Algorithmic governance and the Swedish model

Digital transformation is transforming our workplace and shifting the balance of power between workers and the management of their enterprises. Algorithmic Management tools take a crucial role in the AI-at-work revolution, whether in the form of automated task allocation, detailed surveillance of workers’ activities, or the assessment of workers’ output. 

This development, which was first seen in the platform economy, where riders and other workers were not managed by a person but solely through the mobile application, is now being deployed in traditional sectors. It raised concerns and questions about workers’ rights and well-being that need to be answered by trade unions in negotiations with employers and policymakers when considering the regulation of Algorithmic Management for all workers in Europe.

We were honoured to welcome as our keynote speaker Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT, who was awarded this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 2024 for comparative studies in prosperity between states and empires. As the author of ‘Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity’, he was able to set the scene for a critical discussion on the role that organised labour and progressive policymakers have to play to implement Algorithmic Management in an effective and worker-friendly way.

This exciting half-day conference was organised by FEPS together with Akademikerförbundet SSR, Arena Idé, Tankesmedjan Tiden, FES Nordics, LO Sweden and the partners of the FEPS-Nordics Digital Programme on the impact of Algorithmic Management on workers rights.

The conference centred on how the Swedish model—at both the central and local levels—confronts and is confronted by new digital technologies like algorithmic management tools and what challenges lie ahead for the labour movement and workers.

The conference also presented the Swedish report from the new publication “Algorithmic management in traditional workplaces“.

📺 Watch the full event on FEPS Youtube Channel.

For more information regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact Luis Sáez Jiménez, Project Officer, at luis.saez@feps-europe.eu

This policy event is part of the Digital Research Programme

FEPS, Tankesmedjan Tiden, Kalevi Sorsa Saatio, Tankesmien Agenda, CEVEA, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (ECLM), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nordics and Cooperation Committee of the Nordic Labour Movement (SAMAK), with the support of Nordic trade Unions, came together for a Digital Research Programme to discuss the research questions, methods and approaches of the different research strands:

1. Algorithmic management and governance (prevalence & consequences)
2. Workers’ experience at the workplace – surveys and focus groups
3. Online platforms and employment terms