lidA – Life in Work
Department of Occupational, Social and Preventive Medicine
In cooperation with the Chair of Occupational Science at the University of Wuppertal (Project Lead: Prof. Hasselhorn), we conduct research on how older employees use and cope with digital work tools.
Since 2011, the representative lidA study has been following individuals as they transition between working life and retirement. New technologies, changing work arrangements, increasing flexibility, and other developments are reshaping working conditions—often posing particular challenges for older workers. For this reason, we investigate, among other aspects, how these changing working conditions influence the health and labor-force participation of older employees.
In particular, we focus on the use of digital work tools and how organizational support affects health, satisfaction, and safety in older workers’ interactions with information technology.
Further information about the lidA study can be found on the website of the Chair of Occupational Science at the University of Wuppertal.
What role do ICT use and digital work intensification play for older employees?
Associations of digital work with health and work ability across socioeconomic groups
Older employees are frequently studied as a group potentially vulnerable to the negative effects of information and communication technologies (ICT). Digital work intensification (“techno-overload”) occurs when ICT create an experience of work characterized by feeling pressured to work faster or more, or by experiencing demands that exceed available resources—ultimately harming health.
This project investigates how work-related ICT exposure—i.e., ICT use and digital work intensification—affects health and work ability across different socioeconomic groups.
In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Wuppertal (Department of Occupational Health Science), we analyzed cross-sectional data from Wave 3 of the representative lidA cohort study (“Life in Work”), including 3,180 participants (born in 1959 and 1965). Our findings show that ICT use per se was not significantly associated with negative outcomes. However, digital work intensification had adverse effects on mental health and work ability. These results underscore the importance of considering the social context of technological change as a driver of negative manifestations of digitalization in the workplace.
Publications
Borle P, Boerner-Zobel F, Voelter-Mahlknecht S, Hasselhorn HM, Ebener M The social and health implications of digital work intensification. Associations between exposure to information and communication technologies, health and work ability in different socio-economic strata Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2021; 94(3):377-390.