The Future of Quality Jobs and workplace AI: Regulation for Innovation

Our joint conference with  UNI Europa on The Future of Quality Jobs and Workplace AI: Regulation for Innovation hosted policymakers, trade unionists, business representatives, and academics. They gathered to discuss how to contain the negative effects of digital technology in the workplace, while also supporting incentives to innovate. Panelists agreed that for innovation to be sustainable, technologies must be deployed responsibly—acknowledging workers’ wellbeing as a driver of innovation.

Algorithmic Management and EU Law: Quo Vadis?

The conference was held at a time when simplification is the biggest buzzword in digital policy, and rules around workplace AI, algorithmic management, and data protection are in flux. For instance, the Digital Omnibus Act, published by the European Commission on November 19, aims to simplify rules on AI and data protection. In addition, the Commission just presented the new Quality Jobs Roadmap, which aims to ensure good work beyond pay alone, in the context of a rapidly changing technological context. 

Valerio De Stefano (Osgoode Hall Law School) set the scene for the day, by highlighting that democracy does not end at the workplace. Employees should have a say in which technologies are used, and how they are implemented. These rights should be protected through collective bargaining, particularly in the context of algorithmic management. He clarified the link between the authoritarian thinking that underpins a lot of our digital infrastructure and the undermining of the rule of law and workplace democracy in increasingly digitalised workplaces.

Panel 1: How fostering quality jobs in Europe, driving innovation, and ensuring worker protection?

Two panels explored the relationship between technology, regulation, and quality jobs from different perspectives. The first exchange centred on the key takeaways from the Quality Jobs Roadmap and whether it can lead to quality employment in Europe as a driver for innovation. Voices from the private sector, such as Adelina Dabu from the Concordia Employers’ Confederation and Antonio Grasso from the European Digital SME Alliance, stressed the importance of strong European businesses in ensuring quality jobs, which would require investment in upskilling and social dialogue with workers. In this respect, MEP Estelle Ceulemans shed light on the current deregulation agenda within the EU. While nobody likes bureaucracy, policymakers—together with trade union representatives such as Fredrik Söderqvist—emphasised that regulatory simplification should not lead to a weakening of workers’ rights. Instead, the EU should expand collective bargaining to safeguard workers’ rights in the digital age.

Panel 2: How can we ensure Innovation and worker protection in the age of data and algorithms?

This discussion was followed by two study presentations funded by FES Future of Work, investigating workers’ data rights and AI. Giovanni Gaudio, University of Turin, presented a paper on Enforcement and Legal Mobilisation Across the EU, co-authored with Justin Nogarede. The full report  is now published and can be found online.

Building on this focus on enforcement, Fiona Dragstra, WageIndicator Foundation, presented her joint research with the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI) on collective bargaining over AI deployment in the workplace. The study provides a detailed overview of current bargaining issues based on an extensive dataset. The full report will be published at the beginning of 2026 but the updated database on agreements on AI at work is already avalaible.

Following the presentations, the second panel took this groundwork further by discussing how to ensure that the path to quality jobs includes strong protections for workers in the age of data and algorithms. Federica Cochi, representing Italian trade union APIQA CGIL stressed that it is a false dichotomy to choose between workers’ rights and innovation, while Commission representative Chiara Monti highlighted the importance of trust in technology to realise its full potential. Justin Nogarede underlined the lack of enforcement of existing legislation, such as the GDPR. Similarly, MEP Brando Benifei noted that workers’ rights would already benefit significantly from better enforcement, even before introducing new legislation.

The conference concluded with two workshops exploring practical solutions to pressing questions, such as: What are effective collective bargaining practices on AI in the European services sector? and How can existing workers’ rights be better enforced? These workshops were based on the two research presentations and allowed for in-depth discussion of these issues.

FES Future of Work thanks all participants for their valuable contributions throughout the day.