• • • TRADE SKILLS • • •
so sure that the digital revolution’s impact has been positive when it comes to those still searching for careers. “You’d think with digital tech and social media, it would be easier to get into a job,” he says. “But I don’t think it is. I think it’s harder, to be honest.”
The difficulties of getting your foot in the door of certain careers, difficulties enhanced by certain work and time-saving aspects of the digital revolution and the fall in entry-level jobs, is a common complaint of Gen Z, as we partly covered in the previous article.
But Megan offers a more optimistic counterpoint: “Technology creates new businesses, new jobs. It creates new disciplines.” One such source of new jobs could be a Sustainability Department, she suggests. Given Gen Z’s prioritisation of climate change, this should prove appealing to those just starting out in the world of work, and it might help to counteract any negative perception of the power and data centre industries by those for whom climate change is a major concern.
In contrast to the belief that digital tech and social media have made it harder to get into a job, it is Megan’s opinion that, “in terms of getting women into more male-dominated areas, technology has had a massively positive impact. One of the reasons I wanted to do what I do was to show that a woman can be in this industry and to bring my views to it. Because then it’s out there, and other women can go, ‘Oh, that actually sounds really interesting. I’d quite like to do that.’ And then it just spreads, that idea that you can actually do it.”
Still, all our interviewees are cautious not to be either too optimistic or too pessimistic when it comes to the changes technology has already wrought and to the impact AI is expected to make. Interestingly, Millennials tend to view the implementation of technology in the workplace and the marketplace more optimistically than Gen Z, the digital natives. The differences are often a matter of a few percentage points, but Millennials on the whole are more likely to see the potential positive outcomes of new digital technology as outweighing the potential negative outcomes. There are positives and negatives to the presence of AI, says Megan. “I think it’s better to think that it’s going to help aspects of various jobs, rather than see it as something that might eliminate thousands of different jobs. It’s there to help, to support. It’s there to help the people in
that role instead of completely overtaking it.” In an August 2024 report ‘Digital Pioneers: Leading the Tech Revolution’ Dye & Durham reported that both Zoomers and Millennials agreed that the purpose of implementing the latest technology ought to take away the mundane tasks to free up their time for more important ones, and these are often the terms in which AI doomerism is countered. “The less time I spend on administrative tasks means I can put more time into other work which may improve my skills”, said the surveyed Millennials and Gen Z.
This is supported by a 2025 survey carried out by UKG, a provider of workforce management solutions. They found that 79 per cent of U.S. employees, regardless of generation, believe “AI tools could free up time to focus on more important or rewarding parts of their jobs.” According to the same survey, 70 per cent of Gen Z employees claim to have taught themselves most of the AI skills they use at work, while 49 per cent of Gen Z employees say their bosses don’t understand the benefits of AI.
This perceived lack of understanding might more fairly be called, in some cases, a more acute concern about AI’s dangers. That people become over-reliant is one of the potential negatives of the digital revolution in general, and the use of AI in particular, which Austin remarks on. As mentioned above, and evidenced in the
survey data, Gen Z has many questions about how far digital disruption could and should go. One interesting viewpoint expressed by our Gen Z cohort is the recognition and concerns expressed about the penetration of hand-held technology into younger and younger age groups.
When asked, Do you consider yourself a digital native?, Conor Tillet, an AVK Trainee Service Engineer, says: “I think it’s just part of day-to-day living now, especially for this generation. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing that my four- year-old cousin should be on a tablet for hours. But I think technology is a wonderful thing. It can be both good and bad.” Says Warriner, “I’ve only just started my career, but I can see, already, the way children are being raised today is different to how I was brought up. As kids we would be interacting, being outdoors. Now kids all have their own games consoles, and they’re sat inside playing. I didn’t have that until I was at least in secondary school. Now the age at which kids are given phones is so much younger.”
Again, the concerns expressed are backed by reports and policy trends across the world ranging from the UK’s comms regulator Ofcom to the UK Government working on restrictions to smartphone access for under 16s to the Australian Government’s online safety act restricted social media accounts to those over 16.
What happens outside of work can also affect attitudes in the workplace and AVK recognises that when implementing technology as a tool it is important to acknowledge its effects on people.
Tech for work – tech for good Self-improvement as a professional in the digital economy was highlighted as the central motivation of our interviewees, and the digital revolution can be seen positively as a potential tool for such development.
“Millennials and Gen Z, place much higher importance and value on working for an employer that is pro-tech adoption,” says the Dye and Durham report.
When asking respondents questions such as whether they would be proud to work for an organisation that embraces new digital technology, it found the majority of Gen Z (68 per cent) and Millennials (71 per cent) agree, whereas, at least a third of Gen X (33 per cent) and Baby Boomers (34 per cent) neither agreed nor disagreed. The AVK staffers interviewed recognise their uniqueness in history brought about by the enormous changes that digital technology has brought to their lived experience. They, like AVK, understand that the digital revolution will bring rapid changes to the world of business and work and that providing sustainably powered infrastructure to deliver the benefits of the digital revolution is a force for good. But among our interviewees and across every part of AVK, there is also recognition of the importance of managing and mitigating how AI affects the environment.
As well as the opportunities it offers and the tasks it facilitates, AI must be considered in the context of climate change and the pressing need for investment in many forms of sustainability. For Gen Z, controlling environmental impact is vital, as Austin puts it, as we explore in our third and final article next week.
https://www.avk-seg.com
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • OCTOBER 2025 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
