LIVE BLOG: The future of work, digitalisation and workers rights

This live blog of our Ethical Insights discussion on the future of work features guest speakers Abigail Hunt of the ODI and Professor Peer Nolan of Leicester University. The background to the discussion follows at the end of the blog. 

10:00: Our speakers have been asked to sum up and draw out key points. Most of the talk is around how workers are empowered and representation can be strengthened. Abigail mentions the challenges that Uber drivers in the UK have faced in trying to organise – they could, for example, be dispersed from talking to each other via the company app. She acknowledged the challenges unions are facing in reaching out to workers in the new forms of work. But she feels unions are struggling. However, she says there are good examples unions can learn from, such as the well-established NGOs that represent the self-employed in the NGO sector in India and elsewhere.

Peter concurred, and added that unless there is better enforcement and statutory legislation protecting workers’ rights, we risk moving back to early 20th century forms of exploitation. Peter also says that unions must find non-traditional ways of reaching workers because they remain one of the few means of ensuring the protection of workers’ rights. But he points out that unions face a problem – 40 years of public policy debate have effectively demonised unions and their power and reach have been considerably weakened. In the meantime, real wages are taking a hit, as is productivity, even though as Peter points out, collective bargaining has played a crucial role in driving productivity forward.

What’s certain is that this is a debate that will continue. 

Watch interviews with the speakers at this event.

09:55: Fashion industry representatives are talking about “onshoring” and giving Leicester as an example where it’s estimated that up to 30,000 workers supply big brands and others. It's agreed that a key driver is the growth of fast fashion, which is spurring a revival of apparel manufacturing in the UK, but on the back of very poor working conditions and often in very small dispersed workplaces that are hard to organise. The consensus is that enforcement of standards is a must if we are to reach marginalised workers.

09:50: We’re back in plenary. Speakers from the floor are sharing experiences rising from independent work and how you can invest in people. Do we need a new form of union that supports workers who are independent workers? How do you hold employers to account or even share best practice? Big questions are coming up from the audience.

09:45: We’re now talking about wages, low wage economies and human choice in our group. A particular challenge has been recognised: how do unions support what is seen as cheap disposable labour working within the “on demand” gig economy. There is a belief that their role is key but new ways of working are felt to be presenting significant challenges to unions and there is a definite feeling that unions need to find new ways of organising independent workers.

09:30: Our table is debating industrial transition –  where are people to be reallocated, how do you encourage people to move into jobs and how do you support people who have been displaced. It's pointed out that there are also big implications for the welfare state and for public policy discourse. The argument is that this is more than just a “skills” and “retraining” issue and can become politically disabling.

09:20: Cindy Berman our head of knowledge and learning is now throwing out a couple of challenges to the audience around thinking about surveillance of workers and transparency of companies. The other challenge is to consider worker exploitation. And she asks us to think about the organisation of workers and the role of unions.

09:10: Peter is not convinced about robots and gives an anecdote about automated car washes displaced by hand car washes. That change is based on the cheap supply of disposable labour and he asks us to think about different modes of worker exploitation. He says that we’re seeing a return to early 20th century forms of exploitation by ensuring people are working extended hours, are seeing reduced breaks, wage threats and are being penalised for “poor” time keeping. He says this goes back to classic models of economic exploitation.

09:00: Peter Nolan is now speaking and challenges us to consider that "futurology" too often has hijacked the changing world of work and that the reality is that older models of exploitation are resurfacing – and big time. While not without significance, he argues that futurology's "grand narrative" miss a lot and becomes an excuse for not doing much. He’s also touching on robots (and points out that automation is massively in the news) and queries where the idea that they will render large numbers of the workforce redundant, come from. Routine work may be replaced but not so non-routine work, he argues.

08:55: Abigail asks us to consider how much of this is really new. Is it just an extension of piecework? But, she also explains that the gig economy is a huge grey area legally: often relationships are anonymised and workers are working across national borders.

O8:50: in "crowd" or online contracting the work is often framed as a service exchange. It’s a contract and is not seen as an employer/employee relationship. In the on-demand model (Uber model) workers are also decoupled from the employee relationship. But this means we are seeing a roll back in the rights and protections afforded to workers.

 Abigail gave examples of South Africa and India domestic workers. While South Africa appeared to follow the western example of fewer rights (albeit workers are fighting back using WhatsApp groups to organise), in India ODI found it empowered women who could for the first time track their working hours. She also touched on Syrian migrant women workers in Jordan, where the gig economy appeared to give at least some greater economic opportunities than working in traditional export zones.

08:40: the floor is being handed over to Abigail, who will focus on the gig economy in the developing world. She explains that there are two different types of such work:

• The first is "crowd" work which people can bid for online for contracts - i.e. the Amazon Turk model.
• The other is the “uber” or "on-demand" model where workers sign up for specific tasks. They offer quick services at the push of a button.

Abigail is looking at sectors of the economy where women are represented, such as migrant workers in domestic work.

08:35: The topic is being introduced now – the future of work is a very broad subject and is not always a bad thing. It can drive improvements and create new jobs. At the same time jobs are being displaced and we must ask what the nature of those new jobs are.

08:30: Our session is just about to start with an introduction from our Head of Knowledge and Learning, Cindy Berman. The room is starting to fill up and on my table we already have delegates from John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Share Action who are looking forward to a good debate.

08:20: We'll be kicking off our live blog on the future of work very shortly. 

Background information

Digitalisation is not only transforming the nature of work - it also has an impact on the regulation of it. What will this mean for workers’ rights? And what should the labour policies look like in the face of expanding digitalisation?

Our two guest speakers are Abigail Hunt and Professor Peter Nolan.

• Abigail is a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), one of the leading think tanks on international development and humanitarian issues. She specialises in women's empowerment and gender equality and will illustrate economic opportunities and the challenges with regulation.
• Peter Nolan is Director and Professor of Work and Employment Futures at Leicester University's Centre for Sustainable Work and Employment Futures. He focuses on the connected fields of industrial relations, labour markets and economic performance and he will discuss the nature and forms of changing employment relationships.

Through ever rapidly increasing advances, digitalisation is radically transforming the architecture of work, with new technologies giving rise to new business models. In today's growing gig economy, customers connect directly with workers.

There are clear advantages to the gig economy: the potential of greater flexibility allows workers to choose when and where to work. It can lead to increased labour participation, especially for women. There are also challenges, as those working in the gig economy may not enjoy the same rights as employed workers.

But digitalisation is not only transforming the nature of work - it also has an impact on the regulation of it. What will this mean for workers’ rights? And what should the labour policies look like in the face of expanding digitalisation?