The future of work amidst the 4th industrial revolution was portrayed very much as one that is both precarious and unequal. As with so much this year, those characteristics have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Recent research from Durham University highlights just how much, after assessing prominent research into the workplace over the last thirty years. The analysis was conducted according to four distinct dimensions:
- What we perceive as working practices: Types of employment, entrepreneurship, freelance work etc.
- What we perceive to be a workplace: The rise of home working, hot desking and shared offices
- Individuals and organisations: How and when people work, flexible working hours, co-employment and contract work
- Power and control in work: The power relationship between those in management and employees whether they be freelance, permanent staff or part of the gig economy.
“Globalisation, economic volatility and technological changes have been the catalyst for a number of changes to the wider workplace in recent years,” the researchers explain. “The impact of COVID-19 has called into question this globalisation, created further economic volatility, and forced millions of workers to work from home and further utilise technologies, accelerating the transition into a new world of work further.”
New forms of employment
Perhaps understandably, the researchers believe it likely that we will see a rise in less secure forms of employment in the years ahead, whether via growth in online labor marketplaces, zero-hour contracts, or collaborative entrepreneurship.
The disruption posed to the workplace by the pandemic is also likely to have a lasting impact, with the researchers suggesting both home and virtual offices are likely to become increasingly important components of our work.
Our relationship with our employer is also likely to change, with the researchers predicting a much more flexible relationship that sees a more equal mixture of full-time and part-time workers in any organization. They also believe contract work is likely to increase, with flexible working buoyed by the experiences of the pandemic.
The increase in precarity is likely to result in growing power in the hands of both managers and their organizations, however, with a general lack of security and the short-term nature of many work assignments underpinning the new world of work.
“This ‘new’ world of work simply repeats asymmetrical power relations and inequalities that characterise current work activities. The changes only exacerbate even further disparities, inequalities and precarity in employment,” the researchers conclude.
They believe that continued engagement along the four dimensions of work can help us to grapple with the changes we’re undergoing at the moment, and of course also to help policy makers develop interventions to better support those in and out of work.
