Industry 4.0: The Human Resource Perspective

Abstract

World has witnessed three Industrial Revolutions till recently. Now fourth industrial revolution called Industry 4.0 has gained importance due to its SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) nature. The term has originated in 2011 at Hanover trade fair, Germany. Industry 4.0 involves interface between cyber physical systems that leads to smart manufacturing. The connected network of cyber physical systems may have vertical integration, horizontal integration, or end-to-end engineering. Different emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, block-chain, machine to machine learning, etc. are involved in industry 4.0. As these systems are highly automized, Industry 4.0 is seen as a disruptive innovation but a necessary evil from human resource perspective. Thus HR 4.0 needs to focus on Smart Human Resource (SHR 4.0) to manage the disruptions in recruitment, training, performance management, etc. It has advantages in terms of cost, flexibility, sustainability, lean HR department. It also has challenges and managerial implications like human-machine interaction, change management, strategic management, etc. Thus, technology is a double-edged sword, with both positive and negative impacts. Its ultimately upon humans to embrace it as a complementary and sustainable technological tool than to perceive it as a replacement or a threat to their work.