Digital Disruption

An opportunity enabler for blue-collar workforce

- Joseph Abraham

Technological transformation can help blue-collar employees develop their knowledge and skills, help them work more efficiently and effectively.

Automation, digital platforms, innovations, and technological developments are all disrupting the basic essence of work in the business sector. Although these technological advancements were designed for the white-collar profession, technologies like facial recognition, attendance systems, and industrial augmented reality are now being created for blue-collar labor.

Need for Digitalization

A convergence of human and machine effort in the workplace has greatly benefited some sectors using a blue-collar workforce. Emerging technologies are assisting businesses in increasing efficiency, lowering costs, and increasing value.

Many of the routine tasks that employees perform today have the potential to be automated. For example, in the construction sector, just 30% of a worker's day is spent constructing, or "wrench time," as it is known. The rest is taken up by time-consuming operations, including data entry, documentation and acquiring equipment.

According to a study, due to a lack of adequate information management systems for exchanging and accessing data, the construction sector wastes $15.8 billion per year. Another Dodge Data & Analytics in 2017 showed that 61% of construction projects are behind schedule. As a result, half of these initiatives went over budget.