ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the bothering question of how the digital transformation will change the labour market and the nature of work and employment. We concisely recount the ongoing academic debate concerning the impact of automation on jobs, emphasising that intelligent automation will in first place affect both cognitive and physical routine tasks; that the pace of automation will strongly depend on the sector and the structure of the given economy; and that the gloomy scenarios of massive technological unemployment will not come true as new kind of tasks and new jobs appear as we write. However, the changes will affect those workers who lack adequate skills to collaborate with digital technologies. Next, we describe the surging importance of digital platforms in creating new forms of employment, often defying the traditional labour market regulations. We show that the gig economy is also skill-biased, with low-skilled online workers engaging in simple tasks known as crowd work, and low-skilled physical workers looking for gigs through platforms often deprived of social security nets. This results in the emergence of a global labour market, where employers will seek out high-skilled and well-paid professionals, and the low-skilled workers will vie for abundant, but low-paid, commissions. We conclude by presenting the growing datafication of work, which may result in the ever-increasing surveillance of workers. The leitmotif of the chapter is the everlasting importance of the skills for the future and the need for reforming the system of education.
