Press release —

Big Brother reborn? One in five European employees digitally monitored as algorithmic management takes hold

Nearly 20 % of EU employees report being monitored by a computer programme, 18 % report being allocated their tasks by a computer and 10 % say that it determines their working hours.

These are the results from Eurofound’s new report Algorithmic management in European workplaces which draws on new findings from the European Working Conditions Survey to provide a snapshot of the prevalence of algorithmic management in European workplaces and investigates how it is reshaping work and affecting working conditions and employees’ well-being. The analysis shows that the use of algorithmic management varies significantly by sector and occupation.

Denmark has the highest overall algorithmic management intensity, followed by Belgium and Ireland, while Germany, Greece, Lithuania and Portugal exhibit the lowest intensity and also comparatively lower prevalence across all three indicators analysed.

Automated task allocation is especially widespread in Denmark, where an estimated 38 % of employees are subject to this practice, while markedly lower prevalence is observed in Hungary (11 %), Lithuania (13 %), Germany (13 %) and Finland (13 %). A similar pattern emerges for automated scheduling, which is most common in Denmark (23 %) and Ireland (20 %) but far less prevalent in Hungary (7%), Greece (7 %), Lithuania (6 %) and Germany (6 %).

Performance monitoring also varies considerably between Member States: prevalence is highest in Belgium (31 %), Estonia (28 %) and Ireland (26 %), whereas employees in Germany (10 %), Portugal (12 %), Greece (12 %) and Hungary (12 %) report substantially lower levels.

On an occupational level, reported use of algorithmic management is unevenly distributed, with the highest levels concentrated among clerical workers, technicians, and plant and machine operators.

Clerical workers have the highest adjusted prevalence across all three functions (28 % for automated task allocation, 13 % for automated scheduling and 25 % for performance monitoring) and score highest on overall algorithmic management intensity. Technicians show high adjusted prevalence rates, particularly for automated task allocation (24 %) and performance monitoring (23 %), as do plant and machine operators, especially for performance monitoring (24 %) and automated scheduling (13 %).

Managers and professionals occupy an intermediate position, while services and sales workers, craft workers, elementary occupations and, in particular, skilled agricultural workers consistently report lower levels.

Employees subject to algorithmic management report higher job demands, especially quantitative demands (which indicate work intensity), and are more likely to experience job strain than employees who are not subject to algorithmic management. Among the three functions examined, performance monitoring is most strongly associated with poorer health and well-being outcomes and exacerbates the adverse effects of job strain in already strained jobs.

Algorithmic management was once associated with digital labour platforms in Europe, but is now a broad workplace phenomenon, potentially impacting millions of workers. Protecting worker well-being as this digital transformation accelerates is therefore paramount. There must be full transparency over monitored data, through the enforcement of robust data protection and labour laws. Employees should also be actively involved as the workplace transforms, through social dialogue and collective bargaining processes.

Read more:

Topics

Categories

Eurofound is an EU agency, based in Dublin. Eurofound provides information, advice and expertise on working conditions and sustainable work, industrial relations, labour market change and quality and life and public services. For more information about Eurofound and its work, and free access to all our data and findings, visit our website and follow us on these social media channels: X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Bluesky.

Contacts

Related content

  • One in five jobs in the EU classified as vulnerable

    Close to one in five jobs in the EU (19%) could be classified as vulnerable – a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing income inadequacy, employment insecurity and lack of workplace rights.

  • New technologies reshaping work, not destroying jobs

    Technology is more likely to create new tasks than remove existing ones, according to new findings from the unique pan-European Working Conditions Survey. Rather than widespread destruction, the primary challenges facing the EU workforce as digitalisation transforms the European labour market, are shifting towards skills mismatches, generational divides, and worker autonomy.

  • Wellbeing and social cohesion falter in Europe despite economic progress

    As policymakers, social partners and civil society prepare for the European Employment and Social Rights Forum in Brussels next week, a new episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast looks at latest results from Eurofound’s eighth Living and Working in the EU e-survey, and the actions that could be taken to respond to the social challenges that it highlights.

Enter your email address to follow Eurofound on Mynewsdesk

When you choose to create a user account and follow a newsroom your personal data will be used by us and the owner of the newsroom, for you to receive news and updates according to your subscription settings.

To learn more about this, please read our Privacy Policy, which applies to our use of your personal data, and our Privacy Policy for Contacts, which applies to the use of your personal data by the owner of the newsroom you follow.

Please note that our Terms of Use apply to all use of our services.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by unsubscribing or deleting your account.
Check your inbox

Email sent to __email__. Click the link there to follow Eurofound.

Okay