Digital and algorithmic technology: the impact on employment and the workforce

Abstract

The aim of this article is to answer the questions inherent to the future of work from the perspective of technological transformation, with the use of robotics, algorithmic intelligence, social media, and the evolution of business models. The study is based on a mid-2000s analysis, carried out during a second computer revolution, in which the rise of the digital economy was observed, with an increase in the outsourcing process and the contingency of contemporary patterns of work and production organization. We start by analysing platform work, on the premise that this phenomenon is distinct from that of Digital Industry 4.0 as it concerns the implementation of intense processes of production of goods and services fully outsourced from any traditional production site. Thus, the article aims to analyze this new evolution of production in the latest algorithmic digital age, by studying its functioning and impact on work, wages, and society. The theoretical perspective is to use a renewed analysis of this production dimension.