telecommuting to
improve the retention rate of women. This research is undertaken in close
collaboration also with women's trade unions, training institutes for
women programmers, and women's universities. The idea is to enhance the
pool of cognitive skills in developing countries and to assess the impact
of teletrade and telecommuting on wage rates, career paths, collective
bargaining and the quality of life.
Swasti Mitter
UNU/INTECH
Keizer Karelplein 19
6211 TC Maastricht
Tel: +31 43 3506 350 (direct)
+31 43 3506 300 (operator)
Fax: +31 43 3506 399
