Tom Vickers

Tom Vickers is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Work Futures Research Observatory at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He is a founding member of the international Ecologies of Labour network and author of Borders, Migration and Class in an Age of Crisis (Bristol University Press, 2019) and Refugees, Capitalism and the British State (Routledge, 2012).

100 words: Digital technologies continue to transform both worker voice and wellbeing, captured by recurring contests over employee representation and workplace power. We report on an ongoing project that is exploring if, and how, digital technologies are being utilised for workplace communications, as well as more formal systems including target-setting, monitoring, control, algorithmic management, training, and support, and the implications for wellbeing across diverse workforces. We are focusing on three distinctive job roles – warehouse associates, call centre operatives, and app-based private hire drivers, and we would be delighted to hear from colleagues engaged in any of these sectors.