Digitalisation of the economy and its impact on labour markets —

Christophe Degryse
More broadly, this lack <strong>of</strong> applications geared to socially beneficial action
shows that <strong>the</strong> worker is regarded as being ‘at work’ or ‘at home’ but that <strong>the</strong>
collective dimension <strong>of</strong> relations maintained with <strong>the</strong> social environment is
not – or barely – taken into account. In o<strong>the</strong>r words, <strong>the</strong> awareness that <strong>the</strong>
worker belongs very much also to a neighbourhood <strong>and</strong> takes part in social
relations seems absent from this digital world. Yet Sassen goes even fur<strong>the</strong>r
than this, for she shows that, with <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> teleworking, <strong>the</strong>re
emerges <strong>the</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> increased competition within communities <strong>of</strong> low-income
workers (downward spiral <strong>of</strong> working conditions).
Her own hypo<strong>the</strong>sis is that use <strong>of</strong> digital innovations would, on <strong>the</strong> contrary,
streng<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>se communities, reinforce <strong>the</strong>ir collective actions <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir
power <strong>of</strong> collective negotiation which would ‘slide’ to some extent from <strong>the</strong>
workplace towards <strong>the</strong>se communities <strong>of</strong> organised online workers; <strong>and</strong> that
this would become <strong>the</strong> locus for collective action.
Michel Bauwens (n.d.) sees in <strong>the</strong> peer-to-peer or P2P major opportunities for
such social emancipation. ‘When <strong>the</strong> labour movement arose as an expression
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new industrial working class, it invented a host <strong>of</strong> new social practices,
such as mutual aid societies, unions, <strong>and</strong> new ideologies. Today, when <strong>the</strong> class
<strong>of</strong> knowledge workers is socially dominant in <strong>the</strong> West, is it a wonder that <strong>the</strong>y
also create new <strong>and</strong> innovative practices that exemplify <strong>the</strong>ir values <strong>of</strong>
cooperative intellectual work?’ According to this writer peer-to-peer is <strong>the</strong> ‘new
spectre haunting <strong>the</strong> world’ for it has <strong>the</strong> potential to revolutionise our ways
<strong>of</strong> producing, <strong>of</strong> thinking, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> living toge<strong>the</strong>r. This new model is leading us
towards a post-capitalist society where <strong>the</strong> market will be compelled to become
subject to <strong>the</strong> rationale <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> common good. The wide-ranging potential
opened up by <strong>the</strong> – genuinely – collaborative <strong>economy</strong>, <strong>the</strong> P2P networks, open
source, micro-factories, urban agriculture, etc. will outperform <strong>the</strong> current
capitalist model <strong>and</strong> open up a model for <strong>the</strong> relocation <strong>of</strong> production, new
methods <strong>of</strong> working <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> collaborating on a world level (Bauwens <strong>and</strong>
Lievens 2015).
2.2.8 Training
The issue <strong>of</strong> training is presented as central in <strong>the</strong> debate on <strong>the</strong> digital
<strong>economy</strong>. In Europe <strong>the</strong> Commission has made this a priority. ‘Dem<strong>and</strong> for
digitally skilled employees is growing by around 4% a year. Shortages <strong>of</strong> ICT
pr<strong>of</strong>essionals in <strong>the</strong> EU could reach 825,000 unfilled vacancies by 2020 if no
decisive action is taken’ (European Commission 2015 a). Training is envisaged
simultaneously from <strong>the</strong> economic st<strong>and</strong>point – <strong>the</strong> digital <strong>economy</strong> needs
workers trained in new technologies – <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> social st<strong>and</strong>point: ‘Digital skill
levels need also to be raised among employees in all economic sectors <strong>and</strong>
among job seekers to improve <strong>the</strong>ir employability’.
Several authors have indeed shown that in <strong>the</strong> United States <strong>the</strong> Second
Industrial Revolution forced workers into a race between education <strong>and</strong>
training <strong>and</strong> technical advances. This race was finally won by workers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
46 WP 2016.02