Innovations in Workforce Management: Challenges in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Abstract

The radical technological changes in business models associated with the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) naturally change workforce requirements and approach to workforce management. To deal with the workforce management challenges of the 4IR, employers should know the requirements and expectations of the potential workforce to be able to apply effective and efficient strategies, policies, and practices on workforce management to ensure the organization has quality employees it needs. The aim of the article is to present the main findings of the authors' questionnaire survey on requirements and expectations of Czech employees associated with the fourth industrial revolution and discuss the current workforce management challenges in developing attractive career opportunities. The authors' questionnaire survey was carried out from September to December 2019. The respondents included Czech male and female employees of different professions and different generations. The answers were obtained from 168 respondents. The data analysis methods included the calculation of relative frequencies and the evaluation of the dependence of responses on gender and generation of respondents using contingency tables and chi-square tests of independence. The findings show that respondents are familiar with the 4IR and they are not concerned about losing their jobs due to the development of digitization, automation, or robotization, however, they are aware of the fact that their employability in the 4IR is determined by their knowledge, skills, and abilities. On the other hand, they have relatively high job expectations, which could reduce their employability. Therefore, employers should learn how to know the requirements and expectations of the potential workforce to be able to develop attractive career opportunities. Keywords: The Czech Republic, employee expectations, employment opportunities, human resource management, industry 4.0, working conditions