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The digitalisation of service work – social partner responses in Denmark, Sweden and Germany

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  • Anna Ilsøe

    (FAOS, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Abstract

The discussion on the digitalisation of work has intensified in recent years. The literature points to two main trends accelerated by digitalisation – work automation that eliminates or changes job functions, and the creation of work without jobs via digital platforms. This article addresses the question as to how social partners define digitalisation of work and their perception of its consequences, while also looking at their recent responses to it. Drawing on interviews with unions and employers' organisations in Denmark, Sweden and Germany, it examines social partner initiatives in the unilateral, tripartite and bipartite arenas on various forms of neo-corporatist labour market regulation. The focus is on service work in the private sector, an area of the economy currently under pressure from both automation and the trend towards work without jobs. Whereas the social partners seem to be very active in the unilateral arena in all three countries, responses differ in the tripartite and bipartite arenas. The article concludes by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the responses in the face of current digitalisation trends and existing models of labour market regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Ilsøe, 2017. "The digitalisation of service work – social partner responses in Denmark, Sweden and Germany," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(3), pages 333-348, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:23:y:2017:i:3:p:333-348
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258917702274
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anna Ilsøe & Jørgen Steen Madsen & Jesper Due, 2007. "Impacts of Decentralisation – Erosion or Renewal? The Decisive Link between Workplace Representation and Company Size in German and Danish Industrial Relations," Industrielle Beziehungen - Zeitschrift fuer Arbeit, Organisation und Management - The German Journal of Industrial Relations, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 14(3), pages 201-222.
    2. Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 2016. "The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015," NBER Working Papers 22667, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jelle Visser, 2007. "Trade Union Decline and What Next - Is Germany a Special Case?," Industrielle Beziehungen - Zeitschrift fuer Arbeit, Organisation und Management - The German Journal of Industrial Relations, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 14(2), pages 97-117.
    4. Bruno Palier & Kathleen Thelen, 2010. "Institutionalizing Dualism: Complementarities and Change in France and Germany," Politics & Society, , vol. 38(1), pages 119-148, March.
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