During a March 1844 House of Commons Committee debate on the proposed ‘Factories Act’, Lord Ashley declared that the various improvements made to machines had the tendency to replace the jobs of adult men with the labour of women and children. However, is the new trend , not to replace men by women, but to replace qualified artisan work (both male and female) by positions of mere execution a constant tendency of technological development?
Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a new revolution: that of digital transformation, which some call the 4th industrial revolution. This transformation is linked to major improvements in artificial intelligence and robotics, but also to the development of a new business model – that of the platform economy. Ever-more intelligent robots, capable of completing non-routine, cognitive and manual tasks (medical diagnoses, driverless cars, article writing, logistics…), and digital platforms that have shaken up whole swathes of the traditional economy (Uber, AirBNB, Upwork, TaskRabbit).
Many jobs will be destroyed, others will be created, but all of them will change. Certain sectors are at the forefront of this transformation. Jobs in banking, logistics, transport and chemistry evolve rapidly, sometimes with major redundancy plans, followed by announcements of the creation of new jobs. On 6 November 2018, banking giant Lloyds Banking Group announced a personnel overhaul, with the aim of boosting their digital capabilities. They were going to cut 6,240 jobs… and create 8,240. It was an announcement that is reminiscent of the English textile industry, for example, where workers who were considered obsolete – despite their experience and know-how – were replaced by new workers – claimed to be ‘qualified’ – as they were the ones who would operate the machines.
The rapid development – especially in Anglo-Saxon countries – of the platform economy has lead to a transformation of the boundaries of companies.
Bleak studies on a ‘future without jobs’, that often feature in political, economic and social debates of the last few years, may have overshadowed another equally important debate: that of the transformation of work. What are the so-called ‘intelligent’ new jobs in factories and offices? Automatisation and digitisation of a growing number of jobs in the commercial, distribution, banking and insurance sectors are leading to profound changes in the organisation of these jobs. This has given rise to questions on health and safety – the EU-OSHA, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, talks of “emerging risks” -, working hours, skills, work-life balance, new methods of e-management and monitoring of worker performance. Several European media outlets recently brought to light working conditions in large logistics centres. It’s no exaggeration to say that in these centres humans have become little more than the implementers of ‘intelligent’ algorithms. Is this the future of work?
What’s more, the rapid development – especially in Anglo-Saxon countries – of the platform economy has lead to a transformation of the boundaries of companies. Thanks to these platforms, it’s possible to outsource an ever-increasing number of tasks to all four corners of the globe: encoding, accounting, secretarial work, translation, design, programming, drafting of texts. The development of online outsourcing, seen as a wonderful ‘opportunity’ by the World Bank, could also be a menace as jobs are moved to countries in Southeast Asia or Africa, where prices are more competitive. However, it is impossible to ignore that outsourcing almost systematically leads to a deterioration of working conditions: the jobs are low-paid, temporary work with no long-term career prospects, formal contracts, labour relations, social security or continuous training.
To paraphrase Lord Ashley, we should be concerned that the various improvements made to machines (today’s robots and algorithms) tend to lead to the replacement of stable, qualified jobs by precarious ones. This phenomenon is referred to by certain writers as ‘de-professionalisation’ and goes widely unnoticed. It would be useful to respond to this digital transformation with reflection, based on concrete data, on changes in working conditions and quality of employment.
No breakthrough for women’s representation in Ireland’s 2024 general election
Find all related Magazine
Magazine
#Issue 26Progressive Post
#Issue 26
Brace for impact
#Issue 25Progressive Post
#Issue 25
EU 2024: the unpredictable well-known
Issue #24Progressive Post
Issue #24
The future is social
XThis website uses cookies. Some cookies are necessary for the proper functioning of the website and cannot be refused if you wish to visit the website.
Other cookies are used for Advertisement and Analytics (Sharing on social networks, video playing, analysis and statistics, personalized advertising ...) You can refuse them if you want to. REJECTACCEPTCookie settings
Manage consent
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement
1 year
Set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
csrftoken
past
This cookie is associated with Django web development platform for python. Used to help protect the website against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks
JSESSIONID
session
The JSESSIONID cookie is used by New Relic to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Cookie
Duration
Description
__cf_bm
30 minutes
This cookie, set by Cloudflare, is used to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
S
1 hour
Used by Yahoo to provide ads, content or analytics.
sp_landing
1 day
The sp_landing is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
sp_t
1 year
The sp_t cookie is set by Spotify to implement audio content from Spotify on the website and also registers information on user interaction related to the audio content.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Cookie
Duration
Description
CONSENT
2 years
YouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
iutk
session
This cookie is used by Issuu analytic system to gather information regarding visitor activity on Issuu products.
s_vi
2 years
An Adobe Analytics cookie that uses a unique visitor ID time/date stamp to identify a unique vistor to the website.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Cookie
Duration
Description
NID
6 months
NID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
5 months 27 days
A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSC
session
YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devices
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-id
never
YouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextId
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requests
never
This cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.