Human capital – opportunities and threats in the light of the Industrie 4.0

Abstract

The article presents the problem of human resources in the context of the opportunities and threats posed by the development of the concept of Industry 4.0. The background for the analysis is: the idea of human capital as part of the intellectual capital, the general characteristics of the concept of the fourth industrial revolution, as well as the coefficient of preparedness of EU Member States to implement its principles in national economies (Industrie 4.0 – Readiness Index). Author also quoted the views, initiatives and activities of the European Commission in the field of formation of the human capital in the EU documents. It is the context of the problems on the domestic market. In the era of digital transformation of Europe we are facing inevitable changes in curricula, the labor market, the organization and administration of the industry. Major challenges facing human capital that may determine the implementation of the concept of Industry 4.0 in Poland are: low level digital skills, deficit of IT professionals, insufficient funding for research and commercialization of innovative projects. On the one hand, the digitization of the economy and the industry brings with it the threat of a exclusion of non-skilled workers or from the labor market. On the other, Industry 4.0 will create a lot of educational opportunities (lifelong learning, skills development) and will generate new jobs, thanks to technologies such as cloud computing.