Different strokes for different folks: examining the effects of computerization on Canadian workers

Abstract

Computerization (the diffusion of a combination of hardware and software) has accelerated in the last 30 years due to advances in electronic technologies, the advent of the microprocessor and tremendous development of the software industry. The process of codification has intensified and routine tasks have tended to disappear, changing the architecture of jobs and, therefore, the structure of employment. A number of occupations have become increasingly associated with the computer, and these jobs require highly skilled workers. Using a production function framework, we found that computerization is not labor-saving but is instead labor-using. Despite this general trend, important inter-industrial differences prevail in the association of skills patterns with the computer. By transforming the structure of jobs, the computer has changed the skills requirements: the knowledge, management and data category of workers are closely associated with the use of computers while for good workers, the relationship is a substitutive one due to expert systems software. The computer does not affect the service category of workers because of the highly tacit nature of the tasks. Though the uniqueness of the computer revolution should not be exaggerated, the computer has certainly acted as a catalyst given its pervasiveness and its capacity to merge with other technologies.