AM-MENTAL

Duration

02/09/2024 - 31/08/2027

Coordinator

Nuria Matilla-Santander

Funded by

"la Caixa" Foundation

AM-MENTAL is a project focused on investigating the mental health impacts of exposure to algorithmic management. With the widespread adoption of technology, algorithmic management is reshaping the nature of work by automating decision-making processes that traditionally required human judgment. Algorithmic management is already prevalent across multiple sectors beyond logistics, including healthcare and administration, and it has the potential to expand across the entire economy. Tasks traditionally handled by human supervisors—such as assigning work, setting the pace, and evaluating workers’ performance—are increasingly being performed partially or fully by software algorithms. This phenomenon is referred to as algorithmic management. In Spain, 15% of workplaces used machines, systems, or computers to determine the content or pace of work, and 8% used them to monitor workers' performance in 2019.

As digital management tools become more prevalent, this research aims to understand how algorithmic management influences worker well-being, with a particular emphasis on psychosocial risks and mental health outcomes. The ultimate goal is to provide evidence-based recommendations to stakeholders on how to implement algorithmic management in ways that minimize its negative effects on workers' mental health.

The project will address three key aspects:

• 1) The prevalence of algorithmic management in Spain by 2025, providing a comprehensive overview of its spread within the workforce.
• 2) The impact of algorithmic management on mental health, exploring whether and how algorithmic management increases the risk of poor mental health.
• 3) How factors like precarious employment and inequality (e.g., gender, migration status) may modify the relationship between algorithmic management and worker health.

Based on the findings, AM-MENTAL will provide practical recommendations for implementing algorithmic management in a way that reduces the risk of mental ill-health among workers, offering the "know-how" for safer use of algorithmic management. The recommendations will be co-created with stakeholders.

AM-MENTAL is formed by an interdisciplinary research team of occupational researchers from ISGlobal (host institution) and Karolinska Institutet (research partners) and supported by an advisory committee (including sociologists and law researchers, the Spanish labour union CCOO, and the labour department of the Catalan Government).

Total Funding

300,000 euros

Funded by "la Caixa" Foundation