Platform work and employment terms

As FEPS, together with our Nordic partners, Tankesmedjan Tiden, Kalevi Sorsa Saatio, Tankesmien Agenda, CEVEA, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (ECLM), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nordics, Cooperation Committee of the Nordic Labour Movement (SAMAK), and with the support of Nordics Trade Unions, we came together for a Digital Research Programme to investigate the developments around AI in the workplace and the effects on workers.

Over the next year, we will work together on three different research strands. One on company case studies of algorithmic management, where workers’ performance is tracked and rated. This research strand will be executed in Finland, Sweden and Norway. A second strand on workers’ experience in algorithmic management from surveys in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. And a third on online platforms, employment terms and algorithms in Denmark. For the most part, the research is being conducted, and the results are expected in the second quarter of 2024, except for the work on online labour platforms, which is already completed. 

That is why, on 18 January, we launched the ‘Employment terms of platform workers‘ policy study with the first results of the Digital Programme. This policy study on employment terms of platform workers, with a data-driven analysis of employment terms and the use of algorithms on online platforms in Denmark, was performed by the Economic Council of the Labour Movement (ECLM). We gathered the research team involved and wanted to use this opportunity to connect them with the key experts, policymakers, and trade unionists. During this expert roundtable discussion, we wanted to interact with them on employment terms on labor platforms to present what we were working on and gather input from our main stakeholders in Denmark.  

The Digital Research Programme

FEPS, Tankesmedjan Tiden, Kalevi Sorsa Saatio, Tankesmien Agenda, CEVEA, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd (ECLM), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nordics and Cooperation Committee of the Nordic Labour Movement (SAMAK), with the support of Nordic trade Unions, came together for a Digital Research Programme to discuss the research questions, methods and approaches of the different research strands:

1. Algorithmic management and governance (prevalence & consequences)
2. Workers’ experience at the workplace – surveys and focus groups
3. Online platforms and employment terms