Abstract

Today’s technical transition has a potentially disruptive impact on the current organisation of work. More specifically, the ubiquity of communication and network technology offers a new range of possibilities for workers to choose when and where to work. This essay is aimed at carrying out an in-depth analysis of some of the innovative patterns of space and time redefinition of work, currently spreading into specific technical and organisational domains and occupations, for employees and for self-employed and on-demand workers. Such patterns increase workers’ freedom and the quality of work, and enable an improvement in work-life balance. However, on the one hand, they challenge corporate coordination and control systems, which are changing at a slower pace, especially as concerns performance assessment; on the other hand, they pose serious issues for social institutions and employment regulation bodies in terms of job market fragmentation and pervasive surveillance.