Digital technologies in the changing world of work and employment – insights from the Disrupting Technology conference 2025

When we talk about technological disruption, the conversation too often narrows to a familiar question - will robots steal our jobs? But that’s just one part of a much broader and complex picture; digital technologies affect many aspects of work and society in nuanced and varied ways. 

The 3rd international Disrupting Technology conference, co-hosted by the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change (University of Leeds) and the ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work, looked beyond hyped and overly simplistic narratives to shed light on the multifaceted ways digital technologies are reshaping work, employment, and organisations.  

From algorithmic management and platform labour to the ethical dilemmas of AI and the historical continuities of technological change, the presentations at this year’s conference offered critical insights into the ways digital change intersects with everyday working life.  

This blog post brings together a collection of research summaries from presentations given at the event, highlighting diverse contributions that challenge deterministic thinking and open up new ways of understanding digital technology’s evolving role in our changing world. 

Digital transitions and human-technology interactions 

Professor Dean Stroud, Professor of Skills and Work Development, Cardiff University (School of Social Sciences) 

The research I presented at the Disrupting Technology conference is from the ‘Data and de-centralised AI for a competitive and green European Metallurgy Industry’ project, or, for short, the ALCHIMIA project. 

The ALCHIMIA project (which is funded by the Horizon Europe research programme, with support for UK partners coming from UKRI) aims to improve the efficiency of iron and steel production by optimising the performance of the furnaces that produce iron and steel, with a particular focus on electric arc furnaces.  

Through an AI platform, ALCHIMIA aims to find an optimal scrap mix (for the furnaces that melt iron and steel) to reduce energy consumption, emissions, and waste generation in the steel-making process while also guaranteeing the production of high-quality products. The technology is being introduced at five plants (two in Italy, and one in each of France, Poland and Spain).  

One aspect of the project is to research what is called the ‘human factors’ of the AI technology being developed i.e. what will AI change about the production processes and what will this mean for work and workers?  

Working with my team at Cardiff University, we conducted one phase of research on what workers anticipate regarding the introduction of the proposed AI platform, including workers’ views on skills and training needs. A second phase of research, to be conducted from September to October 2025, will evaluate the impact of the technology on work and skills following the technology’s insertion.  

At the Disrupting Technology Conference, I presented findings that suggest workers view AI as quite benign, that it will not lead to significant changes in their work, and that it is not a threat to jobs. At the same time, some workers identified potential changes to factory occupational profiles (e.g. a greater need for maintenance workers and less need for operators), some threats of deskilling and cognitive complacency, and also the potential for work intensification. Questions were also raised about accountability for the decisions made by the AI. Some skill needs, particularly ‘transversal’ (or soft) skills, were also identified.  

In the next phase of the research, we have an opportunity to evaluate the workers’ ‘algorithmic imaginaries’ or, more simply, whether what they anticipate around AI is realised. 

Dr Olufemi Epebinu, Lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja 

Nigeria needs strategic, quality service delivery of immigration management, especially as the world adapts to changes brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

Our study provided quantitative, empirical insights into how digital innovation drives service delivery in Nigerian immigration management, and the role transformational leadership plays in the relationship between digital innovation and quality service delivery in the Nigeria Immigration Service.  

The study explored employees’ perspectives on digital innovation in four dimensions of digital innovation initiation: implementation, development, exploitation, and its overall influence on service delivery in the Nigeria Immigration Service. Moreover, the study examined whether a transformational leadership style helps to explain how digital innovation leads to better service delivery. 

Our findings revealed that digital innovation has a significant and positive influence on service delivery, and that transformational leadership plays a partial role in explaining how digital innovation improves service delivery within the Nigeria Immigration Service.  

The implications of the findings are that policymakers involved in immigration management should prioritise investments in digital innovation within the Nigeria Immigration Service. This includes enhancing digital infrastructure and providing training for personnel to effectively manage these systems. 

Moreover, transformational leadership traits should be embedded into the organisation’s culture to act as an interface between digital innovation and service delivery. In addition, the funders of immigration management activities - the federal government of Nigeria - should initiate a national policy around the digitalisation of other aspects of immigration management, in addition to service delivery, strategically using the infrastructures provided.  

