Digitalisation of the economy and its impact on labour markets —

<strong>Digitalisation</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>economy</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>its</strong> <strong>impact</strong> on labour markets
Ano<strong>the</strong>r aspect is that <strong>of</strong> control. As mentioned above, <strong>the</strong> new forms <strong>of</strong>
management, including continuous real-time evaluation <strong>of</strong> worker
performance on smart production lines, can become important sources <strong>of</strong>
stress. It has also been observed that older workers (aged 45 <strong>and</strong> above) have
a more tense relationship with new technologies that can contribute to a
decrease in occupational wellbeing.
More generally, it is possible to observe that a series <strong>of</strong> tasks that were
previously performed by pr<strong>of</strong>essional workers have today become task that
every ‘citizen-worker’ has to perform for him- or herself: carrying out bank
transactions, booking train tickets, comparing energy suppliers, choosing a
telecommunications operator, selecting <strong>the</strong> best ‘pack’ corresponding to <strong>the</strong>
(self) analysis <strong>of</strong> his/her behaviour as a consumer. ‘Now we do most <strong>of</strong> those
things ourselves. We are doing <strong>the</strong> jobs <strong>of</strong> ten different people while still trying
to keep up with our lives, our children <strong>and</strong> parents, our friends, our careers,
our hobbies, <strong>and</strong> our favourite TV shows’ (The Guardian, 18 January 2015,
quoted in Valsamis 2015).
2.2.7 O<strong>the</strong>r aspects <strong>of</strong> inequality
There exists ano<strong>the</strong>r aspect <strong>of</strong> inequality, little touched upon in <strong>the</strong> literature,
<strong>and</strong> yet very clearly <strong>of</strong> interest. This is <strong>the</strong> inequalities between extremely
affluent <strong>and</strong> low-income households. Saska Sassen maintains that <strong>the</strong>re exists
an inequality between low-paid <strong>and</strong> ‘high-end’ workers in terms <strong>of</strong> ‘capacity to
connect’, whenever necessary, to <strong>the</strong> main areas <strong>of</strong> life constituted by work,
family work <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment. According to her findings, <strong>the</strong>re is an underuse
<strong>of</strong> digital tools <strong>and</strong> mobile apps among low-income families.
At <strong>the</strong> same time, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> digital applications developed do not aim to help
or to solve <strong>the</strong> problems <strong>of</strong> low-income workers, <strong>the</strong>ir households <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir
limited resources. ‘For instance, <strong>the</strong>re are long lists <strong>of</strong> apps for contacting or
finding spas, high-end restaurants, <strong>and</strong> a long list <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r such pricey luxuries.
But <strong>the</strong>re are few if any apps that give you information about a health food
shop in a modest-to-poor income area in a city. In short, what is absent is
applications that address <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong> low-income individuals <strong>and</strong> households’
(Sassen 2015: 4).
It would be possible, in Sassen’s view, to develop applications that would have
real usefulness on <strong>the</strong> local level or <strong>the</strong> level <strong>of</strong> collective action <strong>and</strong> that would
enable people to meet <strong>the</strong> needs <strong>of</strong> local communities with low earnings: for
example, applications enabling <strong>the</strong> neighbours <strong>of</strong> a sick or h<strong>and</strong>icapped
person to be informed in case <strong>of</strong> distress, facilitating organisation within <strong>the</strong>
community, or <strong>the</strong> delivery <strong>of</strong> first aid. There do exist, as we have seen above,
some platforms aimed at streng<strong>the</strong>ning neighbourhood links by donations
<strong>and</strong> helping one ano<strong>the</strong>r, for example Streetbank. But such instances are few
<strong>and</strong> far between; indeed <strong>the</strong>y represent <strong>the</strong> exception in this new digital
ecosystem.
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