The Promise and Paradox of Digital Work: Is Simultaneous Productivity and Job Satisfaction Achievable?

Sorbonne Paris Nord University

Digital technologies have transformed workplace flexibility, offering workers unprecedented autonomy over when, where, and how they work. Yet this liberation comes with a shadow: the very tools that empower workers simultaneously intensify their workload, blur the boundaries between professional and personal life, and generate new forms of pressure and surveillance. Drawing on empirical research across multiple national contexts, this presentation examines what we term the flexibility paradox of digital work: the adoption of digital technologies increases worker autonomy — through telework, flexible scheduling, and greater task control — while concurrently driving up work intensity, availability expectations, and cognitive overload. Productivity gains and job satisfaction do not automatically follow from flexibility; they depend critically on how digital tools reshape work organization and on workers' capacity to set and defend boundaries. This presentation argues that digital flexibility is neither inherently liberating nor inherently alienating — it is a contested terrain, shaped by organizational choices, managerial practices, and labor institutions.