Impact of Attitudes Towards Technology in the Workplace

My attitudes toward technology and the future of work have changed dramatically since the start of my life. Additionally, I have recently gained knowledge on the future of work through reading the articles “20 Ways Work Will Change in 2020” and “The Top 10 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed”. This reflection will cover my experience with technology and identify the advantages and disadvantages I believe the future holds for those working in this new era of work. 

The first memory I can remember of using technology is learning how to turn on the show Tom and Jerry on the television to watch every day at 11 am before I even started going to school. Besides television, my first memory of using technology is playing various games on my mom’s old dell computer that I can still picture to this day. These earliest memories have shaped my current attitude towards technology in many ways. I now appreciate all that is available to us these days. Being grateful I grew up when the world was not as technologically savvy as today, but also thankful I am living in a time of vast innovation and opportunities not previously attainable. As “20 Ways Work Will Change in 2020” and “The Top 10 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed” list off numerous new aspects of technology and work that we as humans need to learn in order to succeed in today’s working world. I will be discussing which of these new ways of working I feel are easily adaptable and which skills seem much more challenging to attain.

I find myself always conflicted on my feelings towards the future of work-life. I feel motivated to seek all of the resources and opportunities around me, although I worry about work becoming solely technological and affecting human to human communication. After reading “20 Ways Work Will Change in 2020”, I was encouraged when learning of greater personalization in employees’ lives. The article explains that with more technology at work, there will be more time to focus on employee needs, for instance, employee benefits. Due to the increase in the use of various technologies, employees can have the option to personalize their work lives, both their environment and work strategy. Doing this would maximize positivity and provide an equal balance to work and personal life, an idea that is becoming increasingly important in today’s world. The article also stresses that the idea of Learnability will be essential in succeeding in future careers. With all the new technology around us, it is vital to adapt to new technologies and quickly complete needed tasks. I believe this aspect of the future of work seems more challenging as I feel it will be challenging to adapt to all the technologies that there are today. Striving to execute your goals even though things are always changing around you is a skill that seems essential yet tricky to master. How work will continue to change due to technology makes it evident that humans today will be more useful when possessing different and more human-focused skills than in the past. Consequently, soft skills are more useful than ever before. 

The skills needed to succeed in today’s work world have drastically changed since the rise of new technology. According to the article “The Top 10 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed”, human skills are more critical now than ever. Reading that our skills as human beings are becoming increasingly valuable excited me because I feel that I thrive the most using human skills. From the article, one of the top ten soft skills discussed that I have already mastered is emotional intelligence. The article stresses the importance of connecting and interacting with others because “the future of work is collaborative,” and machines will never fully replace human beings. I feel confident that I am a good communicator and have a strong desire to help others with what they need. I believe I will be eager to provide clients a positive experience in my future career, giving me a competitive advantage and a powerful skill to carry through in my long-term career. Emotional intelligence is one of the most valuable skills because you can see every side and communicate with anyone. I am increasingly encouraged by reading that human skills will help businesses succeed, and I feel I can be more of use as a human than with technical skills. In “The Top 10 Soft Skills You Need to Succeed” article, I think the factor of critical thinking will be the most challenging for me. I am much more productive when talking face to face with someone versus gathering loads of data and analyzing it into words. My brain functions better when communicating with another human and functions much slower when reading and interpreting data. Regardless, the increasing importance of critical thinking is undeniable. I am now encouraged to develop more critical thinking skills to help me succeed in a career in this modern era of work. 

My attitude towards technology today does not compare to when I developed my opinions at the start of my life. Today, I am thinking of technology in terms of personal life and work-life, which comes with loads of information and skills to obtain; technology is never-ending. I feel confident in utilizing human skills such as emotional intelligence and greater personalization in my future career but reading about adaptability with numerous technologies and critical thinking and analysis present some struggles that did not exist in the past. Through this reflection, I have realized how overwhelming the use of technology in the future of work can be, but not without learning how our uniqueness as individuals and the human skills we possess will give us advantages to succeed in the work world.