IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/crm/wpaper/26108.html

AI and Worker Well-being: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Study

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Bryson
  • Antti Kauhanen
  • Petri Rouvinen

Abstract

Utilizing nationally representative cross-sectional and longitudinal data from Finland (2018-2023), we provide a population-level assessment of the relationship between AI and worker well-being. Contrary to international evidence suggesting a positive or an inverted U-shaped relationship, we find no systematic association between AI use intensity and job satisfaction. However, we do find that work engagement is higher among employees who are personally involved with AI, with the strongest association among intensive users for whom AI is an essential part of their work. Furthermore, technology-replacement fears have remained stable despite rapid AI advancement and do not predict subsequent labour market transitions. An interpretation is that Finland's high-trust institutional environment and robust social safety nets may effectively moderate the disruptive psychological and economic shocks typically associated with rapid technological change.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Bryson & Antti Kauhanen & Petri Rouvinen, 2026. "AI and Worker Well-being: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Study," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 26108, ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin).
    • Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:26108
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/26108.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Minardi, Saverio & Hornberg, Carla & Barbieri, Paolo & Solga, Heike, 2023. "The link between computer use and job satisfaction: The mediating role of job tasks and task discretion," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 796-831.
    2. Saverio Minardi & Carla Hornberg & Paolo Barbieri & Heike Solga, 2023. "The link between computer use and job satisfaction: The mediating role of job tasks and task discretion," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 796-831, December.
    3. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    4. Böckerman, Petri & Bryson, Alex & Ilmakunnas, Pekka, 2012. "Does high involvement management improve worker wellbeing?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 660-680.
    5. Petri Böckerman & Alex Bryson & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2013. "Does high involvement management lead to higher pay?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(4), pages 861-885, October.
    6. Macey, William H. & Schneider, Benjamin, 2008. "The Meaning of Employee Engagement," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 3-30, March.
    7. Diane E. Bailey, 2022. "Emerging Technologies at Work: Policy Ideas to Address Negative Consequences for Work, Workers, and Society," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(3), pages 527-551, May.
    8. Petri Böckerman & Alex Bryson & Antti Kauhanen & Mari Kangasniemi, 2016. "Does Job Support Make Workers Happy?," DoQSS Working Papers 16-16, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    9. Nick Drydakis, 2025. "Artificial intelligence and labor market outcomes," World of Labour, LISER, pages 514-514, February.
    10. Braganza, Ashley & Chen, Weifeng & Canhoto, Ana & Sap, Serap, 2021. "Productive employment and decent work: The impact of AI adoption on psychological contracts, job engagement and employee trust," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 485-494.
    11. Felix Schulz & Danat Valizade & Mark Stuart & Magdalena Soffia & Jolene Skordis, 2026. "Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Employee Pay in the United Kingdom: Evidence From Matched Employer–Employee Data," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 116-129, March.
    12. Jari J. Hakanen & Petri Rouvinen & Ilkka Ylhäinen, 2021. "The Impact of Work Engagement on Future Occupational Rankings, Wages, Unemployment, and Disability Pensions—A Register-Based Study of a Representative Sample of Finnish Employees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ben Halima, Mohamed Ali & Greenan, Nathalie & Lanfranchi, Joseph, 2023. "Getting sick for profit? The impact of cumulative ICT and management changes on long term sickness absence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 659-688.
    2. Agnes Bäker & Amanda H. Goodall & Victoria Serra‐Sastre, 2026. "Managing to Stay: Does Line‐Manager Quality Affect Employees’ Intention to Quit in the NHS?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 196-209, March.
    3. Angela Sutan & Radu Vranceanu, 2019. "Managerial Behavior in the Lab: Information Disclosure, Decision Process and Leadership Style," Working Papers hal-02291210, HAL.
    4. Petri Böckerman & Alex Bryson & Antti Kauhanen & Mari Kangasniemi, 2020. "Does job design make workers happy?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 67(1), pages 31-52, February.
    5. Joseph Blasi & Richard Freeman & Douglas Kruse, 2016. "Do Broad-based Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing and Stock Options Help the Best Firms Do Even Better?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(1), pages 55-82, March.
    6. Nicolas Sirven & Jean-Marie Cardebat & Marine Coupaud, 2017. "Working conditions and the health of workers: An elaboration of a responsible prevention ratio," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 38(4), pages 562-587, November.
    7. Petri Böckerman & Alex Bryson & Antti Kauhanen & Mari Kangasniemi, 2016. "Does Job Support Make Workers Happy?," DoQSS Working Papers 16-16, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    8. Ludivine Martin, 2020. "How to retain motivated employees in their jobs?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 41(4), pages 910-953, November.
    9. Böckerman, Petri & Bryson, Alex & Ilmakunnas, Ilari & Ilmakunnas, Pekka, 2025. "Does high involvement management make you work longer? Insights from linked survey and register data," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    10. White, Michael & Bryson, Alex, 2018. "HPWS in the Public Sector: Are There Mutual Gains?," IZA Discussion Papers 11965, IZA Network @ LISER.
    11. Yoko Asuyama, 2022. "Doing boss‐like tasks and worker well‐being: Job enrichment revisited," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 36(2), pages 196-230, June.
    12. Daniela Converso & Ilaria Sottimano & Giorgia Molinengo & Barbara Loera, 2019. "The Unbearable Lightness of the Academic Work: The Positive and Negative Sides of Heavy Work Investment in a Sample of Italian University Professors and Researchers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, April.
    13. Barry, Michael & Bryson, Alex & Gomez, Rafael & Kaufman, Bruce E. & Lomas, Guenther & Wilkinson, Adrian, 2018. "The," IZA Discussion Papers 11860, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Burdin, Gabriel & Kato, Takao, 2021. "Complementarity in Employee Participation Systems: International Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 14694, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Wolter Hassink, 2018. "How to reduce workplace absenteeism," World of Labour, LISER, pages 447-447, September.
    16. Ramón Martín-Brufau & Alejandro Martin-Gorgojo & Carlos Suso-Ribera & Eduardo Estrada & María-Eugenia Capriles-Ovalles & Santiago Romero-Brufau, 2020. "Emotion Regulation Strategies, Workload Conditions, and Burnout in Healthcare Residents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-12, October.
    17. Ludivine Martin & Uyen T. Nguyen-Thi & Caroline Mothe, 2021. "Human resource practices, perceived employability and turnover intention: does age matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(28), pages 3306-3320, June.
    18. Erin L. Kelly & Hazhir Rahmandad & Nathan Wilmers & Aishwarya Yadama, 2023. "How Do Employer Practices Affect Economic Mobility?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(5), pages 792-832, October.
    19. Böckerman, Petri & Ilmakunnas, Pekka, 2017. "Do Good Working Conditions Make You Work Longer? Evidence on Retirement Decisions Using Linked Survey and Register Data," IZA Discussion Papers 10964, IZA Network @ LISER.
    20. Artz, Benjamin & Heywood, John S., 2020. "Unions, Worker Participation and Worker Well-Being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 705, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:26108. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Moritz Lubczyk or Matthew Nibloe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cmucluk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.