SYNTHESIZING THE AMBIVALENT EFFECTS OF ALGORITHMIC MANAGEMENT ON WORKERS’ WELL-BEING

Algorithms, a set of rules to be followed when performing computations, have advanced to the point where they are taking over management tasks. By executing coordination and control functions, algorithmic management (AM) has become a central feature of online labour platforms (OLPs) such as Uber, Airbnb, Upwork, and Amazon Mechanical Turk. Amid praise for AM for economic efficiency and simultaneous complaints from workers, we systematically review the literature on the impact of AM on workers’ well-being, considering the psychological, social, physical, economic, and eudaimonic dimensions. We unify the findings in a framework that combines AM characteristics, boundary conditions, domains of well-being, explanatory mechanisms and consequences, and coping behaviours to organise current findings and direct future research and practice.