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How computerisation is transforming jobs: Evidence from the European Working Conditions Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Bisello

    (Eurofound)

  • Eleonora Peruffo

    (Eurofound)

  • Enrique Fernandez-Macias

    (European Commission - JRC)

  • Riccardo Rinaldi

    (University of Siena)

Abstract

This paper investigates changes in the task content, methods and tools of European jobs from 1995 to 2015. Drawing on the taxonomy of tasks proposed by Bisello and Fernández-Macías (2016), this work tries to better understand whether changes in the average intensity of tasks performance are the result of changes in the shares of employment across jobs, or changes in the task content within-jobs, or both. The main findings from a combined analysis of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and European Jobs monitor data (EJM) suggest that jobs with more social task content expanded relative to the rest, but this is in contrast with a decline in the amount of social tasks people actually do in those (and other) jobs over the same period. A similar contradictory trend can be observed in terms of routine tasks, with compositional and intrinsic changes going in opposite directions: an actual increase in the total levels of routine at work is recorded, notwithstanding marginal compositional declines. The implications of these findings in the context of the current debate on the impact of technological change on employment are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Bisello & Eleonora Peruffo & Enrique Fernandez-Macias & Riccardo Rinaldi, 2019. "How computerisation is transforming jobs: Evidence from the European Working Conditions Survey," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2019-02, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:laedte:201902
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    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC117167
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Belloni, Michele & Carrino, Ludovico & Meschi, Elena, 2022. "The impact of working conditions on mental health: Novel evidence from the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Enrique Fernandez-Macias & Martina Bisello, 2020. "A Taxonomy of Tasks for Assessing the Impact of New Technologies on Work," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2020-04, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Nuno Boavida & Marta Candeias, 2021. "Recent Automation Trends in Portugal: Implications on Industrial Productivity and Employment in Automotive Sector," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Marta Fana & Davide Villani & Martina Bisello, 2021. "Mind the task: evidence on persistent gender gaps at the workplace," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2021-03, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Nathalie Greenan & Silvia Napolitano, 2021. "Why Do Employees Participate in Innovation? Skills and Organisational Design Issues and the Ongoing Technological Transformation," Working Papers halshs-03270141, HAL.
    6. Martina Bisello & Marta Fana & Enrique Fernández-Macías & Sergio Torrejón Pérez, 2021. "A comprehensive European database of tasks indices for socio-economic research," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2021-04, Joint Research Centre.
    7. Fana Marta & Giangregorio Luca, 2021. "Routine-biased technical change can fail: Evidence from France," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2021-14, Joint Research Centre.
    8. Michel Ajzen & Laurent Taskin, 2021. "The re-regulation of working communities and relationships in the context of flexwork: A spacing identity approach," Post-Print halshs-03345447, HAL.

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    Keywords

    Tasks; Technical Change; Structural Change; Labour Markets; Europe; Occupations;
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