Computers in the workplace Computers in the workplace

D ebates about the effects ofinformation technology on work present many conflicting images. Crit-ics envision an information age marked by mass unemployment and dehumanized work for those remain-ing in the workforce. Advocates counter that such technology offers the potential to create a post-industrial economy of skilled workers. These debates replay themes first articulated over two decades ago.1 Two issues remain largely unre-solved: the actual pace of change and the manner in which the move toward a service-based, increasingly techno-logical economy has affected job con-tent and security. Discussions of new information technology (IT) what most people associate with personal computers typically assume that its rate of adop-tion and diffusion is rapid and accel-erating, resulting in significant implications for workers, firms and the economy as a whole. Indeed, the technology seems to have changed Canadian industry considerably.2 Using two cycles of the General Social Survey (GSS), this article exam-ines changes in workers computer literacy between 1989 and 1994, as well as growth in computer use in the workplace. It also looks at the effects of technology on job content and security. Statistics Canadas 1989 GSS pro-vided a detailed review of workplace computerization since 1984, docu-menting mainly positive responses to questions about job content and job security (Lowe, 1991 and 1992). Its benchmark measures were repeated in the 1994 GSS, for which comparisons were made with 1989 (see Data source)