What Is Happening to People

After the digital revolution at the end of 1980s, we suddenly found ourselves beyond the threshold of the next revolutionary change - Industry 4.0. This is the future we are already living in. However, technology exists for the people, and not vice versa. What will happen to people - this is the most important question when we talk about technology and technological changes.

Shortage

People are the heart of companies. To make a business big, what is important are people. People make companies, not vice versa. These are all titles of publications, among which we also find the warning: If the companies continue to talk about the people rather than with the people, they will be done with. So we come to the question of how to change the attitude towards people in the companies...

At times in which artificial intelligence has begun to make its way more and more tangibly, people continue to be of the utmost importance to the business. What's more – many companies admit that they are their most important capital and, in fact, the limit in the development of their business is because of the lack of manpower. And if there is one thing in which Bulgarian companies are similar today, regardless of their size and their location in the country, it is that they all have a problem with the personnel. The labour market crisis affects all levels – both high- and low-skilled staff.

Migration

People have already realised that if well-paid jobs do not come to them, they have to go to a better-paid job. This has become the driving force of migration. For years, Bulgarian politicians have pointed out cheap labour as a competitive advantage of Bulgaria. But Bulgarians are already refusing to be cheap labour. Shortage of staff forces employers not only to raise wages but also to look for non-standard ways to solve the problem with the personnel. The process is being further complicated by the possibility of free movement of people, though this also gives chances to attract them. The speed of migration in a Bulgarian district, estimated only by the issued documents for the change of the GP, is nine people, leaving Smolyan and the region every day, according to the statistics of the National Health Insurance Fund. At the same time, key sectors based mainly in our major cities, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas, also have problems finding new specialists. In this case, where are the people?

Come Back

The shortage of labour leads to the occasional announcement of intentions to attract Bulgarians back to Bulgaria. Recently, the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies (BASSCOM) has conducted a survey, according to which over 30% of Bulgarians living and working abroad would return, with their main motivation being the alternative for professional development. The organisation plans to attract Bulgarians with experience abroad to the software industry through its special campaign - The Return. But money is not everything when it comes to such a decision. Are we aware of what would be the real reason for these people to return?

What Machines Cannot Do

The change is taking place ever faster. Companies that have existed for years disappear. And sometimes companies created by an enthusiast achieve world fame too quickly. But behind the very fact of the emergence and disappearance of a business are human destinies.

Digitalisation, along with other technological changes, takes over the area of selection and care for human capital. Transformation does not skip those specialists, trained to provide people in the companies and to work towards enhancing their skills. Systems based on artificial intelligence will make it easier for professionals and will give them time to make strategies for the development of people, for organisational design, and for skills improvement. But it is the HRs who pay attention to the fact that in the whole technological boom, human contact should not be lost. These key specialists will use technology more and more to help organisations adapt to changing conditions and altering labour requirements. Many believe that they are the people who must remain the bearers of life in a company. They will be relied upon to take care of the finer settings. They will have to do what the machines will not be able to.

Transformation

Generations and technologies are changing rapidly. The production line, where people used to work, is already operating with fewer people, while people are working in offices more and more. Probably the next generation will do their job in a completely new environment. The technologies of the future are turning into present ever faster. But this is a facilitation for some and a difficulty for others. Thus, we will have to think more and more about people and their adaptation to the rapid transformation.

The new time creates its new people. The rule of success that previous generations preached was based on the three Ts (translator’s note - the words start with a “t” in Bulgarian): Talent, Work, Patience. But for the new generation, it is not up to date. Young people have no patience to wait. They have a different attitude and should concentrate on the four Cs - Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity. If they become their second nature, they will be successful in what they do.

This is what’s been happening to people...