About this Research Topic
The rise of digital and online technologies has brought about significant transformations in the ways work is performed, organized, and experienced. From remote working and gig work to artificial intelligence and automation, digital tools have drastically altered traditional organizational structures and ways of working. These changes are experienced in myriad ways by different people and across different contexts.
Digital transformations in working practices have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increasing number of people working from home and the workplace no longer associated with the office or factory floor. Whilst digitalization can be associated with changing working routines and offering workers’ more autonomy, it can also have the opposite effect by transforming the way workers are managed and surveilled. The use of surveillance technology, such as Amazon’s patented wristband which tracks warehouses workers’ movements, has raised significant concerns regarding the impact on workers. Consequently, there is ever pressing need to explore the relationship between digitalization and the changing nature and future of work.
This Research Topic seeks to explore the multifaceted implications of digital transformations on the changing nature of work. The aim is to provide new insights and promote discussion about the future of work and new ways of working across different sectors, organizations and professional groups. It aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers, organizations, and employees to navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation and foster a future of work that is inclusive, innovative, and sustainable.
We invite original research papers, theoretical explorations, and in-depth case studies that examine digital transformations and the changing nature and future of work from diverse perspectives. Areas of interest for this Research Topic might include (but are not limited to):
- The gig-economy and platform work
- Digital entrepreneurship and freelancing in the digital age
- The use of AI in the workplace
- The opportunities and challenges of digitalization in the workplace
- The opportunities and challenges of surveillance in the workplace
- Digital work platforms and their effects on labor market dynamics
- Gendered perspectives and experiences of digital transformations in the workplace
- Comparative studies of the impacts of digitalization on different organizations and across different regions
- Emerging forms of work and working practices as a result of digitalization
- The impact of digital technologies on work-life balance, including the blurring of boundaries between work and non-work domains, and the effects of digital technologies on workers’ mental health and well-being, and the impacts of this on the future of work
- The intersection of digitalization and inequality (focusing on both exclusion and impact)
- Digital skill development
- The impact of digital transformations in working practices on employee engagement and satisfaction COVID-19 and the digital work revolution
- Regulation and policy regarding digital technologies in the workplace
- The future of work and new ways of working across different sectors and organizations
- Work and consumption in digital platforms.
Digital transformations in working practices have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increasing number of people working from home and the workplace no longer associated with the office or factory floor. Whilst digitalization can be associated with changing working routines and offering workers’ more autonomy, it can also have the opposite effect by transforming the way workers are managed and surveilled. The use of surveillance technology, such as Amazon’s patented wristband which tracks warehouses workers’ movements, has raised significant concerns regarding the impact on workers. Consequently, there is ever pressing need to explore the relationship between digitalization and the changing nature and future of work.
This Research Topic seeks to explore the multifaceted implications of digital transformations on the changing nature of work. The aim is to provide new insights and promote discussion about the future of work and new ways of working across different sectors, organizations and professional groups. It aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers, organizations, and employees to navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation and foster a future of work that is inclusive, innovative, and sustainable.
We invite original research papers, theoretical explorations, and in-depth case studies that examine digital transformations and the changing nature and future of work from diverse perspectives. Areas of interest for this Research Topic might include (but are not limited to):
- The gig-economy and platform work
- Digital entrepreneurship and freelancing in the digital age
- The use of AI in the workplace
- The opportunities and challenges of digitalization in the workplace
- The opportunities and challenges of surveillance in the workplace
- Digital work platforms and their effects on labor market dynamics
- Gendered perspectives and experiences of digital transformations in the workplace
- Comparative studies of the impacts of digitalization on different organizations and across different regions
- Emerging forms of work and working practices as a result of digitalization
- The impact of digital technologies on work-life balance, including the blurring of boundaries between work and non-work domains, and the effects of digital technologies on workers’ mental health and well-being, and the impacts of this on the future of work
- The intersection of digitalization and inequality (focusing on both exclusion and impact)
- Digital skill development
- The impact of digital transformations in working practices on employee engagement and satisfaction COVID-19 and the digital work revolution
- Regulation and policy regarding digital technologies in the workplace
- The future of work and new ways of working across different sectors and organizations
- Work and consumption in digital platforms.
Keywords: work; digitalization; technology; online; freelancing; AI; surveillance; hybrid working
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
