Philippine Daily Inquirer
OF the many technological innovations in the past century, none has changed our lives as much as the computer.
First used for computational purposes, it has now invaded many aspects of our lives—especially at work. More and more businesses are computerizing and having computer skills is now becoming a must if one is to be employable.
The rise of computer schools, Internet cafés, specialized computer-related courses and computer-related jobs all attest to this.
With the unstoppable, transformative effects that computers have, Ateneo Center for Organization Research and Development looked into how have computers affected people at work. A total of 74 workers responded to the survey.
The survey asked about whether they have computer access at work, how much work time they spend on the computer, what they use it for, where they learned to use it and how they feel about computers.
Computer access and use
Results reveal that the majority of the respondents (73 percent) are provided with their own computers at work and the remaining 27 percent share a computer with their colleagues. Computer use ranged from 10 to 100 percent of their work time with an average of two-thirds of their work time spent in front of the computer.
With so many hours spent in front of the computer, the most popular use of the computer is for word processing (23 percent). This is followed by spreadsheets and e-mail functions (16 percent each). The computer is also widely used for database applications (14 percent), Internet functions such as searching (13 percent) and presentations (10 percent).
Interestingly, almost three of four respondents learned how to use the computer through trial and error and self-study. Around half of respondents learned computers via coaching from peers. Around a fourth learned by attending computer training programs and going to computer schools.
Positive attitudes
Not surprisingly, respondents’ attitudes toward computers were quite positive. All respondents agreed that computers have made them more productive. A great majority agreed that computers could be fun and they were not afraid of computers (97 percent).
The only possible disadvantage of computers, according to around two-thirds of our respondents, is that computers could actually increase (rather than decrease) the amount of work that needs to be done.
What can we make from these results?
Although a glance at the responses seems to show that computers have been assimilated and accepted in the workplace by the workforce, we can gather that those who have responded to the survey are simply those who have access to the technology. It is possible that this survey’s respondents are not quite reflective of the average Filipino worker.
Beyond the limitations of the study, however, the high usage of the computer can be both a boon and bane.
On one hand, computers can, indeed, make us more productive. They enable us to create and edit documents in no time and have made the typewriter almost obsolete. Information generation and computation can be done more quickly with better quality as human error is decreased.
As a communication device, it saves much time and energy in physically transporting people or documents from one place to another. It also provides people more flexibility by allowing more people to work from home.
That most respondents learned by themselves and through coaching of peers is also a good sign. It suggests that, at least, for common functions, computers are something that can be learned fairly easily. However, this does not discount the importance of formal education or training especially for more complex programs and for those with little experience in computer use.
From a different perspective, if it is true that a greater part of our workday is spent in front of the computer then that means that there is less time for face-to-face interactions. It also means that there is greater possibility of computer-related or techno-stress.
Some people complain that even as computers has helped them in their work, this also means that they are given more and more work. However, it is likely that the computer is here to stay. It has and will continue to revolutionize our workplace.
The question is how we can use the computer to increase, rather than decrease our quality of work life. That is, can we harness it rather than be enslaved by it? Because especially for those of you who have been around long enough to remember what it was like to type a report over and over in a typewriter—can you imagine life without a computer?
(The authors are faculty members of the Ateneo de Manila University. This article is an abridged version of a study published in the Pinoy@Work [ORP, Loyola Schools, ADMU, 2007]. To know more on issues pertaining to technology in the workplace, attend Ateneo CORD’s Trendwatcher series on Nov. 6, 2009. For inquires and reservations, e-mail ateneocord@admu.edu.ph.)
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