It is now common knowledge that digitisation of the world of work has effects way beyond this domain. What these are and will be is difficult to foresee, though.
Therefore, numerous questions are being asked all over Europe – primarily for workers’ organisations:
What impact does the blurring of boundaries between places and times of human work boosted by the digital transformation have on the health of workers and on our living together in families and in society?
What role do workers’ organisations play when in the course of digital transformation previous industrial relations prevailing between employers and workers are increasingly disintegrating, to be replaced by a platform economy that explicitly rejects responsibility for staff?
How can social benefits still tied to gainful employment be generated when less and less human work is being used?
What significance will human work have in future for workers’ participation in society?
What does it mean for democracy, the rule of law and freedom in Europe when data are viewed as an increasingly important raw material and at the same time are substantially in the hands of a few companies outside Europe?
There are many more questions and not enough answers yet. That is why, in the 2017/2018 education year, EZA addressed these challenges and tried to come up with more answers as part of a project co-ordination on “The impact of the digital world of work on the lives of workers and their families – socio-ethical considerations”.
The brochure has been published in German and English. Its author is Rainer Rißmayer.
