Digital programme: Algorithms at the workplace

FEPS, together with Nordic partners, launched a Digital Program on algorithmic management and workers' rights

13/03/2023

With the computer revolution, the workplace has rapidly introduced digital technologies for gig work, remote work, surveillance, and algorithmic management of workers.   

FEPS, together with Tankesmedjan Tiden, Kalevi Sorsa Saatio, Tankesmien Agenda, CEVEA, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (ECLM), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nordics, Cooperation Committee of the Nordic Labour Movement (SAMAK), and with the support of Nordics Trade Unions, came together for a Digital Research Programme to investigate these developments and their effects.

Over the next two years, they will work together on three different research strands. One on company case studies of algorithmic management, where workers’ performance is tracked and rated. Another on workers’ experience in algorithmic management from surveys and focus groups. And a third on online platforms, employment terms and algorithms.   

Some of the consequences of this digital transition have become clear. For instance, digital technology has facilitated a split in the labour market, with jobs increasingly ‘lousy or lovely’. This has been especially visible in the ‘gig’ or platform economy, where digital technology has enabled firms to rely on an increasingly flexible labour pool. This has led to a large-scale evasion of existing labour and social protections by classifying de facto workers as ‘entrepreneurs’. This is now being addressed, to some degree, by courts across Europe and by new laws in Member States like Spain and at the EU level.  

But contrary to employment status and precariousness, what is less obvious are the effects of digital tech on the nature of work itself across the labour market. It has already been shown that ubiquitous surveillance causes stress and anxiety among workers and decreases trust in the workplace. There are also emerging signs that the use of algorithmic decision-making systems is accompanied by profound shifts in workplace management, the exercise of power, and workers’ rights. This is especially visible in the platform economy but is spread widely across the economy, including in more ‘traditional’ sectors.  

And the tendency to use such systems has further accelerated since the onset of the Covid pandemic. Work is crucial to millions of Europeans’ well-being and a pillar of the Nordic Model.  

We will discuss the research’s challenges and findings on several occasions. If you are interested in joining the conversations or would like to know more about the research, please contact Gerard Rinse Oosterwijk, FEPS Digital Policy Analyst gerard.oosterwijk@feps-europe.eu

Network
Cevea
Economic Council of the Labour Movement (ECLM)
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Kalevi Sorsa Foundation
Samak
Tankesmedja Tiden
Tankesmien Agenda
Find all related publications
Publications
09/02/2023

Climate and digital policy

'Climate mainstreaming: breaking down the silos' series
06/02/2023

Towards a sustainable and resilient future internet 

European Strategic Autonomy series - Digital & Technology
25/01/2023

Progressive Yearbook 2023

Looking back to look ahead
11/01/2023

Promoting a just digital transition for workers

Recovery Watch series
Find all related events
Events
Upcoming
12/04/2023
Online (Expert meeting)

Social measures in the NRRPs

Recovery Watch series
Past
25/01/2023
Stockholm, Sweden (Closed-door)

Security at work in an uncertain world

FEPS and Progressive Britain roundtable on the future of work
26/01/2023
FEPS HQ, Brussels

Progressive Yearbook launch 2023

Looking back to look ahead
Find all related news
News
13/03/2023

Digital programme: Algorithms at the workplace

FEPS, together with Nordic partners, launched a Digital Program on algorithmic management and workers' rights
Find all related in the media
In the media

La doble transición verde y digital como arma contra los depredadores de la energía

by Crónica Global 18/11/2022
Article by Pau Solanilla, Director of Fundació Rafael Campalans, ahead of the FEPS-Campalans event 'Figuring out the Twin Transition'

El reto de las Smart Cities, combinar digitalización y sostenibilidad

by ABC 18/11/2022
Article by Pau Solanilla, Director of Fundació Rafael Campalans, ahead of the FEPS-Campalans event 'Figuring out the Twin Transition'

Los retos de la doble transición sostenible y digital

by elEconomista.es 16/11/2022
Article by Pau Solanilla, Director of Fundació Rafael Campalans, ahead of the FEPS-Campalans event 'Figuring out the Twin Transition'

Da Prodi a Rodrigues, domani al via la ’Terza conferenza sul futuro dell’Europa’

by La Nazione 25/05/2022