Issues in focus
Work in the digital age
The future of work is now. We are already working alongside machines that seem to have learnt to think, even feel. Some of us have jobs that our grandparents would have considered recreational activities. And some don't even stop working anymore. But what does the age of AI and automation hold ready for us? How many of us will still be working? And what does digital labour mean for workers in the Global South? What does it mean for gig- and crowdworkers, for trade unions and employee representatives? Will the lines between work and leisure time continue to blur – or will we forget what "work" once meant?
re:publica 2018
Surviving Social Media in the workplace
Symposium at CAIS Bochum
Shaping participation on platforms
Discussion Event (in German)
Digitaler Salon – Feierabend 4.0
Still “Neuland”?
The digitisation of the world of labour – this has almost become a mantra. Whole of Germany is talking about changes in everyday working life, the labour market and industry…
“Cleanliness is next to godliness”
Recruited from the street, content moderators sit in front of screens for hours, filtering violence and hatred from our timelines. They are exploited, mostly left alone with the psychological consequences…
Digital work: Unions focus on the crowd
IG Metall is the world’s largest organised employee representation. For them, as well as for other unions, working in the digital age raises many new challenges and tasks. Stefan Stumpp,…
Creating value with the crowd
The crowd is continuously gaining significance for organisations. What exactly makes it so valuable? This article by Stefan Stumpp, associate researcher at HIIG, inquires which areas of an organisation profit…
Participation Allgäu-Style: The Case of a Bavarian Family Business
Co-creation, transparency and other forms of employee participation are becoming more and more of a necessity for enterprises – not only for start-ups, but also for small and medium-sized, family-owned…
The future of work? Working on the future!
Until 2030, half of our jobs will have disappeared. Simply gone, fallen prey to “Artificial Intelligence”, replaced by robots. Ghostly visions like these are now wandering through feuilletons, best-selling books…
Answers from the past
Recently, reports on the various aspects of the “future of work” have been accumulating. Nevertheless, the visions about the digital society and the role of work in it seem to…
You’re fired
Emojis, gifs and chat programs like Slack are designed to lighten the mood in the office. Our guest contributor Bianca Xenia Jankovska believes: As long as the hierarchies remain rigid,…
Silicon Inquiry
The Silicon Valley ideology is a morally destitute trap. But could its well-paid staff transform it? Building on her experience as a Google developer and a tech startup founder, guest…
Slack & Co.: The German Way
“Social Collaboration” platforms like Slack, Sharepoint or Yammer promise more transparency and employee participation within enterprises. Long ago, one entire economy has found its own way to achieve this: Christopher…
A risk worth taking: Studying content moderation on social media platforms
While social media platforms choose to identify themselves as neutral platforms, there is growing complexity around the ways to analyze their structure, operational dynamics as well as the regulatory frameworks…
The empire of internet celebrities
Carla is an influencer and gets her first big photo exhibition sponsored in a Berlin museum in May, Stefanie is a DIY podcaster and is about to sign her first…
Emojis or empowerment?
By implementing internal communication platforms, enterprises are hoping to promote efficiency (vulgo: to get rid of e-mail), transparency and employee participation. But such platforms are unlikely to take off by…
Employee empowerment or workers’ control? The use case of enterprise social networks
In the context of the digitization of the workplace, numerous companies are introducing digital platforms that are intended to strengthen employee participation. The implications of social media for the meaning…
Why Social Collaboration doesn’t work without participation
Digital Platforms like Yammer, Slack or Sharepoint are ushering in a new era of communication and collaboration within enterprises. They have got what it takes to boost the productivity and…
Trade Unions – Partner or Antipode of the Crowd?
Working in the crowd on so-called virtual platforms is developing into a recognisable employment and business model on the internet. Despite their many differences, the platforms that have emerged over…