Challenges in the New Economy: A New Era for Work Design

Abstract

Models of work design emerged in the twentieth century to address workplace changes created by the industrial revolution. However, the world of work is currently undergoing a new, profound revolution in terms of technological, demographic, and environmental changes, leading to a new economy, within which organizations and employees must function. The field of work design currently includes robust theories with a deep understanding of how work design affects employee outcomes, many with relevance to this new economy. However, the new economy also includes issues never before considered (e.g., algorithmic management and gig and lone work), and the field of work design must tackle the implications of these emerging issues. In this article, we review the general findings on work design and then examine a range of contextual, economic, technological, and diversity issues and their relevance to work design. We conclude with an agenda for future work design research and implications for work analysis and work design interventions and policies. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Volume 11 is January 2024. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Guest editorial: The new economy and employment in Africa: an introduction

“…A fundamental phenomenon that is relevant in understanding the 21st century economic development within the remit of Africa is the new economy and how the corresponding economy can be leveraged to provide economic opportunities such as employment avenues to the majority of the population, particularly because the African population is expected to significantly increase in the coming decades and employment opportunities are essential in accommodating the unemployed fraction of the population (Asongu and Odhiambo, 2020; Grinin and Korotayev, 2023). It is worthwhile to emphasize that the new economy, which entails the knowledge economy, consists of human capital, which is not material, that can be used to drive employment and by extension, economic development, namely education, intellectual services, science and information and communication technology (ICT) (Amavilah et al , 2017; Asongu and Odhiambo, 2022; Fraccaroli et al , 2024).…”