Quality work in the future: New directions via a co-evolving sociotechnical systems perspective

Abstract

We face the situation of radical change in work due to advances in AI and related digital technologies, with uncertainty about how this change will affect workers’ opportunities for meaningful work designs, as well as the flow-on effects for worker well-being, health, skills and productivity. A ‘technocentric fallacy’ assumes that technology itself is the primary driver of successful digital transformation. Yet we have learned from history that technological considerations alone are insufficient for human well-being and productivity. The long-established sociotechnical systems theory of work design advocates that the social aspects of work (e.g. leadership, culture, task allocations) and technical aspects of work (e.g. AI, robots) need to be jointly optimised to achieve quality work. In this article, we expand this theoretical approach to fit current challenges, and to enable its wider-scale application. Our team of social and technical scholars propose a ‘co-evolving’ sociotechnical systems’ (CeSTS) approach to the design, implementation, and use of digital technology in work contexts. CeSTS expands thinking across time and across levels of analysis to create a more proactive, and ultimately more balanced, approach. Achieving CeSTS requires interdisciplinary collaboration, methods that can track dynamic and emergent change, and a multi-stakeholder approach that both informs research and shapes change in work. Altogether, the radical changes in technology demand an equally radical shift in how scholars investigate, and ultimately help to shape, future work. JEL Classification: 033