The study contributes to enhancing strategic service delivery through digital innovation, supporting the transformation of the Nigeria Immigration Service as a key institution in shaping the country’s image. 

AI – adoption and impact 

Dr Michael Faust, Research Fellow at Soziologisches Forschungsinstitut (SOFI) Göttingen, Germany 

My research addresses the question: what will happen if the widely-held AI promise  - to make almost everything better, more efficient, or less time consuming by using AI applications - cannot be kept?  

Since the launch of ChatGPT, the conversation around AI has become widespread, evoking both hopes and fears. The broader “digitalisation promise” that has been relevant for several years has turned into an “AI promise” – the belief that AI will transform nearly every aspect of work and life for the better. There is also a growing perception that firms and nations failing to adopt or develop AI boldly and early will fall behind early adopters and challengers from the tech industry.  

This disruption narrative implies that the early and bold adopters will gain a competitive advantage compared to those who are more hesitant. This discourse seems to drive favourable approaches to funding and regulation by the state, strong capital market valuation of tech corporations and start-ups, and considerable investment by these firms (e.g. in computer centres despite their tremendous power consumption) and their suppliers. 

However, whether these promises can be kept is increasingly questioned, not only by researchers but also by tech practitioners. Whether expectations around AI hold in the future will determine whether investments and capital market valuations pay out or are written off. This may lead to a major economic downturn, as in earlier phases in which digitalisation promises ran out.  

The related research will be published in a forthcoming chapter of a book about “failing digitalisations”.

Dr Jacopo Staccioli, Assistant Professor of Economic Policy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy 

Our research examines how AI technologies are being used to support or replace tasks traditionally carried out by managers, e.g. AI-powered tools that can make decisions, allocate work, or monitor performance.  

We provide novel empirical evidence to measure how widespread these technologies are and apply Natural Language Processing (NLP) to identify where and how such tools are being used. This helps us understand which tasks and job roles are most likely to be affected. 

Our results show that the impact of AI on management depends on the specific context. Some managerial tasks are being replaced, while others are being supported or enhanced by AI. We also found that lower- and mid-level workers are more likely to be affected, especially through increased monitoring and control, although this does not necessarily extend to greater risks around health and safety. 

Skills and human-technology collaboration 

Professor Na Fu, Trinity Business School, Ireland; Jiamin Li, (PhD student) Trinity Business School, Ireland and School of Business Administration, Northeastern University PR China; Professor Anette Hallin, Professor Chris Ivory and Christoffer Andersson (Research Fellow), Mälardalen University, Sweden; Dr Laura Piscicelli, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, the Netherlands; Professor Ana Moreno and Professor Ernestina Menasalvas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain. 

In recent years, the relationship between human skills and advanced digital technologies - such as AI and robotics - has become increasingly important. Our research explores how humans and technologies can move beyond traditional “substitution” (e.g. machines replacing human tasks) or “augmentation” (e.g. machines supporting humans in their work) models, and instead collaborate in ways that allow each side to enhance and evolve the other’s abilities.  

Rather than seeing technology simply as a static tool, our work highlights a dynamic partnership: as people learn to use new technologies, their own skills also change and develop. At the same time, these technologies “learn” and improve based on human input and feedback. 

This concept is called “human-technology skill complementarity.” It describes a dynamic two-way synergy in which both human and technological skills reinforce and support each other, whether at the level of tasks, teams, or whole organisations. For example, in healthcare, AI can quickly analyse large amounts of data to support doctors in making faster and more accurate diagnoses, while doctors contribute essential expertise, empathy, and context that machines cannot replace.  

In the workplace, AI can automate routine analysis, but humans remain vital for creative thinking, decision-making, and understanding complex social situations. 

Understanding this complementarity is crucial for organisations and society as we adopt more advanced technologies. Our research not only provides new ways of thinking about human-tech collaboration, but also offers practical insights for building more effective, adaptive, and inclusive workplaces.  

We believe that focusing on the mutual development of both human and technological skills will help organisations thrive in a rapidly changing, digital world. 

Disruption and worker organising 

Dr Aditya Ray, Senior lecturer in Geography and Environment at the University of the West of England, UWE Bristol; and Aju John, PhD researcher and activist, Humboldt University of Berlin

Our research explores how gig and platform workers, like food delivery and ride-sharing drivers, in India are coming together to form new types of unions with novel organisational practices and politico-legal strategies. 

