From playmate to assistant; User experiences of integrating ChatGPT into knowledge work

While Generative AI is believed to impact societies, organizations, and work, little is known about how ChatGPT is experienced by early users and its impact on their work practices for knowledge work. This is concerning as ChatGPT is exactly the opposite of many of the technological systems studied before - it is decentralized (from an organizational perspective), multipurpose, and open-ended, and it is more autonomous by creating new syntactic content. Building on an explorative interview study with 31 early adopters, we identified different use types for ChatGPT. Thereupon, we theorize a phase model of experiencing Generative AI use as an emotional process. The exploratory insights challenge the information systems field to rethink the passive role of technology to which ‘users’ delegate subtasks toward a collaborative role with AI as a teammate or colleague. Finally, we observe worker-system intertwinement, and we discuss its potential consequences on the level of the individual, organization, and even society

Flexwerkers zijn waardevol, laten we daar naar handelen

De situatie voor flexwerkers op de arbeidsmarkt verbetert nauwelijks, stellen Jana Retkowsky, Jos Akkermans en Sanne Nijs. Ze roepen op tot een nieuw perspectief: van flexwerk naar flex loopbanen

From playmate to assistant; User experiences of integrating ChatGPT into knowledge work

While Generative AI is believed to impact societies, organizations, and work, little is known about how ChatGPT is experienced by early users and its impact on their work practices for knowledge work. This is concerning as ChatGPT is exactly the opposite of many of the technological systems studied before - it is decentralized (from an organizational perspective), multipurpose, and open-ended, and it is more autonomous by creating new syntactic content. Building on an explorative interview study with 31 early adopters, we identified different use types for ChatGPT. Thereupon, we theorize a phase model of experiencing Generative AI use as an emotional process. The exploratory insights challenge the information systems field to rethink the passive role of technology to which ‘users’ delegate subtasks toward a collaborative role with AI as a teammate orcolleague. Finally, we observe worker-system intertwinement, and we discuss itspotential consequences on the level of the individual, organization, and even society

Flexwerkers zijn waardevol, laten we daar naar handelen

De situatie voor flexwerkers op de arbeidsmarkt verbetert nauwelijks, stellen Jana Retkowsky, Jos Akkermans en Sanne Nijs. Ze roepen op tot een nieuw perspectief: van flexwerk naar flex loopbanen

Toward a sustainable career perspective on contingent work: a critical review and a research agenda

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of the contingent work field and to advocate a sustainable career perspective on contingent work. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a broader review approach allowed to synthesize the contingent work literature across contingent work types (temporary agency work, gig work and freelance work) and develop a sustainable career perspective on contingent work. The authors searched for empirical, conceptual and review articles published from 2008 to December 2021. In total, the authors included 208 articles. Findings: The authors advocate a sustainable career perspective that allows for organizing and synthesizing the fragmented contingent work literature. Adopting a sustainable career perspective enables to study contingent work from a dynamic perspective transcending one single organization. Originality/value: The field is suffering from fragmentation and most importantly from an oversight of how contingent work experiences play a role in a persons’ career. This paper addresses this problem by adopting a sustainable career perspective on contingent work

Seeking stability in unstable employment: An exploratory study of temporary agency workers' career self-management

Increasingly dynamic labor markets have caused a steep increase in nonstandard workers. This study focuses on agency temps who work via labor market intermediaries at client organizations. The short-term and frequently changing nature of their jobs creates uncertainty about their employment and personal stability. Based on an explorative qualitative interview study among 27 agency temps, we studied how agency temps self-manage their careers. Our study reveals that the precarious career environment and financial dependence on agency work make agency temps' career self-management different from existing depictions of career self-management in the literature. Specifically, we reveal that agency temps' career self-management engagement is relatively short-term and primarily reactive. We find that they focus on survival and stability as career goals, and they engage in four career behaviors: (1) moonlighting, (2) self-profiling, (3) compensatory career behavior, and (4) job search behavior. Subsequently, we identify two negative long-term outcomes of these career behaviors: (1) being locked-in and (2) experiencing resource loss during unemployment. Accordingly, this study contributes to the nascent literature on temporary agency work and career self-management by identifying career behaviors and consequences in a precarious and volatile context. Our findings can help career counselors and policy-makers safeguard the career self-management of agency temps

Toward a sustainable career perspective on contingent work: A critical review and a research agenda

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of the contingent work field and to advocate a sustainable career perspective on contingent work. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a broader review approach allowed to synthesize the contingent work literature across contingent work types (temporary agency work, gig work and freelance work) and develop a sustainable career perspective on contingent work. The authors searched for empirical, conceptual and review articles published from 2008 to December 2021. In total, the authors included 208 articles. Findings The authors advocate a sustainable career perspective that allows for organizing and synthesizing the fragmented contingent work literature. Adopting a sustainable career perspective enables to study contingent work from a dynamic perspective transcending one single organization. Originality/value The field is suffering from fragmentation and most importantly from an oversight of how contingent work experiences play a role in a persons’ career. This paper addresses this problem by adopting a sustainable career perspective on contingent work