Two thirds of workers open to “physical and mental augmentations” like microchips, but are there ethical issues?

Floating the concept of physical and mental augmentations like micro-chipping with your workers might not be a conversation many business owners are keen to have, but a recent survey has revealed more employees might be on board with the concept than first thought.

After surveying more than 10,000 people in different workforces across the world, business management and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) discovered 70% of workers would “consider using treatments to enhance their brain and body if this improved employment prospects in the future”.

“Human effort, automation, analytics and innovation combine to push performance in the workplace to its limits; human effort is maximised through sophisticated use of physical and medical enhancement techniques and equipment,” the company said.

“A new breed of elite super-workers emerges.”

These super-workers could be common in the wider workforce by 2030, believes PwC, but some businesses are jumping far ahead of the curve and are beginning to introduce similar enhancements already. Read more

Dominic Powell - Smart Company - 4 Aug 2017