Journal Article

Purpose: This study aims to investigate how app drivers are giving meaning to their work, taking as a theoretical assumption the model proposed by Rosso, Dekas, & Wrzesniewski (2010). Originality/value: Internationally, the volume of empirical research involving digital labor markets is considered to be low. Nationally, research in the context of Sharing Economy rarely focuses on the labor perspective. Despite being a growing phenomenon, no studies were found on the production of meanings and meaningfulness of work by app drivers. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative and exploratory research was carried out with 37 app drivers between May and September 2017, in Porto Alegre (RS, Brazil). Randomly selected, respondents were called to a work route by the transport application. The interviews' content was categorized and analyzed according to the framework of Rosso et al. (2010). Findings: Elements that refer to all the model quadrants were found: "self-connection", "individuation", "contribution", and "unification". The predominant meaning, however, is desire, seeking and valuing by the agency, in the mechanisms of self-efficacy and self-management, especially in the financial, autonomy and flexibility perspectives. This research contributes to the intersection of the study of the labor world transformations and the construction of meanings and meaningfulness, using a framework little used in Brazilian research. It also collaborates to broaden the understanding of digital labor markets, especially their impact on workers.

Using geographic information system techniques, this article explores the formation of STEM jobs from a regional perspective. It uses data on European regions, specifically from the Nomenclature of Territorial Units, to first show (by means of Getis-Ord general G statistic and the global Moran’s I statistic) the existence of regional clusters of STEM jobs, which then it explores by means of Getis-Ord Gi*, a local indicator of spatial association. Finally, it estimates, both globally (fitting an ordinary least squares, regression model) and locally (fitting a geographically weighted regression), the extent to which different institutional and firm-based factors contribute to their formation. Findings reveal North–South and West–East differences in how factors contribute to the formation of STEM clusters in Europe. In particular, whereas STEM employment in the North seems to depend more on tertiary education, secondary education is more important in the South. On the other hand, whereas in Western Europe, a favorable learning environment seems to trigger the concentration of STEM jobs, extrinsic factors such as pay seem to be more important in Eastern Europe.

Purpose - This paper aims to discuss the rationale, theoretical foundation, application, and future of artificial intelligence (AI)-based training. Design/methodology/approach - A review of relevant research papers, articles and case studies is done to highlight developments in research and practice. Findings - AI-based training systems are smart, intelligent and expert in handling queries. These systems can curate content, grade, evaluate, and provide feedback to trainee, thus making learning adaptive and contextual. Practical implications - Application of AI is vital in the field of training, as it helps personalization and customization of training programs to increase the effectiveness of training. Originality/value - Executives and researchers can save time by reading relevant information on the linkage, and its contribution to AI is discussed and summarized in an easy to read format.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how the next government could develop a better deal in relation to work, pensions and poverty. The paper argues that given the changing face of poverty, the next government should focus on creating better jobs if it is really to encourage people to work longer and save more for retirement. Furthermore, it could do more to support those who are currently under-saving for retirement. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on evidence from a number of recent qualitative and quantitative JRF research reports and government statistical data. Findings - The paper suggests policy recommendations for the next government focused on creating better jobs and helping those on lower incomes increase their pension pots. This includes: ensuring that the minimum wages is set with regard to the changing price of essentials and changing average earnings; raising awareness of the Living Wage and playing a leadership role; industrial strategies for low paid sectors; mid-life career reviews and increased rights for those aged 60 and over; the redistribution of tax relief on pension contributions and the auto-escalation of workplace pensions. Originality/value - This paper looks at the issue of an ageing society, work and pensions through a poverty lens.

