2023/05/26 by Janine Berg, Francis Green, Laura Nurski +2 · 3 citations
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Digital Economy and Work Transformation #Employment and Welfare Studies #Innovation, Technology, and Society
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/09596801231178904
openalex publication_date 2023/05/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
We examine job quality effects of new digital technologies, using the European frame of seven job quality domains: Pay, Working Time Quality, Prospects, Skills and Discretion, Work Intensity, Social Environment, and Physical Environment. Theoretical effects are ambivalent across all domains. The analysis of these effects confirms that digital technologies can both improve and harm job quality depending on how they are used. In light of this analysis and to think through the challenge of regulating digital technologies, we review emerging regulations across several European countries. Drawing on the principles of human-centred design, we argue that worker participation is important for securing good job quality outcomes, at both the innovation and adoption stages. We also consider the application of data protection legislation to the regulation of job quality. Overall, the paper extends debate about the future of work beyond employment and pay, on to a consideration of job quality more broadly.