Adapting to Industry 4.0: How Class Position Shapes Adaptive Behaviour in Response to Changes in the Workplace

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is a recent development that has changed the way humans live in myriad ways. Beyond the lifestyle changes that come with new technologies, the power of automation has called into question the ability of the human worker, and her relevance in the workplace. As a powerful force threatening the destruction of many existing jobs, and the creation of new ones, Industry 4.0 brings with it a change that forces the individual to adapt. Adaptation is a behavioural response to change. The existing discourse on adaptation largely centred around the individual. This thesis thus calls for a situational analysis of adaptation, shifting the focus from the individual, to a focus on sociological conditions. Thus, it asks how social contexts shape the adaptation behaviour of different people. The study presents a set of qualitative interviews of accounting students’ internship experiences. It draws upon the conceptual modes of adaptation submitted by Robert K. Merton, and provides an analysis of how class position, as a dimension of one’s social context, explains adaptation behaviour.