In hospitals, the life-long learning for healthcare professional has just required greater flexibility regarding when courses can be started, where they can be taken and how long they last. On the other hand, within the medical and healthcare milieu, other factors, such as: "heightened expectations for healthcare services quality", "acute shortage of healthcare professionals", "increased complexity of healthcare services" and "accelerated technological changes", etc., reinforce the need for continual competency-based training of its workers. As the ISO 9000 quality management system (QMS) has been increasingly adopted by hospitals, more applications require continuing QMS training for healthcare professionals. This paper employs a modern hybrid e-learning model to reduce the time and location limitations in providing QMS knowledge and practices for delegates in continuing medical education, while principal learning theories such as: "Adaptive Learning", "Collaborative Learning", "Learning in Community", "Scaffolding Learning", and "Scenario Learning" are incorporated onto a computational platform. A series of hybrid digital contents of QMS, namely: "e-Learning Map", "e-Illustration", "e-Learning Group", "e-Comprehension", and "e-Workshop" were developed, applied and validated to be effective in reinforcing the competence of those who received the hybrid e-learning contents. As a result, an effective e-learning application model for healthcare professionals and the quality of training is proven.

Male immigrants are disproportionately employed in information and communication technology (ICT) industries and occupations in Canada. The authors use a measure of basic ICT skills to document differences in skill levels, and those skills’ relationship with labour market earnings, across immigration classes and categories of Canadians at birth. Adult immigrants, including those assessed by Canada’s points system, have lower average ICT scores than Canadians at birth, although the rate of return to ICT skills is not statistically different between them. Immigrants who arrive as children and the Canadian-born children of immigrants have similar outcomes as the Canadian-born children of Canadian-born parents.

The arguments in this report have arisen from a unique process of dialogue involving representatives of major employers’ and trade union organisations, public agencies, professional organisations and universities, as well as researchers and activists from diverse backgrounds. This paper makes the case for workplace innovation and participative working and the opportunities and limitless possibilities for creative and rewarding entrepreneurship that these afford. It argues that workplace innovation has a major impact on both the performance of the enterprise and on national economic competitiveness. It boosts productivity, quality and innovation, by making better use of workforce talent and has a profound effect on employees’ learning and development, health, well-being, ageing and wider roles as citizens. Set against a backdrop of changing economic priorities and demographic changes, where organisational hierarchies and jobs for life are being replaced by a knowledge based network economy bristling with innovative communication technologies, this report argues that the workplace constitutes a vital but neglected asset in facing the challenges of a volatile world economy and that there are missed opportunities amongst politicians and policymakers in maximising the role that workplaces and organisations can play. The potential of the workplace, the focal point at which wealth creation and social wellbeing come together, is being ignored. There is clear agreement amongst those responsible for this report about the need to challenge such a major gap in the current policy environment, especially at a time when growth and employment rank so highly in the list of national priorities.

Field technology is electronic systems or equipment designed to capture and communicate data on workers in the field so that employers can manage, document or inspect the behavior and job performance of the mobile workforce. In this article, we argue that the deployment of various types of field technology can be interpreted as the technological realization of popular reform programs that have been introduced in the public and the private sector over the last three decades, especially risk management and New Public Management. Further, we argue that the use of field technology implies that internal systems for governance and control migrate from the corporate to the individual level. We propose that one important effect of this migration is that the privacy (data protection) of the mobile workforce is diminished and that the power of managers is enhanced. Our discussions and conclusions are based on a qualitative study of the effects of various field technologies in 52 private companies and public organizations in Norway.

Action Research in Workplace Innovation and Regional Development (Fricke and Totterdill, 2004) advocated creating “many low-intensity cases generated by a great variety of actors ... (integrating) the ideas and interests of as many regional stakeholders as possible”, thereby unleashing the potential to introduce industrial democracy and worker participation into regional development processes. This article explores a specific attempt to stimulate workplace innovation in the UK, a country with no tradition of such policy initiatives, through a coalition of regional actors. The resulting programme was successful in its own terms, achieving tangible outcomes and shared learning, but failed to create a sustainable momentum in its own region. The learning and experience from the programme was subsequently absorbed by policy makers elsewhere in the UK.