Fewer jobs, better jobs? An international comparative study of robots and ‘routine’ work in the public sector

Abstract

Abstract Routine manual work is often considered particularly vulnerable to digitalisation. Alongside potential employment effects, jobs are expected to change in terms of task and skill requirements. This article contributes to debates on the pace of digitalisation and the impact on low‐skilled manual work through a study of transport robots in public hospitals in Norway and Scotland. Drawing on qualitative research, the findings are used to analyse the role of unions, as part of ‘country’ and ‘sector’ effects, shaping digitalisation and its outcomes.