How new workplace technologies such as artificial intelligence affect work and employment will be investigated by the collaborative research centre, Digit.

A new research program at ESRC Center for the Digital Future of Work (known as Digit) will provide evidence to help policymakers, businesses, unions and communities keep pace with rapid advances in digital technologies, following a grant announced today by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Digit is a leading international center of excellence for research into the digitization of work, jointly run by the University of Leeds and University of Sussexwith partners at University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, Monash University in AustraliaTHE Institute for the Future of WorkTHE Institute of Development Studies and FutureDotNow.

Through its new research programme, the Center will develop a strong evidence base about employers’ use of digital technologies in the workplace and its impact on people’s working lives.

The center has received five years of funding, continuing ESRC support that began in 2020. Previously known as the Digital Futures at Work Centre, it has been renamed the ESRC Center for Digital Futures at Work to reflect the £8.3m investment .

Previous research by Digit has explored employers’ digital practices at work and the Leeds Index of Platform Labor Protestas well as other areas such as digital barriers for people with disabilities and how AI could shape the future of HR, to name a few.

Professor Mark StuartDigit Co-Director and Pro Dean for Research and Innovation at Leeds University Business School, said: “Through its new research programme, the Center will develop a strong evidence base on employers’ use of digital technologies in the workplace and the impact it on people’s work. lives. Tracking the adoption and investment in AI and other new technologies through the representative survey of employers’ digital workplace practices will provide policymakers, business leaders and unions with essential insights into what is actually happening in the digital transformation of work.”

The new research program will focus on five research themes:

1. Governance of the digital ecosystem: How can key players shape the evolution of an inclusive, healthy and sustainable digital working ecosystem in the UK?
2. Digital decisions and adopters: Why do firms adopt or not adopt new digital technologies and what are the consequences for employment?
3. Skills and Rewards: What can be done to reduce skills polarization, increase digital literacy levels and improve workplace rewards?
4. Healthy working life: How does digitization affect healthy work-life balance and access to work?
5. Location and Environment: How will digitization affect the location of jobs, regional development and the environment?

Digit’s collaborative program will also bring companies and communities to the center of the project through CoLabs, which will encourage people to contribute to research design using their valuable life experience.

An innovative and inclusive program of training and support for mid- and early-career researchers will develop the research leaders of the future.

Professor Jacqueline O’Reilly, Co-Director of Digit and Professor of Comparative Human Resource Management at the University of Sussex Business School, said: “Digital technologies are profoundly restructuring work, but the consequences are still uncertain. We know that employer investment in digital technologies is weak and polarized; inequalities in skills and rewards are growing; access to a healthy working life is unequal; and regional inequalities persist. The challenge is to successfully navigate this transition by building an inclusive digital work ecosystem that supports improved economic performance, well-being and job quality.”

ESRC Chief Executive Stian Westlake said: “Our centers are at the forefront of ground-breaking research in the social sciences, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and making a real difference. By supporting these centres, the ESRC ensures long-term investment in crucial areas, while giving researchers the freedom to explore and innovate.”

Additional Information

For more information, please contact Mia Saunders in the University of Leeds Press Office at [email protected].