Gender inequalities in the new world of work

Abstract

Digitalisation, automation and technological change have brought about shifts in the occupational structure, the place and the timing of work, and career patterns, putting a further strain on the standard employment relationship. In the recent research on digitalisation, scant attention has however been paid to the gender impact of these changes. This article addresses this gap by developing a gender perspective on digitalisation, considering how these developments interact with existing social inequalities and gender segregation patterns in the labour market. We identify two broad areas in which digitalisation has thus far had a pronounced effect on employment: the structure of employment (including occupational change and the task content of jobs) and forms of work (including employment relationships and work organisation). We find that, despite the profound changes in the labour market, traditional gender inequalities continue to reassert themselves on many dimensions. With standard employment declining in significance, the policy challenge is to include new forms of work in effective labour protection frameworks that promote equal access of women and men to quality jobs and their equal treatment at work.