The impact of new technology by occupation and age on work in financial firms: A 2‐year follow‐up

The assessment of expectancies and experiences concerning the effects of new applications in different occupations and age groups were analyzed as one part of a longitudinal study conducted in 1985 and 1987. Also, respondents’ own subjective feelings of mastering the applications were studied. The follow‐up sample consisted of 803 employees in four banks and two insurance companies in Finland. New integrated and flexible on‐line systems were implemented in most of the target organizations. The questionnaire method was used in 1985 and 1987.

In general, new computer applications were experienced to have more often increased than decreased positive characteristics at work Both the occupational groups and the age groups differed significantly in their expectancies and experiences of the applications. Analyses of variance showed that the expectations about the effects of new applications on job complexity, autonomy, social interaction, and job appreciation differed significantly according to occupation in 1985, but not according to age. In 1987, occupation was no longer as significant as earlier in explaining real changes in the studied work characteristics. More often, experiences varied significantly according to age group. The youngest employees tended to feel that positive traits at work had increased more.

In both years, occupation was significant in explaining mastery of applications. The decrease in mastery of applications showed that during the implementation period, more attention should be paid to finding suitable methods of training employees in different occupational and age groups.