[AISWorld] HICSS-57: CFP Minitrack on the Changing Nature of Work: Inclusive Labor Markets and Work Practices Mini-track

[Taylor, Joseph D]

Fast Track Opportunities Available at DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, Foundations and Trends in Information Systems and Communication of the Association of Information Systems (CAIS)



Across the work force new developments in collaboration tools, digital labor platforms and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of work. Large-scale remote work activities during the COVID pandemic, coupled with ongoing economic uncertainty have accelerated adoption of a wide range of tools and practices that are altering how workers engage with stakeholders. The changing nature of work presents both challenges and opportunities to building more inclusive labor markets.
On the one hand, the changing nature of work allows a variety of tasks to be completed remotely, expanding access to work opportunities by individuals who may be marginalized by distance, access to reliable transportation or care responsibilities. In this manner broader adoption of collaborative tools and digital platforms may enable meaningful employment opportunities to individuals who would otherwise be excluded from the digital workforce. On the other hand, underlying inequities in labor markets, derived from factors such as differing wage rates, ethnic/national origin/racial/religious/gender/sexual orientation-based discrimination, differences in power among stakeholders, varying digital infrastructure across geography or regulatory variability, may be amplified and codified as work processes evolve. Further technology development, such as AI or robotics, may also automate tasks disrupting the number and nature of opportunities for future employment.
This minitrack is focused on issues relating to how the changing nature may become a mechanism for enabling more inclusive work practices. This objective takes many forms, both in examining the socio-technical factors that enable inclusive employment as well as the factors that create barriers to inclusion. We welcome submissions examining factors at any level of analysis, spanning from global or national level factors influencing labor markets, to individual or team level factors influencing work practices. Increasing popular concerns regarding the changing nature of work are centering these topics in our global understanding of labor markets. Increasing oversight by regulatory bodies demonstrate the import for both academia and policy makers to not only understand emerging work conditions but to also articulate the impact of proposed interventions to the changing nature of work on labor markets.
As discussed above, technology is changing labor markets and work practices. While technology may enable greater employment access, it also may foster environments of power asymmetry: new technology may privilege the platform owners who have the power to control the digital work environments (such as the sourcing models, compensation models, and work policies) but disadvantage workers, particularly the marginalized. Thus, we call for research that critically examines current work conditions and policies on the changing nature of work and propose new work processes, platform designs and polices to enhance the digital work environments and foster social inclusion and equity.
Finally, it's important for both academia and industry to better understand the impact of the post pandemic transformation on changing nature of work. In the long term, technological developments at the intersection of remote work platforms and AI can potentially shape work at different levels. Research on the future of work and the essential skills and abilities of future workforce will update our knowledge and broaden our visions about the next generation of workforce.
Potential issues and topics on the changing nature of work and inclusive labor markets and work practices include, but are not limited to:
*       Changing work conditions in technology centered work environments
*       Changing nature of work in developing economies
*       Changing nature of collective bargaining in a global workforce
*       AI impact work labor markets and career pathing
*       Diversity, equity, and inclusion in technology enabled work environments
*       Discrimination in technology centered work environments
*       Impacts of the digital divide on labor markets
*       Employment relations in distributed work environments and digital labor platforms
*       The engagement of marginalized groups in emerging work environments
*       Worker identity and engagement in the changing nature of work
*       Psychological aspects of emerging work environments on workers (e.g., Technostress, Well-being)
*       Public policy for more equitable work practices
*       Social insurance protection for marginalized workers in crowdsourcing
*       Legal and regulatory issues in labor relations in changing work environments
*       Ethical issues in labor relations in changing work environments


Important Dates for Paper Submission

June 15, 2023 | 11:59 pm HST:           Submission Deadline
August 17, 2023 | 11:59 pm HST:        Notification of Acceptance/Rejection
September 22, 2023|11:59 pm HST:  Deadline for Submission of Final Manuscript for Publication
October 1, 2023 | 11:59 pm HST:        Deadline for at least one author to register for HICSS-57
Minitrack Co-Chairs:
Joseph Taylor (Primary Contact)
California State University, Sacramento
joseph.taylor at csus.edu
Lauri Wessel
European University Viadrina Frankfurt and and Norwegian University of Science and Technology
wessel at europa-uni.de
Jan-Hendrik Passoth
Chair for Sociology of Technology
European University Viadrina Frankfurt
passoth at europa-uni.de