What are the changes in work and employment due to digital transformation?

Digital transformation has significantly impacted work and employment, leading to both opportunities and challenges across various dimensions. The integration of digital technologies has fundamentally reshaped workplace dynamics, labor structures, employee competencies, and employment opportunities.

Let us scan 4 aspects of this subject:

1. Changes in Employment Structure: Digital transformation has altered labor structures by increasing the demand for high-skilled, non-routine jobs while reducing the need for low-skilled, routine tasks. This structural change is evident across industries, where there is a rising proportion of younger, tech-savvy employees, and a decrease in older, less technologically proficient workers (Lv et al. 2024). This shift highlights the need for continuous upskilling and adaptation to new technological tools, which can be a barrier for certain demographic groups if not managed properly.

2. Impact on Employee Well-being and Stress: The digital era has also transformed the spatial and temporal dimensions of work, often intensifying work experiences and increasing stress related to hyper-connectivity. Studies indicate that excessive after-hours digital activities, such as virtual meetings, elevate work-related stress. However, job satisfaction and a positive work-life interface can mitigate these stress levels (Cavicchioli et al. 2025). Employees' attitudes towards digital changes, such as autonomy and competence, play a crucial role in their support and adaptation to digital workplace transformations (Meske and Junglas 2020).

3. Gender and Disability Employment: Digital transformation presents both challenges and opportunities for employment equity. While it can alleviate gender discrimination by promoting women's employment through enhanced access to information and skills (Ye and Cai 2024), it might also perpetuate inequities, especially for persons with disabilities. The concept of the digital divide explains how disparities in access to digital technologies, skills, and resources can hinder the employment potential for disabled individuals, necessitating inclusive design and targeted support programs (Jetha et al. 2023).

4. Employee Performance and Competence: Digital transformation can empower employees by enhancing their perceived competence and motivation, subsequently boosting job performance. This empowerment is particularly significant in sectors like the fitness industry, where digital tools offer new business opportunities and require employees to adapt and excel (Yildiz et al. 2024). However, the perceived technology uncertainty also poses a risk to employee well-being, as it can lead to increased technostress if not balanced by resources such as skill flexibility and supportive job contexts (Liu, Lin, and Wang 2024).

Overall, digital transformation demands a proactive approach from organizations to mitigate its inherent challenges, including stress and inequities, while leveraging its potential to enhance employee empowerment, job performance, and adaptive competencies.

References

Lv, Kangjuan, Siwei Zhu, Lei Zhu, and Ye Zhao. 2024. “Enterprise Digital Transformation and Labor Structure Evolution: Evidence from China.” Chinese Management Studies 19 (3): 702–33. https://doi.org/10.1108/cms-09-2023-0485.

Cavicchioli, Maddalena, Fabio Demaria, Francesca Nannetti, Anna Chiara Scapolan, and Tommaso Fabbri. 2025. “Employees’ Attitudes and Work-Related Stress in the Digital Workplace: An Empirical Investigation.” Frontiers in Psychology 16 (February). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1546832.

Meske, Christian, and Iris Junglas. 2020. “Investigating the Elicitation of Employees’ Support towards Digital Workplace Transformation.” Behaviour & Information Technology 40 (11): 1120–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2020.1742382.

Ye, Rendao, and Xinya Cai. 2024. “Digital Transformation, Gender Discrimination, and Female Employment.” Systems 12 (5): 162. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12050162.

Jetha, Arif, Silvia Bonaccio, Ali Shamaee, Cristina G Banks, Ute Bültmann, Peter M Smith, Emile Tompa, Lori B Tucker, Cameron Norman, and Monique A.M Gignac. 2023. “Divided in a Digital Economy: Understanding Disability Employment Inequities Stemming from the Application of Advanced Workplace Technologies.” SSM - Qualitative Research in Health 3 (June): 100293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100293.

Yildiz, Kadir, Halil Erdem Akoğlu, Esra Emir, Salvador Angosto, and Jerónimo García-Fernández. 2024. “The Perceived Effect of Digital Transformation and Resultant Empowerment on Job Performance of Employees in the Fitness Family Business.” Journal of Family Business Management 15 (1): 102–21. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfbm-02-2024-0038.

Liu, Nien-Chi, Yi-Ting Lin, and Yung-Chun Wang. 2024. “Employees’ Adaptation to Technology Uncertainty in the Digital Era: An Exploration Through the Lens of Job Demands–Resources Theory.” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 71 (January): 7286–97. https://doi.org/10.1109/tem.2023.3264293.