Growth of Employment and the Adoption of E-business

The paper investigates the impact of the adoption of e-business technologies on workforce displacement. A case study approach has been applied to examine both direct and indirect employment associated with the adoption and production of new technologies. The study covers a wide spectrum of large firms ranging from skill intensive sectors such as electronic goods manufacturing, to labour intensive sectors such as garment manufacturing. E-business technology producing firms were included in the study. The study did not find any evidence to support the argument that adoption of e-business technologies leads to a loss of jobs. The results do indicate, however, that the adoption of e-business technologies might result in the restructuring of business organizations. The study further reveals that the adoption of new technologies creates substantial employment in the form of new business activities, at the expense of a few jobs in existing business processes.