Technology and Work in Services: Vulnerable Workers under Automation and Digitalisation

Valeria Cirillo (Curatore)

Matteo Rinaldini (Curatore)

Springer International Publishing AG, 2025

Automation in industrial sectors is already a well-developed topic in management, economics, and sociology literature. By contrast, this short contributed volume sheds new lights on the process of automation in the service sector, by means of a workplace case-study approach. It investigates three essential sectors largely populated by a vulnerable workforce composition, namely logistics, cleaning and healthcare, and assesses the extent to which processes of automation introduced by managerial decisions entail labour expulsion and human substitution. The result of the research shows that the most low-valued workers are among the least automatable, because of the inherent complexity of their activities. Leveraging on this, the book argues the need to reconsider the essentiality of labour as determinant of its value. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of management, economics and sociology with an interest in labour, industrial relations, innovation and decent work and employment.

• Curatore: Valeria Cirillo, Matteo Rinaldini
• Editore: Springer International Publishing AG
• Anno: 2025
• Rilegatura: Hardback
• Pagine: 167 p.
• Dimensioni: 210 x 148 mm
• EAN: 9783031881480

Testo in English