The impact of employees' perceptions of threats to Industry 4.0 transformation on burnout, commitment and career commitment

Intelligent technologies that advance without slowing down have created a significant improvement in production capacity and increased efficiency in production. Especially with the increasing mechanization with Industry 4.0, it is expected that the tasks of the human factor in the production sector will decrease. In addition to the constant dynamism of economic conditions, technology and competition conditions, business environments, administrations, the qualities of jobs and hierarchical structures have also changed. On the other hand, people feel these changes both in the society they belong to as an individual and in the organization they belong to as an employee. There is not much information about how this pressure of change will be reflected in the attitudes of employees towards their work over time. In this context, the main aim of the study is to determine whether employees perceive the Industry 4.0 transformation and its components as a threat to their own job / career, and to fill the gap in the literature by examining whether this threat perception has an effect on burnout, work commitment and career commitment. For this purpose, mixed method research has been conducted in order to provide the best aspects of both quantitative and qualitative research. In line with the descriptive sequential pattern, the quantitative dimension of the research was carried out by applying a survey to 602 employees operating in the automotive sector in Sakarya, which was listed in the "500 Largest Industrial Enterprises of Turkey in 2018 from Production to Sales" list published by ISO. The data collected through easy sampling, one of the non-random sampling techniques, were tested using the SPSS and AMOS program with the help of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, regression analysis, and one-way ANOVA. The aim, which is the qualitative dimension, which constitutes the second stage of the research, is to describe the individual experiences and perceptions of the employees about the Industry 4.0 transformation and how the smart technology, artificial intelligence, robots and algorithms that come with this transformation are perceived. In this context, the "phenomenology" design was used in the qualitative dimension of the study. A qualitative research was conducted with 15 participants who met the criteria determined by criterion sampling technique, one of the purposeful sampling techniques, out of 602 participants who make up the quantitative sample. Qualitative data were collected using the semi-structured interview technique. The data obtained as a result of the interviews were subjected to thematic content analysis and analyzed through the MAXQDA analysis program. According to the quantitative findings obtained within the scope of the research, it has been concluded that the threat perceptions of the employees towards the Industry 4.0 transformation have a negative effect on their work commitment and career commitment, and that the threat perceptions of the employees towards the Industry 4.0 transformation have a positive effect on burnout and the sub-dimensions of burnout of burnout which are emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and low personal accomplishment. In other words, it has been determined that as the threat perceptions of the employees towards the Industry 4.0 transformation increase, their work dedication and career commitment decrease. In addition, it has been determined that as the threat perceptions of the employees towards the Industry 4.0 transformation increase, the sub-dimensions of burnout and burnout, which are emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and low personal accomplishment, increase. Also, it was concluded that the threat perception towards the Industry 4.0 transformation differs according to the age and education of the employees. According to the qualitative findings obtained within the scope of the research, the threat perceptions of the employees regarding the Industry 4.0 transformation are grouped under three main themes: "no threat", "potential threat" and "real threat". In the first main theme, the participants stated that Industry 4.0 components provide convenience and advantages in both daily life and business life, such as providing the employee with the opportunity to develop himself, performing works remotely, creating value, and reducing the workload. In the second main theme, the participants stated that human and machine can work together, but since they have some advantages in the future, Industry 4.0 components have the potential to pose a threat to the human workforce. In the third main theme, the participants stated that robotic systems and artificial intelligence robots, which are among the components of Industry 4.0, have a negative impact on the workforce in terms of deactivating and replacing the employee. The study is thought to be important in terms of contributing empirically to Industry 4.0, burnout, commitment to work, and career commitment literature. It is recommended that studies that will provide more clarity and information in order to reveal how the Industry 4.0 transformation is perceived by employees and the effects of this perception on working life should be conducted in different sample groups.