Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Mind the gap

Oliver Suchy 6th October 2020

The digitalisation of work, despite its potential, risks becoming an impersonal means by which employers tilt the balance of power.

mobile work
Oliver Suchy

Since we have come to live with the coronavirus around the globe, ‘digital work’ has been enjoying an unprecedented boom. To ensure social distance, we had to work in a kind of isolation for months (and still have to or will have to again), but it works. Thanks to digitalisation, we use more and more tools to work, communicate and collaborate productively, even from home. Yet realising the goal of ‘good mobile work’ depends closely on the labour-law framework and collective agreements—including over working time, privacy and surveillance and individual circumstances such as childcare. 

We are working on bridging this gap. And at least employers have to admit now that flexible work, allowing employees more self-determination, is successful and doesn’t ruin the company. Prejudices regarding the motivation and work discipline of ‘home-office’ workers have not been confirmed. That’s the good message.

Turning the tables

But employers are already starting to turn the tables: companies are reducing office spaces, to create a ‘more distributed workforce’—and to cut costs, because, as we know, work at home works. But what does it mean for the future of office work? Do employees have to work out of office because they have lost the daily ‘hot-desking’? Shall we have to book a ticket for the use of an office? And will the further availability of working space or equipment for employees depend on their performance—all monitored by artificial-intelligence (AI) systems?

The nature of ‘mobile work’, including work at home as an opportunity for self-determined flexible work, would then change fundamentally. Under German labour and constitutional law, it is not possible simply to transfer work to the private rooms of employees. If employees work at home regularly it has to be linked to certain provisions, to safeguard occupational health and safety, which means additional efforts on the part of employers. 

Employers are trying to prevent exactly this. They are declaring ‘home office’ as mobile work—suggesting a new, limitless freedom—to circumvent regulation.

Dealing with the digitalisation of work, we witness the power of employers to set ‘the facts’, as we have known it for ages. At the same time, technology is being used to change work, and power, structures. And the coronavirus crisis seems to be being exploited as an accelerator, to enforce employers’ or shareholders’ interests—particularly through job cuts via automation and a new level of surveillance.

Massive job losses

On the one hand, many companies are obviously under pressure due to the pandemic. So while the digital push can engender new, collaborative forms of work, managers can use the opportunities offered by digitalisation to cut jobs as far as possible via automation. Trade unions and workers are already facing massive job losses and job security is a high priority in many areas. The pressure will likely only increase.

This scenario is linked to the new wave of AI systems at workplaces. It’s no coincidence that there are initiatives such as IBM’s ‘Human Friendly Automation’, demanding a higher awareness of the impacts of AI in the workplace, especially regarding the number and quality of jobs. ‘Change impact plans’ to assess the consequences of AI systems for employees, as proposed in March by the German trade union confederation, the DGB, are not mandatory but they should be—and the sooner the better. 

While policy-makers focus on assistance systems and the much-invoked human-centred design, corporate strategies seems to have changed significantly. The assumption of increasing risks to workers makes regulation all the more necessary—for example, in relation to AI systems affecting workers’ rights and job security—as proposed in the European Commission White Paper on Artificial Intelligence. 

The crisis shows in particular that a shift in the balance of power at the expense of employees must be countered politically. This applies to the legal framework, especially regarding co-determination and the negotiating position of employees, works councils and unions.

Surveillance software

On the other hand, the upheaval caused by the pandemic has been accompanied by increasing use of surveillance software. Here we can witness a link to AI systems, too: the ‘spyware’ is not only being used to track or control employees but offers opportunities to measure individual productivity and workers’ behaviour. This form of ‘management by algorithm’ shows that new, remote-control systems are emerging.

Disguised as support for the workforce, it’s as if workers are themselves being turned into machines. And while AI systems provide an appearance of objectivity, this cannot be verified appropriately due to the lack of transparency. If such systems were to be established in the world of work on a large scale, there would be far-reaching consequences in terms of the balance of power, remuneration systems, occupational health and safety and so on. 

Of course, there are safeguards in data-protection law (GDPR) and certain co-determination rights (in Germany), although there are loopholes and gaps. But experience shows companies tend to test the limits and often breach them. Moreover, not all employees are protected by collective agreements or works councils.

This is not painting a future dystopia but the evidence of today. Managers talk about a ‘new normal’ in the world of work but this must not mean that appropriate regulation is no longer required. German employers’ associations have been calling for a softening of labour law for years—and are exploiting the crisis to assert these claims from the last century.

Appropriate framework

Policy-makers have to act and set out an appropriate framework to foster good digital work by using technology. Here we can see another gap, however—between the political discourse and the reality created by business. The lively debate on the use of AI at work is engendering much dialogue but no tangible results, in terms of regulation to resolve what are inevitably conflicting goals.

There is an urgent need for a modern framework for the work of the future: fostering transparency and traceability of technology, bargaining on an equal footing, protecting privacy adequately and empowering workers. In this context, additional training opportunities for employees should be supported and publicly funded to a much greater extent. 

So far digitalisation has been a great promise on the political stage. It would be a disaster if it turns out to be an empty one—and the much-vaunted possibilities for self-determination result in more insecurity, alienation and inequality.

This is part of a series on the Transformation of Work supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Oliver Suchy

Oliver Suchy is head of the Digital Workplaces and Workplace Reporting department of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), with a focus on shaping artificial-intelligence systems for good work.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u4219834664e04a 8a1e 4ee0 a6f9 bbc30a79d0b1 2 Closing the Chasm: Central and Eastern Europe’s Continued Minimum Wage ClimbCarlos Vacas-Soriano and Christine Aumayr-Pintar
u421983467f bb39 37d5862ca0d5 0 Ending Britain’s “Brief Encounter” with BrexitStefan Stern
u421983485 2 The Future of American Soft PowerJoseph S. Nye
u4219834676d582029 038f 486a 8c2b fe32db91c9b0 2 Trump Can’t Kill the Boom: Why the US Economy Will Roar Despite HimNouriel Roubini
u42198346fb0de2b847 0 How the Billionaire Boom Is Fueling Inequality—and Threatening DemocracyFernanda Balata and Sebastian Mang

Most Popular Articles

startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer
u421983467 2a24 4c75 9482 03c99ea44770 3 Trump’s Trade War Tears North America Apart – Could Canada and Mexico Turn to Europe?Malcolm Fairbrother
u4219834676e2a479 85e9 435a bf3f 59c90bfe6225 3 Why Good Business Leaders Tune Out the Trump Noise and Stay FocusedStefan Stern
u42198346 4ba7 b898 27a9d72779f7 1 Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political LegacyJan-Werner Müller
u4219834676574c9 df78 4d38 939b 929d7aea0c20 2 The End of Progess? The Dire Consequences of Trump’s ReturnJoseph Stiglitz

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641