A review of Cyberboss: the rise of algorithmic management and the new struggle for control at work by Craig Gent

Abstract In Cyberboss: The Rise of Algorithmic Management and the New Struggle for Control at Work, Craig Gent details the increasing adoption of algorithmic management across vast areas of trackable labor. In doing this, he highlights the means by which the human aspect of work is decoupled from quantifying success. This review frames Gent’s Cyberboss within broader debates of agency in digitally controlled workplaces. Particularly, it examines the role of algorithmic management in bureaucracy, with a focus on the evolving role of street-level bureaucrats in a digital age. By comparing Amazon workers to Midwestern middle school teachers, this review demonstrates the challenges street-level bureaucrats face as algorithmic management expands into various sectors of the economy. Notably, it discusses how digital control fundamentally reshapes policy implementation, oversight, and resistance inside bureaucratic organizations. Gent’s Cyberboss is a crucial lens for clarifying the challenges workers face in the digital age, defining the power relationships founded in algorithmic management, and inviting workers to resist digital control.