The future of human resources in the age of automation

Until today, the influence of the human resources (HR) department rises and falls depending on how professionals respond to the constant challenge of keeping a workplace functional, profitable, and valuable enough for its core elements. However, the speed of current technological breakthroughs has no historical precedent.

   HR management will face many dilemmas, trying to balance the human powered business with technological applications in terms of staying beneficial inside the globalized economy. During this process, new fields are affecting the way we think and act. Devices become constantly smarter with technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI). Workplaces of tomorrow will be driven by the framework of the fourth industrial revolution, representing new ways in which technology becomes embedded within businesses, societies, and even the human body.

Conference Article - International Conference on Business & Economics. Title: Human Resources and Workplaces of Tomorrow. 

   People working on the HR field face a series of challenges and dilemmas while technology and automation applications appear in workplaces. According to HR professionals in Greece, coexistence of humans and machines is vital to the sustainability and societal balance of an enterprise. HR professionals are responsible for the reform and development of human capital, giving people the values that they deserve, while rationally exploiting machines.

Conference Article - International Conference on Business & Economics. Title: What HR Professionals in Greece Believe About the Future of HRM.

   Research results from a total sample of 251 HR professionals from 11 countries suggest that most HR professionals believe that the use of technology instead of people cannot solve entirely human-centered and emotional based challenges, as those seem to be less exposed to machinery.

Journal Paper - International Journal of Manpower. Title: Human vs Technology: A Cross-cultural Comparison of HR Professionals' Perceptions.

   Furthermore, HR professionals are aware of how technology adoption is affecting work environment and they highlight the importance of human resources for businesses, despite the global trend of extensive machinery exploitation.

   Interestingly, overall globalization, common knowledge, and internationalized practices lead to homogeneity for most issues under study. This means that HR professionals present similar perspectives for most issues addressed on the paper, irrespective of their cultural characteristics.

Journal Paper - Employee Relations. Title: Human Resources Under Technological Transformation: What HR Professionals Believe in An International Scale.