Decentering Technology in the Datafied Workplace: Data (In)Justice and Workers’ Experiences of Algorithmic Management in Call Centers in the United Kingdom and Greece

Abstract

This article makes a key contribution to debates on algorithmic management by bringing together insights from labor process analysis and critical data studies to examine how workers experience and understand injustices related to the introduction of data-driven technologies. Based on 34 interviews with telecommunications call center workers in the United Kingdom and Greece, we find that while there are prominent concerns about uses of new technologies, workers tend to “see through” the technology to situate such concerns within wider power dynamics, most notably organizational culture, business models, and relationships with managers. Informed by debates on data justice, we, therefore, make a case for the need to decenter technology in engagements with algorithmic management to better account for workers’ experiences in discussions on the future of work.