Innovation at Work: Working with Technology Survey, 1980-91

This summary report provides some of the first results of the analysis of the data contained in the Working with Technology Survey for the 224 respondents who responded to the questionnaires in both 1985 and 1991. [...] Compared to data from Statistics Canada on all establishments in the sampled industries, there is an overrepresentation of medium and large establishments and of respondents from the manufacturing sector and a corresponding underrepresentation of small establishments and of respondents from the service sector. [...] 8 9 Computer-based Technological Change The Spread of Computer-based Technologies The simplest indicator of the spread of computer-based technological change involves identifying the percentage of respondents that reported introducing any type of computer-based technology (CBT) in either or both of the two time-periods — 1980-85 and 1986-91. [...] In fact, 93 percent of establishments that reported the introduction of CBT in the first half of the '80s reported that they added new equipment and systems in the 1986-91 period. [...] 25 26 Occupational Profile of New Hires The most striking change in the pattern of hiring in response to the introduction of computer-based technologies was the sharp decline in hiring of clerical staff, from 31 percent of those hired between 1980 and 1985 to only 7 percent of new hires between 1986 and 1991.