Digital automation and the future of work
STUDY Panel for the Future of Science and Technology EPRS | European Parliamentary
Research Service Scientific Foresight Unit (STOA) PE 656.311 – January 2021
“This report addresses the nature, scope and possible effects of digital automation. It
reviews relevant literature and situates modern debates on technological change in
historical context. It also offers some policy options that, if implemented, would help
to harness technology for positive economic and social ends. The report recognises
that technological change can affect not just the volume of work but also its quality. It
identifies threats to job quality and an unequal distribution of the risks and benefits
associated with digital automation. In response, it recommends a number of policy
options – ones that aim to go beyond the provision of skills and training and which
seek a human-centred approach to digital transformations of work based on industrial
democracy and social partnership. Overall, the report pushes for a new Digital Social
Contract and a future of work that works for all”