Browsing by Author "Lloyd, Caroline"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    Digital skills in context: Working with robots in lower-skilled jobs
    (Sage, 2022-07-19) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
    Digital skills are increasingly presented as essential for work and labour market inclusion, with fears the low-skilled could be left behind. Lack of clarity about these new skill demands and limited evidence from the workplace have prompted calls to unpack skill requirements in specific sectors and occupations. This article analyses digital skills in relation to wider skills and knowledge required in a job, and examines the influence of the workplace, sector and national institutional context. The study focuses on robotic technologies in lower-skilled jobs, drawing on the experience of food and drink processing operatives, and logistic porters and service workers in public hospitals, in Norway and the UK. The article contributes to the conceptualisation of digital skills, probes country differences, and offers a grounded understanding of the challenges presented for workers in lower-skilled jobs.
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    Digitalisation, unions and ‘country-effect’: does union strength at the workplace matter?
    (Sage, 2025) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
    Trade unions are potentially important actors in shaping digitalisation to benefit workers. Research suggests supportive national labour market institutions can help unions to influence digital change in the workplace. This article considers the reach of national institutions, or ‘country effect’, and its relationship with union strength at the workplace. It applies a multi-level analysis to explore union influence over digital technology in the food and drink processing sector in Norway and the UK, two countries with starkly contrasting institutions. Drawing on interviews with officers and shop stewards in two unions, it compares a sample of workplaces with relatively strong and weak union organisation. The findings indicate union strength at the workplace has a more significant impact on union’s role in digitalisation in Norway, where there are strong institutional supports, than in the UK where these are lacking. The article contributes to analysing the relationship between ‘country-effect’ and union strength at the workplace in the shaping of digitalisation.
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    Fewer jobs, better jobs? An international comparative study of robots and ‘routine’ work in the public sector
    (Wiley, 2021) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
    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.
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    Food for thought: Robots, jobs and skills in food and drink processing in Norway and the UK
    (Wiley, 2021) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
    There is intense debate surrounding digitalisation and its implications for work. However, empirical research within established workplaces, especially international comparative studies, remains limited. This article uses cross-country research to further analysis of the relative importance of different institutions, actors and power relations in shaping digitalisation and worker outcomes. Through a multi-level approach, it compares the use of industrial robots in the food and drink processing sector in Norway and the UK. Drawing on qualitative research, it explores the pace of digitalisation, the process of implementation, and job and skills outcomes. The study finds strong national differences in the pace of digitalisation, and the role of unions in the process of implementation. In Norway, union power at workplace and national level, embedded in institutional arrangements, underpins more advanced use of technology and improved outcomes for workers.
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    Hard times in latte land? Analysing pay and working time in the café industry in France, Norway and the UK
    (Sage, 2018-11-13) Payne, Jonathan; Lloyd, Caroline
    Industrial relations and employment regulation are central elements of the national institutional framework shaping country-level differences in job quality. However, researchers are also interested in within-country variation by sector. International sector comparisons can shed light on the role of national institutions, individual employer approaches and workplace unions in shaping outcomes within a sector. This article uses qualitative data on pay and working time in the café industry in France, Norway and the UK to weigh the effects of institutions and employer differentiation on worker outcomes in a sector particularly challenging for union organisation. The findings identify the importance of national institutions for worker outcomes, and for shaping the scope at organisational level for employers and unions to make a difference.
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    Licensed to skill? The impact of occupational regulation on fitness instructors
    (Sage, 2017-03-29) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
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    Rethinking country effects: Robotics, AI and work futures in Norway and the UK
    (Wiley, 2019-09-02) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
    Current debates around robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are dominated by concerns over the threat to employment, amid widely varying estimates of potential job losses. Countries are expected to fare differently, but there is little comparative research that goes beyond analysing industry and occupational structures. This article rethinks ‘country effects’ by exploring the role of institutions and social actors in shaping technological change in Norway and the UK. Drawing upon interviews with technology experts, employer associations and trade unions, it examines their perspectives on public policy support for the development and diffusion of robotics and AI, along with potential consequences for employment, work and skills. The research indicates significant country differences and the continued relevance of institutions, interests and power in analysing country effects.
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    Skills in the Age of Over-Qualification: Comparing Service Sector Work in Europe
    (Oxford University Press, 2016-10-13) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
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    ‘They tell us after they’ve decided things’: a cross-country analysis of unions and digitalisation in retail
    (Wiley, 2023) Payne, Jonathan; Lloyd, Caroline; Jose, Secki P.
    The role of trade unions in the social shaping of digital technologies is a vital question for research, public policy and social justice. This article draws on interviews with two unions in the grocery retail sector in the UK and Norway, and examines their involvement in technology decisions, and whether they can shape better outcomes for workers. By comparing a ‘neo-liberal’ economy and a ‘Nordic welfare state’, the article considers whether stronger institutional power and regulatory supports in Norway provide for greater influence in a sector regarded as challenging for unions. The findings indicate relatively few country differences and help shed light on the factors that enable and constrain unions’ role in digitalisation.
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    Trade unions and Digitalisation in Norway and the UK: Findings from the Banking Sector
    (De Montfort University, 2022) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan; Jose, Secki P.
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    Trade unions and Digitalisation in Norway and the UK: Findings from the food and drink processing sector
    (De Montfort University, 2022) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan; Jose, Secki P.
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    Trade unions and Digitalisation in Norway and the UK: Findings from the grocery retail sector
    (2022) Payne, Jonathan; Lloyd, Caroline; Jose, Secki P.
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    Trade unions, digitalisation and country effects: a comparative study of banking in Norway and the UK
    (Sage, 2023) Lloyd, Caroline; Payne, Jonathan
    The resurgence of debate around digitalisation and work has seen the role of unions in the ‘social shaping of technology’ attracting renewed interest. A key question concerns how far national institutions influence unions’ ability to shape digitalisation in particular sectors and workplaces. Using a multi-level analysis that emphasises the inter-relationships between institutions, union power resources and agency, this article compares the role of two unions in the banking sector in Norway and the UK. Drawing on interviews with national officers and workplace reps, it addresses their involvement in decision-making processes and ability to influence outcomes in relation to digital monitoring and surveillance. The research findings highlight the continued salience of ‘country effect’ as evidenced by the Norwegian union’s more prominent role in shaping better worker outcomes.