Robots are already in use – in offices and factories, in affluent homes, in hospitals etc. They are useful for certain types of jobs. Robots are being made to do more intricate jobs in future.
How do workers view the presence of robots at workplace working alongside them?
The reactions are varied.
A toy-like robot can promote mental wellbeing in the workplace.
To some, the presence of robots is fun, while for others it is a source of fear. And it depends from country to country as you will read below.
According to a study by the University of Cambridge presented in March 2023 at the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot interaction held in Stockholm, interacting with a toy-like robot can promote mental wellbeing in the workplace.
The results suggest that robots can be a useful tool for promoting workplace wellbeing, as employees reported feeling more relaxed and less stressed after a 4-week program on wellness. The facial expressions of the robots were also found to be effective in helping to create a more positive atmosphere.
However, the scene is totally different in the US.
To some, the robots the presence of robots is fun, while for others it is a source of fear. And it depends from country to country due to labor laws.
In the US, the presence of robots in the workplace is causing mental health issues in workers who experience heightened levels of distress and even turned to substance abuse, reported Osea Giuntella and his team of scientists in the 2022 study.
Osea Giuntella, who is the author of the study and an assistant professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh explained, ‘Robots are good for physical health – they usually take on jobs that are physically intensive and may even hurt you. But in the U.S., there’s this understanding that the robots may take your job because there’s a less protective labor market.’
The problem is uniquely American.
Giuntella says, ‘In Germany, the introduction of robots was not related to job displacement. Instead, new and young workers were brought to other sectors of the industry, while the job security of incumbent workers was not affected.’ He notes, ‘German workers were better protected in their work from German robots.’ Unfortunately, the US companies offer few of the same protections, which experts says leads to feelings of job insecurity.
And job security leads to stress, which in turn leads to substance abuse, lowered productivity and even higher suicide rates.
‘Perception is reality,’ says Mindy Shoss, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, who has been studying the impacts of robot integration in labor markets for years. ‘In our papers, we try to make the point that technology is not predetermined, but how people react to it determines how technology is adopted into the workplace and whether or not it succeeds.’
Involving Occupational Health (OH) physicians at an early project stage whenever new technologies are introduced will help them anticipate health related issues, plan mitigation measures and advise the senior management accordingly. This will reassure the workers.
Shoss, who was not involved with the new study, added that the findings raised important questions about differences in the introduction of these new technologies, depending on the country. She pointed out that when workers are first being introduced to their robotic co-workers, it is critical to help people understand their shifting roles in the workplace, and how to make the best of the incorporation of these new ‘workers.’
When new technologies at workplace are not understood, the workers, especially the American workers fear that a new robot by their side could mean threat to their job. This is because America has less protective labor market.
‘For that reason, companies, managers, technology developers, government, all need to pay attention to a variety of outcomes, including health, safety, well-being and profits – some of those more traditional considerations – when it comes to these technologies,’ Shoss said.
Joblessness creates lawlessness and is a major threat to law makers as their political fortunes are defined by the jobs they create rather than robots they generate.
Not just robots, but while introducing any other technology, it is very important to take the existing workers into confidence and choose the technology after the workers have understood its implications. Worker-friendly labor laws of the country in which technology is being introduced also helps.
MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA) researchers are working on social interactions of robots between themselves. When videos of these social interactions between robots were shown to human beings, they agreed that robots are learning it well. This worsens the fear in employees even more leading to even more stress at workplace as now the robots will have the requisite social skills.
Industry leaders should take a cue from the research and also involve Occupational Health (OH) physicians whenever new technologies are introduced. Involving the OH physician at the early project stage while introducing new technologies will make their role proactive – anticipating health related issues arising due to use of new technologies, plan mitigation measures and advise the senior management accordingly. This will also reassure employees, avoid conflicts and save company’s time. Else the role of the OH physician will remain reactive in managing large numbers of employees having stress, substance abuse and other mental health issues due to introduction of new technologies, which is the very opposite of what OH as a medical specialty stands for, that is, proactively preventing work-related illnesses.
And of course, the local labor laws should support workers over machines! Joblessness creates lawlessness and is a major threat to law makers as their political fortunes are defined by the jobs they create rather than robots they generate. More robots means more lawlessness which in turn translates to a bleak political future.
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Dr Ajay Sati is an Occupational Health physician who prefers to describe himself as an Occupationist, to denote, ‘an expert in diseases and other concerns of occupations’. Dr Sati has managed health and wellness programs in industries he worked, like the atomic energy, and energy (oil & gas) in India and overseas. An experienced virtual consultation expert he was involved in many greenfield and brownfield projects providing inputs from health point of view.
