The global polarisation of remote work

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the rise of digitally enabled remote work with consequences for the global division of labour. Remote work could connect labour markets, but it might also increase spatial polarisation. However, our understanding of the geographies of remote work is limited. Specifically, in how far could remote work connect employers and workers in different countries? Does it bring jobs to rural areas because of lower living costs, or does it concentrate in large cities? And how do skill requirements affect competition for employment and wages? We use data from a fully remote labour market—an online labour platform—to show that remote platform work is polarised along three dimensions. First, countries are globally divided: North American, European, and South Asian remote platform workers attract most jobs, while many Global South countries participate only marginally. Secondly, remote jobs are pulled to large cities; rural areas fall behind. Thirdly, remote work is polarised along the skill axis: workers with in-demand skills attract profitable jobs, while others face intense competition and obtain low wages. The findings suggest that agglomerative forces linked to the unequal spatial distribution of skills, human capital, and opportunities shape the global geography of remote work. These forces pull remote work to places with institutions that foster specialisation and complex economic activities, i. e. metropolitan areas focused on information and communication technologies. Locations without access to these enabling institutions—in many cases, rural areas—fall behind. To make remote work an effective tool for economic and rural development, it would need to be complemented by local skill-building, infrastructure investment, and labour market programmes.

Measuring remote working skills: Scale development and validation study

“…It is argued that accurately determining the skills in human capital data is the first step in resolving this socioeconomic problem [ 145 ]. In the study conducted by Braesemann et al [ 18 ], it was revealed that remote working skills are not evenly distributed around the world, there is a polarization, and southern countries lag behind northern countries and rural areas lag behind cities. In addition, it has been found that employees who do not have sufficient skills in remote work receive less salary than employees who have these skills and are not in equal competitive conditions.…”

The scientific approach to facilitate the human-machine interactions. The case of Carrozzeria Fratelli Basile

“…The managerial literature (Wren and Hay, 1977; Thompson Heames and Breland, 2010; Dagher et al , 2015; Günsel and Yamen, 2020; Braesemann et al , 2022; Cameron et al , 2023; Noponen et al , 2023) agrees that Tayloristic principles have crossed the history of managerial thought. One of Taylor’s main intuitions was to define the production system as a whole made up of men, tools and machinery to be shaped scientifically with the aim of improving its efficiency and productivity (Taylor, 1911).…”

Taylorism on steroids or enabling autonomy? A systematic review of algorithmic management

“…According to Altenried (2020), instead of producing a "digital mass worker," these labour platforms create a heterogeneous global workforce. Braesemann et al (2022) observe similarities in the spatial division of work between this trend and the offshoring of business process that started in the 1980s; in this case, how increasingly standardized and modularized knowledge work tasks enable the global division of knowledge work between the global north and global south. According to Braesemann et al ( 2022) digitally enabled remote work is likely to reinforce the prevalent global dynamics rather than distributing knowledge work more evenly.…”