The digitalisation of service work: A comparative study of restructuring of the banking sector in the United Kingdom and Luxembourg

The article compares the process of digitalisation and outcomes from work restructuring in two banks from the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. The banking sectors in both countries have been challenged by digitalisation pressures such as online and mobile banking, pressures from ‘Fintech’ banks, and the automation of back-office operations. Yet, the adjustment paths in the two countries differed. In Luxembourg, there is an adjustment via limited lay-offs, and increased training and reskilling; however, in the United Kingdom, the main outcomes revolve around branch downsizing and offshoring of em... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Kornelakis, Andreas
Kirov, Vassil
Thill, Patrick
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: European Journal of Industrial Relations ; volume 28, issue 3, page 253-272 ; ISSN 0959-6801 1461-7129
Verlag/Hrsg.: SAGE Publications
Schlagwörter: Management of Technology and Innovation / Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management / Strategy and Management / General Business / Management and Accounting
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26740028
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09596801211056829

The article compares the process of digitalisation and outcomes from work restructuring in two banks from the United Kingdom and Luxembourg. The banking sectors in both countries have been challenged by digitalisation pressures such as online and mobile banking, pressures from ‘Fintech’ banks, and the automation of back-office operations. Yet, the adjustment paths in the two countries differed. In Luxembourg, there is an adjustment via limited lay-offs, and increased training and reskilling; however, in the United Kingdom, the main outcomes revolve around branch downsizing and offshoring of employment. These outcomes are explained by differences in institutional supports for collective voice institutions, as well as the role of the state. The findings demonstrate that the embedded employment relations’ institutions and actors have shaped distinct paths of adjustment to digitalisation; and show how the impact of technology on work is neither deterministic nor unidirectional.