Technology Does Not Dehumanize Work

“We must make sure that technology does not dehumanize work”(Nixon, Richard). Technology is taking over the worker, potentially ruining working lives, but what if technology could help make work life better? Telecommuting is defined as “working at home by using a computer terminal electronically linked to one's place of employment” (Dictionary.com). Telecommuting combines technology and work without technology running the worker out of business. Working from home is a way to use technology to one's advantage before having it run them out of business. Working long hours in an office is shown to have a huge dent on an individual's life financially, environmentally, and socially, affecting them both negatively and positively. (Milliman, Ronald

As change accelerates, they compete successfully and move ahead, or they relax and they fall behind.” (Nixon, Richard). The speech by Richard Nixon, “Address to the Nation on Labor Day”, presented the point that countries are constantly changing and moving places and people are learning to adapt. Countries have learned to adapt to the constantly changing world and one of those ways is with telecommuting. Technology is constantly growing and the world is adjusting to it. In Richard Nixon's speech, he also explains how work ethic is the key to success in the workplace, but if we are distracted, our work ethic will not be precise and therefore will not get us anywhere. This is a big negative that comes with telecommuting because it could lower an individual's salary, but not only that, it can potentially get people fired for slacking off due to distractions. “A World Without Work” (Thompson, Derek), is another source that addresses the topic of working from home. It explains how in telecommuting, there is a combination of working and technology, which brings up the question if telecommuters could be at a higher risk of losing their job to technology since this article explains how people are losing their jobs to technology. Telecommuting dates back to the 1960s when Xerox began using it (Morgan, Jacob). Since then, the business has been constantly expanding. Tying this back to the Richard Nixon speech, countries are constantly changing. For instance, instead of taking home keypunch machines to record data, technology has advanced and now people have laptops, phones, and other ways to easily communicate back to the office (Morgan, Jacob). Technology is the future, and it is taking telecommuting with it (Grevstad,