Technological Change And Employment Relations In India

This article provides a broad overview of the various reasons for change in technology and also the consequences of technology change on employment relationship in the country. We first take a brief historical look at the evolution of technology and its impact on nature of work and skill required followed by a brief understanding of literature relating to technology measurement in the context of employment relations in India. Introduction of new technology have opened up vistas of employment opportunities in new and emerging sectors. Even within the same industry there seems to be a shift in the occupational and work profile of employees. Skills needed also have undergone a change from that of manual dexterity and physical strength to those of trouble shooting and process handling, in the case of textile industry. Group based incentivization and company specific bargaining are becoming more common. Acceptance of new technology is brought about by communicating not only the tangible benefits but also by addressing the feelings associated in working with the change. Unions no longer resist technology change but are concerned with the implications for the number of jobs, their content and earnings. It’s also argued that subjective norms need to be considered as a variable influencing the behavioral intentions of workers with respect to acceptance of technology change. Implications for practice and future research directions are also discussed.