Seminar with Professor Greg Bamber

Professor Greg Bamber, Department of Management, Monash Business School, Monash University – presents a paper in progress titled “AI Investment, Workers Voice and Skills in Australia and the UK: Converging Divergences between two Liberal Market Economies – An Australian Perspective” 

Abstract

This paper compares findings between two nationally representative surveys of employers’ strategies on managing digitalisation and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and considers implications for work and employment relations in Australia and the UK. Typically classified as Liberal Market Economies (LMEs, Bamber et al. 2021), both countries have seen constraints on the power of unions and regulatory institutions around collective bargaining and workers’ protection. The notion of Converging Divergences between LMEs (Katz and Darbishire 2000) provides a framework for this paper. Although Australia and the UK might appear to be similar LMEs, the determination of employment relations in the UK is largely decentralized, while Australia retains vestiges of its more centralized system of labour regulation and collectively regulated industrial-relations ‘awards’.

Survey respondents were managers in enterprises with more than 9 employees, who were able to comment on digital adoption (cf. Stuart et al.2024). The survey was representative of sector and firm size and elicited 2000 responses in the UK and 1000 in Australia. We consider three research questions. First, to what extent are employers investing in digitalisation? Second, what are the implications for the number of jobs and the demand for new skills. Third, what the implications of digitalisation for workers’ voices and employment relations.

We find that the adoption of digital technologies is higher in Australia than the UK. Nearly one in four Australian employers have invested in AI equipment compared to less than one in ten UK employers. The use of AI tools is more pervasive in Australia, used by nearly half of employers, including activities such as recruitment and workforce planning. Such applications are less evident in the UK. Despite differences in levels of investment, the net effect of digital adoption on jobs appears to be similar. In both countries where employers invest, they are more likely to predict jobs growth, rather than destruction. Also, digitalisation appears to be associated with an increased demand for digital skills, though employers’ training strategies diverge. Australian employers are more likely to invest in formal approaches to skill formation, while UK employers are more likely to invest in informal on-the job training.

At first sight, Australian employers seem to be embarking on a ‘higher-road’ approach to digitalisation than UK employers. Australian employers were more likely to involve their workers in decisions about digitalisation, were more likely to invest in such technologies and were more likely to support workers with training. However, levels of algorithmic control and work intensity were higher in Australia. We explore the differences more systematically through investigation of sectoral and enterprise-level differences.

References

Bamber, G.J., Cooke, F.L., Doellgast, V and Wright, C.F. (Eds) (2021) International and Comparative Employment Relations: Global Crises and Institutional Responses, 7th Edn. SAGE.

Katz, H. and Darbishire, O. (2000). Converging Divergences: Worldwide Changes in Employment Systems. Cornell University Press.

Stuart, M, Schulz, F., and Valizade. D. (2024). ‘In search of digital transformation: Survey evidence of UK employers’ investment in digital technologies and skills', Digit Data Commentary 05, Digital Futures at Work Research Centre.