The dark side of 21st century flexible work

Given the erosion of the once-clear demarcation between work and home in remote and flexible working arrangements, and the increasing proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) being applied to data collected via electronic monitoring and surveillance in key HR activities, the rise of flexible and remote work does not come without challenges and consequences related to privacy, discrimination, ethics, and trust in the employment relationship. As such, HR and management are increasingly at the forefront of managing these new ways of working. This includes having to carefully balance the benefits and costs of how to manage and support flexible and remote work. These issues and their far-reaching consequences need to be more fully understood by HR professionals to ensure that the implementation of new patterns of work do not cause more harm than problems they propose to resolve, particularly now that rather than being the exception, remote and flexible work is fast becoming our new normal.