We can't exclude middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers from digital fife

Recently, news regarding the difficulties faced by seniors with digital life continue to raise awareness. In fact, aside from seniors, another group of people: middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers, are also griped by the difficulty of adjusting to digital life, worth special attention.

This group of workers cannot adjust to digital life because they are generally less educated, and have weaker learning skills, yet their daily work and life is also closely connected with digital life. In fact, ever since the railway industry initiated the era of online ticket purchasing, rural migrant workers have seen signs of themselves getting disjointed with digital life. Presently, middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers still face the same dilemma, which should be a new issue of concern for concerned authorities.

As smartphones dominate the market of mobile devices, they are also popularized in the population of middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers. However, even with smartphones, this group of workers still cannot effectively integrate into the digital life. As stated by media reports, the most difficult issue faced by these workers is "the inconvenience of going to the doctor and buying tickets." Going home and going to the doctor are also the foremost demands for these workers.

The key to solving this problem is for the public service sectors to maintain traditional service channels, preserve relevant social relief options in the service industry, where these doors should not be closed with the emergence of online platforms, as this would make life difficult for people unaccustomed to digital applications. For instance, in the "most inconvenient cases of seeing a doctor and buying tickets", although most hospitals and railway stations maintain telephone and in-person purchasing options, these options are obviously in disadvantaged positions in the digital age. This is in some ways close to taking away these workers’ opportunities for buying tickets or making online appointments for medical services. Therefore, public services institutions need to optimize the procedures of online services, to enable all buyers to enjoy such services hassle-free, and ensure that middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers will no longer be excluded from the internet.

Currently, there are four different methods of buying a train ticket, including at the window in-person purchase, ticket vending machine, telephone booking, and online booking. However, the business hours for purchase varies among these methods, where online booking has more advantages for buying the most coveted holiday season tickets. This will easily result in middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers finding themselves unable to buy tickets to go home during rush season, because they cannot compete with the younger generations who are more familiar with the internet. Thiscalls for public services institutions to not only optimize internet services, but to also optimize the traditional methods that these workers are accustomed to using, to guarantee that they can also get ideal services thereby.

Of course, simply relying on the public services sectors is not enough. Employers of these workers also have the responsibility to help them keep abreast of the times. Media reports have shown that short "internet age" experience and lack of learning opportunities are the major reasons why these workers face difficulties in adjusting to digital life. It is not difficult to solve this dilemma Employers should take on the social responsibility of helping these workers, much like their responsibility for paying them on time, in the digital era. Since we are already in an internet society, if enterprises can help middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers adjust to digital life as early as possible, this will also help the enterprises themselves.

In reality, providing these types of guarantee is not difficult. The use of digital technology is not complex. Taking advantage of the current communication tools to introduce related knowledge is enough to help familiarize these workers with digital services and to gradually perfect their skills in using the mobile internet. In addition, human resources departments should also increase practical training on mobile internet usage in their free training programs, and cooperate with enterprises to help middle-aged and elderly rural migrant workers adjust to digital life.

Contributed by Chen Cheng for Guangming Daily

Translated by Zhang Junye