These newly formed groups often follow traditional patterns of worker organisation, both formal and informal, but also diverge from them in important ways. Based on extensive interviews and documentary analysis conducted over 5 years, we demonstrate how these groups have risen in prominence and responded to the challenges of ‘digital informality’ under platform capitalism. They have done so by demanding special welfare rights and new systems of governance through the establishment of tripartite welfare boards that include the government, platform companies, and workers.  

These groups have also taken their demands directly to lawmakers during state and national elections. In other words, these unions do not just strike over wage and incentive cuts, they actively engage with governments, campaign for policy changes and push for long-term protections, navigating historical social, political and legal limitations.  

Overall, our research shows that this may represent the advent of a ‘new politics of welfare’ in the global South, where platform and gig workers build political power to reshape the welfare state itself. 

To find out more about this research, read our open access paper – “A new politics of welfare? The origins and strategies of India’s gig and platform workers’ unions in the era of digital capitalism.” 

Automation and work intensification 

Nahuel Aranda, Research and Teaching Assistant at Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba/Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Económicas (CICE-CONICET) 

Our research examines how workplace restructuring unfolded at Arcor’s confectionary plant in Argentina during the Convertibility period (1990 – 2002), a time when Argentina pegged its currency to the US dollar in an effort to curb inflation. 

During these years, Arcor developed a quality paradigm that combined technical and organisational innovations to reshape the labour process and transform the collective worker. To modernise production, Arcor invested in advanced technologies with automated lines, sensors, and robotics. From an organisational perspective, it adopted international quality standards required by global markets, and implemented Japanese Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).  

Our research shows how the quality paradigm served as a lever to drive, legitimise, and institutionalise restructuring, increasing productivity while disciplining the workforce. 

It also highlights how automation reduced physical effort and manual tasks, freeing up time that was then reallocated to TPM and quality-related activities, including administrative tasks, teamwork, meetings, machine maintenance and cleaning, and proposing improvements through quality cards. These shifts reveal how work intensified under the discourse of quality and efficiency. 

We also examined how these transformations altered social relations within the plant, including management strategies, interdepartmental tensions, resistance to change, and new control mechanisms. The findings highlight the contested nature of technological and organisational change, shaped by managerial decisions, worker agency, and institutional contexts.

Our research also explored how restructuring created divisions among workers based on gender, skills, experience and attitudes toward quality. It shows how the quality paradigm led to a qualitative change in worker qualifications, increasing skill requirements while reducing training times. As a result, the workforce became increasingly shaped and controlled by the demands of the quality model and Arcor’s drive to create value. 

Health and social care 

Angela Burgin, NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow and Advanced Clinical Pharmacist for Digital Medicines, University of Bradford and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

My research aims to understand how patient-clinician communication about medicines is affected when replacing the end-of-bed paper medication charts with Electronic Prescribing (EP) systems in hospitals. At the Disrupting Technology conference 2025, I presented initial study findings from a review of the literature. 

Digital systems in healthcare have well-established benefits, but they also bring unintended consequences and disruptions to patient care. EP systems are a type of digital system used in most UK NHS hospitals to prescribe, order and record when medicines are given using a computer. Before these systems were introduced, healthcare staff would visit the bedside to access the prescription chart which provided opportunities to talk with patients about their medicines.   

This research identified unintended outcomes of EP use: 1) reduced time spent with patients, and, when visits did occur, changes to the content, delivery, and patient involvement in medication conversations, 2) reduced ward presence of pharmacy and medical staff, and 3) changes to day-to-day work and staff roles, with more time spent on the computer.   

The results suggest that these outcomes are shaped by factors relating to technology design and availability, organisational culture, digital skills, and level of experience among healthcare staff.  

Explanations for staff's responses to the technology include perceptions that working in this way improves performance and efficiency, and that the digital system offers a more reliable, permanent source of information - particularly when the fear of litigation is a factor. 

The next stage of the research will test and refine these findings using practice observations and interview data. The ultimate aim is to develop recommendations around supporting staff and patients to adopt and adapt to technology, and ways to improve patient involvement in care.