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An uncertain elite: Professional differences and similarities between engineers and tech workers in times of digital transformation

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Listed:
  • Krzywdzinski, Martin
  • Pfeiffer, Sabine
  • Kuhlmann, Martin
  • Ottaiano, Mario
  • Heinlein, Michael
  • Ritter, Tobias
  • Neumer, Judith
  • Huchler, Norbert

Abstract

The digital transformation of industries has given rise to new categories of tech workers, such as software engineers and UX/UI designers, who now work alongside traditional engineers. This study explores the evolving relationship between these groups, focusing on work processes, status perceptions and professional interactions. The research questions addressed include: how has digitalisation affected these two groups’ work processes? what strategies do they use to maintain or improve their career paths? and how do their roles converge or diverge? Using qualitative data from interviews and workshops in a German automotive company undergoing a digital and electric mobility transformation, the study finds both competition and cooperation between engineers and IT professionals, with the former adopting some IT work methods and the latter adjusting to the highly structured processes of the industrial sector. Despite growing overlaps, distinct professional identities nevertheless remain.

Suggested Citation

  • Krzywdzinski, Martin & Pfeiffer, Sabine & Kuhlmann, Martin & Ottaiano, Mario & Heinlein, Michael & Ritter, Tobias & Neumer, Judith & Huchler, Norbert, 2025. "An uncertain elite: Professional differences and similarities between engineers and tech workers in times of digital transformation," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 19(1), pages 84-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:315548
    DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.19.1.0084
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Susan Helper & Jennifer Kuan, 2018. "What Goes On under the Hood? How Engineers Innovate in the Automotive Supply Chain," NBER Chapters, in: US Engineering in a Global Economy, pages 193-214, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Martin Krzywdzinski, 2021. "Automation, digitalization, and changes in occupational structures in the automobile industry in Germany, Japan, and the United States: a brief history from the early 1990s until 2018 [Managing fle," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(3), pages 499-535.
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