DEN DIGITALA ARBETSLEDAREN : En kvalitativ studie om lageranställdas upplevelser av digital styrning och prestationsmätning

Sammanfattning

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how digital monitoring and control systems transform working conditions and performance in Swedish warehouse operations. Furthermore, the study aims to develop an in-depth qualitative understanding of how warehouse employees experience, interpret, and manage algorithmic micromanagement and performance measurement in their everyday work.Research questions: How do digital monitoring and control systems affect the work and performance of warehouse employees? How do warehouse employees experience, interpret, and manage digital monitoring and performance measurement in their everyday work?Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative research approach and is based on 12 semistructured interviews with warehouse employees from three different organizations where digital monitoring and control systems are used in daily operations. The sample was selected through purposive sampling, complemented by snowball sampling in order to reach respondents with relevant experience of digitally managed warehouse work. The empirical material was analyzed through thematic analysis using a latent approach, where recurring patterns were identified, coded and developed into themes. The analysis was conducted with support from Labour Process Theory (LPT) and Sensemaking Theory in order to understand both how digital monitoring and control systems organize work and how warehouse employees experience, interpret and manage monitoring and performance measurement in their daily work environment.Conclusion: The study shows that digital monitoring and control systems significantly reshape the organization of warehouse work, working conditions, and perceptions of performance. Through continuous performance measurement, real-time control, and standardized work processes, employees´ room for maneuver is reduced, while the pace of work and demands for efficiency increase. Performance is largely linked to measurable outcomes in terms of pace and productivity, which contributes to a work environment characterized by control, comparability, and constant monitoring.At the same time, the study shows that warehouse employees are not merely passive recipients of this control, but actively interpret, adapt to, and manage the systems in their daily work. Monitoring is experienced as both normalized and pressuring, depending on the situation and performance requirements. In order to create a functioning and sustainable working day, employees develop various strategies, both individually and collectively with colleagues, to navigate the systems and manage the demands that digital control entails.