Electronic performance monitoring and the future of fair work

This study seeks to uncover some of the key challenges and opportunities generated by the impact of changes in the labour market experiences of workers in the contemporary economy. A key issue that has emerged within research agendas in recent years is the growing importance of online digital platforms, automation processes, algorithmic management and artificial intelligence in the global economy (Wood et al, 2019; Van Doorn and Badger, 2020). The era of ‘platform capitalism’ (Srnicek, 2017) has in turn raised questions regarding how these novel technologies may result in new risks for workers (De Stefano, 2015; Prassl, 2018; Montgomery and Baglioni, 2020). As such these labour market developments and consequent employment experiences risk constituting a barrier to any policy agenda that strives towards decent work in the economy such as that espoused at the global level through the sustainable development goals (i.e., SDG 8 Decent work). Efforts to ensure that these transformations in the world of work do not result in the rolling back of workers’ rights involve, among other efforts, negotiations and bargaining (social dialogue) between social partners (i.e., employers and their representatives, workers and their representatives as well as government) (Hyman, 1995; Montgomery and Baglioni, 2023). One aspect of the transformations brought via technology that have emerged in the new world of work is that of electronic performance monitoring. Technological changes and new forms of surveillance have been examined to some extent in the broader capitalist economy (Zuboff, 2019), however there have also been efforts by researchers to trace developments of electronic performance monitoring more specifically (Ball, 2010; 2022; Newlands, 2021; Meijerink and Bondarouk, 2023). However, a gap exists in understanding the potential opportunities for social dialogue to better understand electronic performance monitoring as both a challenge and opportunity for ensuring decent work. This study addresses that gap by examining a specific context where social dialogue processes have been underpinned by a goal of ‘fair work’. In Scotland, the Fair Work Convention and the goal of the Scottish Government to work towards Scotland being a ‘fair work nation’ by 2025 (Scottish Government, 2021) has been identified as a key policy priority and catalyst for increased productivity and inclusive growth (Findlay, 2020) and guided by the five dimensions of fair work: Opportunity, Security, Fulfilment, Effective Voice, and Respect. This research will explore how social partners perceive the impact of electronic performance monitoring and how these relate to the five dimensions of fair work. To do so, interview data shall be collected from social partner organisations (up to 30) via in-depth interviews lasting approximately one hour. The interview guide shall be tailored to best elicit responses from participants that can help answer the research questions and will follow a semi-structured format. A draft topic guide will be developed and refined during the first months of the project and will evolve over the course of the interviews. Wherever possible the interviews will be conducted in person but alternatively by telephone or via a secure online channel (such as Microsoft Teams). The interviewees will be purposively sampled using a maximum variation approach to reflect the diversity of the Scottish economy, its sectors and sub-sectors. The interviews will be securely transferred to an appropriate company for transcription. The interview transcriptions will be imported into NVivo qualitative software and subjected to thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2012). Data will be coded using a data-driven coding frame that will be constructed as issues are identified. Fine grain codes will be categorised under super-ordinate themes. Once coded, search and retrieval techniques will be used to explore patterns and explanations in the data. Analysis will be iterative and concurrent with data generation. Constant comparison will be used to identify codes which do not conform to emerging themes and will be explored. Themes elicited from the data will form the primary basis of the overarching discussion of findings. There will be a solid ethical basis underpinning the research process encompassing issues of access, informed consent, anonymity and data management. The findings will result in a project report, and at least one output for a peer reviewed journal.