Technology implementation within enterprises and changes in the educational and age composition of enterprise workforces

Abstract

This study examines how technology implementation within enterprises impacts the education and age composition of workforces, enterprise entrants and enterprise leavers. We advance the literature on the labor market consequences of technological change by focusing on the impact within workplaces where it is implemented, rather than making inferences from aggregate labor structural changes. We use large-scale Dutch matched employer–employee panel data to directly measure technology implementation within over 37,000 enterprises during the period 2000–2014. We find that the implementation of technology is associated with a decrease in the proportion of lower educated workers in enterprise workforces, and an increase in the proportion of middle educated workers. Interestingly, we find the proportion of workers aged 50+ increases with the implementation of technology, while the proportion of workers aged below 30 decreases. These changes seem to result from changes in the educational and age composition of enterprise entrants, rather than from changes in enterprise leavers.