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
1. The massive spread <strong>of</strong> new work tools;
2. The <strong>impact</strong> on occupations <strong>and</strong> skills;
3. The <strong>impact</strong> on work organisation;
4. The <strong>impact</strong> on management;
5. New forms <strong>of</strong> non-salaried work;
6. Managerial staff <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir working environment.
It also presents 36 recommendations for taking digitalisation in our stride,
some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most important relating to questions <strong>of</strong> training, reclassification
<strong>and</strong> reskilling, gender equality, tax instruments, investment, new forms <strong>of</strong>
work, <strong>the</strong> right to disconnection, etc.
This exercise served as a catalyst for <strong>the</strong> French trade unions <strong>and</strong> prompted
<strong>the</strong>m to deepen <strong>the</strong>ir own analyses <strong>and</strong> strategies in relation to development
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> digital <strong>economy</strong>; each one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m prepared a specific contribution, <strong>and</strong>
<strong>the</strong>se contributions are appended to <strong>the</strong> report.
In parallel, a series <strong>of</strong> initiatives were taken by individual trade unions.
L’UGICT-CGT (<strong>the</strong> CGT’s general union <strong>of</strong> engineers, managerial staff <strong>and</strong>
technicians) held, in October 2015, a seminar in Paris on <strong>the</strong> topic ‘How to
ensure that <strong>the</strong> digital revolution is synonymous with social, economic <strong>and</strong>
environmental progress?’ At this ga<strong>the</strong>ring, Marie-José Kotlicki presented her
report prepared for <strong>the</strong> Economic, social <strong>and</strong> environmental committee
entitled ‘<strong>the</strong> new relationships between industry <strong>and</strong> services in <strong>the</strong> digital
era 48 . Then, on 26 November 2015 <strong>the</strong> UGICT-CGT organised ano<strong>the</strong>r event
to assess <strong>the</strong> progress <strong>of</strong> <strong>its</strong> campaign on <strong>the</strong> right to disconnection <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
reduction <strong>of</strong> working time (CGT 2015) (see box below).
The CFDT too has been paying attention to new trade union practices <strong>and</strong> uses
<strong>of</strong> information <strong>and</strong> communications technology. ‘The emergence <strong>of</strong> internet <strong>and</strong>
<strong>its</strong> democratisation over recent decades have speeded up <strong>the</strong> transformation <strong>of</strong>
production systems in companies. Already <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> ICT, with <strong>the</strong>
mechanisation <strong>and</strong> automation <strong>of</strong> production, had led to radically different ways
<strong>of</strong> working. The new means <strong>of</strong> electronic communication reinforced this process
<strong>and</strong>, in addition, enabled a structural transformation through a stress upon
individuality: <strong>the</strong> introduction <strong>of</strong> managerial administration; acceleration <strong>of</strong>
methods <strong>and</strong> procedures; individualisation <strong>of</strong> career paths <strong>and</strong> situations; <strong>and</strong>,
above all, a radical transformation <strong>of</strong> social relations <strong>and</strong> interactions with a
blurring <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> frontiers between private <strong>and</strong> public (<strong>and</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional) space
which have a sizeable <strong>impact</strong> on <strong>the</strong> construction <strong>of</strong> forms <strong>of</strong> employee
mobilisation’ (CFDT 2015).
It is in this context that <strong>the</strong> CFDT, in collaboration with IRES, has published a
report adopting, as <strong>its</strong> angle <strong>of</strong> approach, <strong>the</strong> relationship to different uses <strong>of</strong>
digitalisation: ‘<strong>its</strong> social anchoring, as a guide to underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>the</strong> reasons
that can incline people to use or avoid digital opportunities, <strong>the</strong> expectations
48. http://www.lecese.fr/travaux-publies/les-nouveaux-rapports-industrieservices-l-re-dunum-rique
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