PERSONAL quarterly 2/2020

6 SCHWERPUNKT _INTERVIEW PERSONALquarterly 02/20 PERSONALquarterly: The world of work has undergone a fundamen- tal and structural change in recent years. What are some of the key trends? Sharon K. Parker: One of the most obvious changes is the accele- ration in technological change. We are seeing the widespread application of AI, machine learning, big data, and the like. This digital change not only affects how people do things, but how work is coordinated and controlled. For example, we are seeing a growth in ‘algorithmic management’, in which decisions tra- ditionally made by managers (such as, who is allocated which tasks) are made instead by computers. Whilst technological change has been occurring forever, something quite unique about the current trend is that AI com- bined with big data means that more complex cognitive tasks – rather than simply manual or routine tasks – are increasingly being automated, with flow on implications for knowledge and professional work. A further important difference is the in- creasing ability of AI-based systems to interact with the envi- ronment and ‘learn on their own’, which has quite significant implications for who is in control of the work. Of course, technological change is not the only important change occurring. In many countries across the world, a hugely profound change is taking place – which is that the population is ageing. In these countries, there is an increasing economic imperative for people to work longer, which in turn raises im- portant challenges as to how to retain the mature workforce. PERSONALquarterly: Are these changes good or bad for workers? Sharon K. Parker: This is an important question, and I’ll focus on digital technology challenges in my answer. As we know from regular stories in the media, there is a lot of concern about how many jobs will be replaced by new technologies, with academics debating how likely there will be widespread job losses. One of the most cited studies is that by Frey and Osborne in 2017 1 , which predicted that 47 % of jobs in the US will be eradicated through automation. Many subsequent studies have challenged this particular statistic, suggesting that Why we shouldmove closer to the ideas of New Work when implementing new technologies Das Interview mit Sharon K. Parker führte Simone Kauffeld it is a significant over-estimation (because, for example, new jobs will grow), although most commentators do worry about the effects of digitalization on the less skilled workforce. Con- sequently, because of the expected rapid pace of change, it is widely agreed that workers will need to be more agile in the future, that is, able to adapt and develop new skills when needed. This debate about howmany jobs will exist in the future, how­ ever, misses the important issue as to what the quality of work might be like in the future. It is important to consider how work roles will change, and what this might mean for work meaning, job stress, and other such indicators of quality of work life. The question about the effect of digitalization on work qua- lity is especially relevant if we recognize that it is not usually whole jobs that are automated, but tasks. For example, radio- logy-based medical diagnoses are increasingly automated via machine learning, but workers still need to order an x-ray, set the x-ray machine up, talk to the patient and/or their family, send an invoice for the work, and so on. All of these tasks need to be carefully coordinated with the automated radiology ma- chine. So increasingly workers will be operating alongside, or making use of digital systems. We need to better understand how to organize this work. PERSONALquarterly: Is this a question of work design? Sharon K. Parker: Exactly. The topic of work design is more impor- tant these days than ever. We know from over hundred years of research on the topic that when work is designed so that people have interesting work, autonomy over their decisions, and sup- port from others, they will be more engaged and motivated. We also know that excess pressure and demand, such as very long work hours or sustained time pressure, can take a toll on people’s mental and physical health. So it is important to consider how digitalization is affecting work design so we can help steer tech- nological development towards desired futures of work. PERSONALquarterly: How are work designs being affected by digita- lization? Sharon K. Parker: As we discussed in our recent paper 2 , technology and business practices enabled by technology can have positive or negative effects on work design. For example, on the down 1 Frey, C. B./Osborne, M. A. (2017): The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerisa- tion? Technological forecasting and social change, 114, 254-280. 2 Parker, S. K./Grote, G. (in press): Automation, Algorithms, and Beyond: Why Work Design Matters More Than Ever in A Digital World. Applied Psychology: An International Review