TECHNOLOGY
Technology in the world of work
CHANGING JOBS AND ENABLING MOBILITY
New technologies are transforming the way in which forward- thinking companies operate and workers do their jobs. Nowhere is this truer than in the global mobility sphere, where a host of innovative new tools are promising to save time and cost while empowering employers and employees. Fiona Murchie reports.
T
he importance of technology to the economy has been underlined in recent weeks. In July, it was announced that Japanese technology
company Softbank was buying Cambridge-based ARM, one of the brightest jewels in the UK’s homegrown technology sector. In September, British company Micro Focus International, based in Newbury, announced the £7 billion acquisition of the software arm of American-owned Hewlett Packard. By any stretch of the imagination, this is a mega deal, and it could see Micro Focus overtaking Sage to become the UK’s biggest tech company. In both instances, the mobility programmes of these global
companies will be put to the test. Teams will negotiate and work through the phases of transition and change as new corporate identities evolve and international centres of decision-making and operation are determined.
Impact on the retail sector Retailers relocate their employees in a domestic context, and increasingly embrace global mobility as business expansion demands overseas travel for project work, career development or fact-finding short-term business trips. For companies from Tesco to Marks and Spencer and Amazon,
being at the sharp end of technology is important as they respond to changing retail developments. Just as they deal with change in their own sector, they look to their suppliers to deliver cost savings and technology to support their people moves. The latest report from the Interactive Media in Retail Group
(IMRG) and Capgemini reveals that year-on-year growth for online retailers (January to June 2016) is 25 per cent, while multichannel retailers report 9.5 per cent growth in the same period. Much of this is due to smartphones evolving from being research tools to becoming the major device to complete the purchase. The challenges of multichannel retailing and changes in shopping
habits put Sports Direct under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, exposing the dangers of building inadequate facilities and employing 4,500 low-paid workers at its Shirebrook warehouse to do laborious work picking low-cost products. Sports Direct’s share price dropped by 60 per cent in the year. In contrast, John Lewis has seen enormous growth in online
sales, which now account for 34 per cent of total revenue. As reported in the Financial Times, it has invested £250 million in building a highly automated warehouse complex near Milton Keynes. Viewers of a recent television documentary series on the company’s distribution technology couldn’t fail to be impressed. ➲
38 | Re:locate | Autumn 2016
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