The shift towards electronic commerce: Market transformation and employment impact

Abstract

Electronic commerce is a technology enabled market phenomenon having an increasing impact in how markets are changing. Electronic markets are in a transition characterized by the entrance of strong market players promoting concentration of market activity, and by a slower move, compared to early predictions, towards open electronic markets. Market change has significant impact on the levels, sources and nature of employment. The types of firms that will survive or enter in the emerging market places will affect the sources of employment in the market, while the nature of knowledge and skills required within electronic market places will affect the types of employment that will be offered in the future. This paper provides an understanding regarding future employment conditions by tracing the processes of market change and by providing a detailed explanation of the underlying rationale for these changes. Furthermore, a link has been developed between business transformation phenomena incurred by market change and transformation of the nature and types of work. The analysis model used to discuss specific changes to jobs and skills is applied illustratively to the case of the commerce sector.