Remote Working
I think the biggest and most relevant opportunity that it’s enabled remote working, which was extremely important for the last two years. It enables workers for a variety of jobs to work from home, or while traveling. It allows people with certain mobility issues, health problems, or extreme social disorders the opportunity to have a career, and to do it from the safety, and convenience of their own home. Even for people without those issues, it allows them to work more comfortably, not being stuck in an office, or wasting time with a commute to their physical workplace; they can simply log in, and begin to be productive. This does open a security issue however, but with certain practices, and protocols, the risk can be reduced to an acceptable level. While many companies still require employees to be in a physical office, some have either allows for fully remote working, or a hybrid work schedule, where some days they can remote work, while others require them to be in the office. (Courtney, 2022)
Smaller work-week
Cyber technology advances, in some companies and countries, has also allowed for the implementation of a 4-day work week. More processes and projects, some simple, and some more complex can now be automated, freeing up employee resources to be put to work elsewhere. It also allows for employees to get more done in a smaller span of time, especially if paired with Remote Working practices; time saved from employees not having commute can be put to use for productivity. This can both reduce stress and burnout in employees by giving them more time to work on workdays, while also giving them an extra day off from work as a trade off. One of the biggest reasons for technological, and cyber tech advancements was to make work easier on the user’s utilizing those technologies. Allowing us to work essentially the same amount of time every week, while reducing the amount of days we work and reducing the stress and burn-out associated with work is one of the biggest advantages that cyber tech can provide us, if implemented. Most companies haven’t caught on yet, but those that have generally found success with the practice. (Baxter, 2019)
Workplace distractions, and danger to productivity
Not all workplace deviance can be positive unfortunately. Increases in distractions during work hours, and dangers associated with it have risen at a consistent rate. Workers get distracted browsing their cellphones, social media, online marketplaces, forums like Reddit, or online news articles during their work hours. This can lower their productivity and if they browse dangerous sites, can even cause security issues with in the company. This is especially dangerous for remote work.
People can potentially be more distracted while working from home, and personal home networks are often more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Employees working from home might be less mindful of potential scams. Hackers can monitor their traffic, potentially picking up on some of their company’s information or utilize a phishing scam to attack the company thanks to an employee’s deviance from their work. (Cohen & Samuel, 2015) While I think the positive deviances of cyber technology advances outweigh many of the negatives, it’s important to be mindful of them, and consider how we can lessen the impact they can have.
Sources:
Baxter, M. (2019, June 20). Will technology support the shorter working week? Information Age. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.information-age.com/technology-shorter-working-week-14050/
Cohen, J. B. and J., & Samuel, A. (2015, May 29). Conquering digital distraction. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://hbr.org/2015/06/conquering-digital-distraction
Courtney, E. (2022, October 24). 10 huge benefits of working from home: FlexJobs. FlexJobs Job Search Tips and Blog. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/benefits-of-remote-work/
Image provided by: https://contently.net/2015/10/13/voices/humor/work-home-according-stock-photography/