Technology, Employment and Wellbeing

In our third issue of the Technology, Employment and Wellbeing blog, we would like to look at the ways automation technologies (such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics or robotics) not only change the content of many jobs but also can alter career paths for the millions of workers in the near future.

The debates about the nature of technological progress and its effects on economy and society are not new. Already in the 1940s, Schumpeter in his theory of ‘creative destruction’, argued that technological innovations are implicit in business cycles and inevitably lead to economic growth and improved standards of living.

However, in recent years, the academic and public discussions on the impact of automation on the world of work have been largely polarized with the views ranging from the dystopian projections of job-killing robots to techno-optimistic vision of post-work future with workers being emancipated from the drudgery of work.

The articles in this issue focus on interrelated societal processes in which workers negotiate new meanings and practices through the use of new technologies in the workplace.  In the first two articles, Joel Christoph argues that digital transition needs a thoughtful and understanding approach from decision-makers that considers not only economic effects, but also social and psychological consequences;  while Zuzanna Kowalik focuses on growing importance of social skills in the labour market, including emotional intelligence.

Similarly, Athina Fatsea looks at the evolution of skills and competences required to perform translations by highlighting the importance of looking at the job satisfaction within the debates on automation.

However, Yin Liang and Srravya Chandhiramowuli take a more critical stance on the automation debates by zooming in on the worker’s autonomy in the sectors in which either the creative output or manual micro tasking is managed by algorithms.