This working paper gives an overview of the new possibilities opened up by the 4th industrial revolution and tackles some specific questions in relation to its effects on the labour market, including on the status of employees, on working conditions and on training. It examines the role that trade unions can play in the digital economy and the main initiatives already proposed at European trade union level in this context.
This paper is one of the background publications for a three-day conference 'Shaping the new world of work' organised by the ETUI and the ETUC in June 2016. The ETUI journal Transfer, the European Review of Labour and Research, has just opened a call of contributions on the same subject for a future special issue.