Algorithmic management and the future of work: A sociological analysis of control, autonomy, and digital labor

RRSS 2026 No. 29 - Romanian Review of Social Sciences

1. Authors:
     • Mirela Cristiana NILĂ STRATONE, Cristina-Maria PESCARU

2. Keywords: Algorithmic management; digital labor; sociological analysis; infrastructural control; labor precarity

3. Abstract:
   \r\n The proliferation of algorithmic management systems has reconfigured the organization of work in profound and structurally significant ways, marking a shift toward data-driven forms of labor governance in the digital economy. This paper critically examines the sociological implications of algorithmic management, with particular attention to its role in reshaping power relations, worker autonomy, and the conditions of digital labor. The central objective of the study is to conceptualize algorithmic management not merely as a technological innovation, but as a socio-technical regime that reorganizes authority, redistributes control, and redefines the boundaries between autonomy and constraint in contemporary work environments.\r\n\r\n The relevance of this inquiry is underscored by the rapid expansion of algorithmic systems across both platform-based and traditional organizational settings. While these systems are frequently framed in terms of efficiency, flexibility, and optimization, they simultaneously generate new forms of opacity, intensify mechanisms of surveillance, and contribute to the fragmentation and precarization of labor. The paper advances the argument that algorithmic management operates through dispersed and embedded forms of control, which are less visible than traditional managerial hierarchies yet more pervasive in their effects.\r\n\r\n Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative, theory-driven approach grounded in classical and contemporary sociological frameworks. The analysis draws on key theoretical contributions, including rationalization (as articulated by Max Weber), disciplinary power and surveillance (as developed by Michel Foucault), and alienation (as theorized by Karl Marx), in order to interpret the transformation of labor under conditions of algorithmic governance.\r\n\r\n The findings suggest that algorithmic management constitutes a form of infrastructural control that redefines the relationship between workers and organizations. By embedding decision-making within opaque computational systems, it limits opportunities for contestation, erodes worker agency, and reinforces asymmetries of power. At the same time, it reshapes worker subjectivities by aligning behavior with continuously monitored and quantified performance metrics.\r\n\r\n The paper concludes that algorithmic management represents a paradigmatic shift in the organization of labor, necessitating critical sociological engagement and the development of normative and regulatory frameworks capable of addressing its structural implications.\r\n

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