“Sustainable Employment in the Age of Digitalisation” (SEAD) is a research project funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy that aims to investigate the employment-related opportunities and threats associated with the digital revolution.

The ever more rapid development and adoption of new technologies raises questions about the possible disruptive impact of this digital revolution on the world of work and employment. The general concern is that automation and changing skill requirements will threaten many individuals’ jobs, might affect the task content of occupations or hamper job quality. The way employment is organised in companies or other types of organisations might also be heavily affected by technological development: increases in non-standard, flexible and project-based forms of employment are often seen as problematic for the quality of work. Of course, new technologies do not only pose threats, but also come with tremendous new opportunities such as job creation in growing and/or new sectors, novel business models, innovative types of employment allowing for ‘desirable flexibility’ and intrinsically rich jobs with high levels of autonomy.