Futurists predict that a third of jobs that exist today could be replaced by smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and algorithms (STARA). Robots will handle 52% of current work tasks by 2025, almost twice as much as in 2019. Rapid changes in machines and algorithms or computer processes could create 133 million new roles in place of 75 million that will be displaced between 2019 and 2022 (World Economic Forum, 2018). These trends have a major impact on the role of the industrial psychologist in workplaces, Professor Rudi Oosthuizen (Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology) argued in his inaugural lecture on 9 February 2022.

The topic of his lecture was The Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the role of industrial psychologists – Smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and algorithms (STARA); Industrial psychologists in future workplaces.

Prof Rudi Oosthuizen

Referring to recent research, he argued that while the transformation of the workforce may happen over a century, organisations should understand the growing capabilities of technology and its impact on the workforce over the next decade or two. Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have warned of mass unemployment due to the rise of smart technology, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and algorithms (STARA), he said. Researchers estimate that 33% of occupations that exist today could be diminished by STARA by 2025.

Occupations at risk incorporate, for instance, accountants, commercial pilots, client administration, sales, and office employees. STARA could also substantially affect education (for instance through web-based learning), transportation, and farming enterprises. In general, research demonstrated that 47% of occupations are in danger of being eliminated by STARA.

South Africa has a significant skills shortage, due to failings in its education system, limiting the supply of managers, researchers, and workers needed for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). There are also problems of poor quality infrastructure, reflecting weak governance and state capture. It has a poor record in policy formulation and implementation, especially across departments, with notable delays in cybersecurity and data protection.

While the 4IR creates many new opportunities for companies, several challenges are arising at the same time from the ongoing automation and digitisation. These include financial, societal, technical, ecological, political, and legal challenges.

The future of world of work compels industrial psychologists to consider the biggest questions of their time: What influence will the continuing march of STARA have on where and how people work? Will people need to work at all? What is their place in an automated world?

The real story is complicated. It is less about technological innovation and more about the way humans decide to use that technology. The shape that the workforce of the future takes will be the result of complex, changing and competing forces. Some of these forces are evident, but the speed at which it will unfold is hard to predict. Policies and laws, the governments that impose them, and broad trends in consumer, citizen, and employee sentiment will all influence the transition toward an automated workplace, he argued.

To appreciate the value of Industrial Psychology, it is important for managers to look beyond the publicity surrounding human resource technology and to consider tough downstream questions. Industrial Psychology can be of value in not only assisting managers to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to assessing existing technology for human resources, but also in creating stout human resource technology for their organisation in the first place.

Referring to current research, Oosthuizen suggested that Industrial Psychology could add value in the assessment and creation of human resource technologies. One would be ensuring the integrity of the data it ingests inform predictions and forecasts. Ensuring data integrity must be the responsibility of a person or a team and not a machine. Industrial Psychology offers a profundity and research experience that eclipses many other fields in respect of objectively assessing the value of “people data” and the extrapolations made with that information, he argued. “What verification can the developers of AI/ML technology provide for the value of the output it produces?”, he asked.

The question is whether industrial psychologists are propelling human resource technology change attempting to be “fast followers”, or are they merely standing on the sidelines, hoping to change the discussion down the road?

He opined that while some industrial psychologists are part of technology start-ups and are conducting thought-provoking research and designing great applications for the technologies, some researchers point to a more prominent role. In this role, industrial psychologists not only help to shape the great guarantee of technology implementation, but also serve the greater purpose integral to the mission of the field of Industrial Psychology, which is to improve human well-being and to safeguard long-term organisational performance and flourishing.

He proposed the STARA competence model for industrial psychologists in the 4IR. The competencies are clustered into four main categories of competencies: specialised competencies, methodological competencies, societal competencies and personal competencies. In the competency model, industrial psychologists have to perform a strategic intelligence role in organisations in terms of the top ten 4IR workplace trends identified in 2021.

“Current industrial psychologists should contemplate that STARA will change the profession forever. At the same time, it is imperative that the training of industrial psychologists contributes to the conceptualisation, design, and implementation of methods of inquiry, including the application of specialised knowledge, skills, and technologies relevant to the Industrial Psychology profession to address complex and challenging human behaviour problems in the 4IR organisational context.

My goal is that qualifying students can competently and ethically contribute to strategic and operational human resources (personnel) practice and people (individual, group, organisation) behavioural dynamics, assessment and intervention design in organisations”, Oosthuizen said.

About Professor Rudi Oosthuizen

Oosthuizen entered academia 22 years ago as he wanted to make a difference in the lives of students, and to be on the forefront of education in the field. He commenced his career as a human resource practitioner and entered academia after registering as an industrial psychologist.

“I view myself as playing a professing role in the education and training of professionally qualified industrial psychologists, especially in the 4IR, STARA context. My goal is that qualifying students must be able to competently and ethically contribute to strategic and operational human resources practice”, he says.

He feels strongly that higher education should be made more accessible in terms of teaching and learning for students. The Department of Higher Education should focus on transforming the higher education sector into a high-quality, demographically representative system that provides students and staff with opportunities for access and success, he opines.

He has supervised 16 master’s students and 6 doctoral students thus far and is very proud of their results and their     achievements.

Currently, he is involved in a community engagement project that aims to improve the employability of master’s students who have completed the course work master’s degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology via internship supervision.

He explains that students who have completed the coursework master’s degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology are not eligible to register and practice as psychologists if they have not completed an internship programme. They are therefore prohibited to engage in any industrial psychological interventions for example wellness programmes to assist organisations, and counselling for workers with problems such as HIV. They can also not be utilised by management to engage fully in similar community outreach and engagement projects. These interns must be supervised by senior industrial psychologists who are affiliated with a tertiary institution before they can write the board examination.

Oosthuizen also conducted research on this theme to determine the effectiveness of the internship supervision provided by external industrial psychologists, training organisations and internal industrial psychologists of the Department Industrial and Organisational Psychology.

His main research interests include the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Smart Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and    Algorithms (STARA), Career Psychology, Positive Psychology, and Employment Relations.

He is an adjunct professor in the School of Psychology and Counselling at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, supervising students in the field of the 4IR (STARA). He is also involved in a Southern Africa research project between   universities in South Africa and Botswana. The title is: Fourth Industrial Revolution-related Skills Development and Mental Health Implications in Southern Africa: Focusing on Botswana and South Africa. Oosthuizen does this in collaboration with Professor Claude-Helene Mayer (University of Johannesburg), Professor Mpho Pheko and Professor France Maphosa (University of Botswana).

“My focus is to enlarge my scholarship in the field of the 4IR (STARA) and my profession, and to have a significant impact on how we train prospective industrial psychologists in the context of the 4IR (STARA)”, he says.

He also wishes to leave a legacy that qualified industrial psychologists from UNISA are competent and equipped to manage challenges in the 4IR (STARA) context. Furthermore, that the department’s qualified industrial psychologists are sought after in industry for their skills, and the strategic intelligence role that they play in organisations.

* By Ilze Crous, Communication and Marketing Specialist, CEMS