AI, remote work, and productivity: Implications for the future labour market and career development
This special issue will examine impact of remote work and artificial intelligence (AI) on labour productivity, future labour market and careers. Following the pandemic, organizations rapidly adapted to digital collaboration, leading to an enduring shift toward remote work. At the same time, advancements in Generative AI, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have introduced new tools that hold the potential to transform workflows and career paths. In light of the early stages of adoption, the full effects of AI and remote work on productivity and career outcomes remain unclear. By presenting both theoretical insights and empirical evidence, this special issue will explore how these technologies are reshaping careers, influencing skill development, and altering labour market dynamics. Given the multidisciplinary nature of this topic, this issue will feature contributions from economics, management, sociology, public policy, and other relevant fields, offering a comprehensive view of the evolving workplace landscape in a new era. Conceptual, empirical, and practitioner-style submissions welcome.
List of topic areas
This special issue invites submissions addressing five key areas, each framed as a practical question aimed at encouraging theoretical, empirical, methodological, and impact-driven contributions.
- How is remote work and AI emerging as a new and disruptive actor within sustainable career ecosystems? In what ways has remote work and AI reshaped career adaptability and individual productivity trajectories?
- How do career-related productivity patterns differ before, during, and after the pandemic?
- Has remote work functioned as an external shock that disrupted traditional career paths, or as a strategic choice enabling new forms of sustainable careers?
- What factors determine the adoption of remote work and AI in career progression? How do individual characteristics, such as age, gender, career stage, or human capital, affect the likelihood of adopting remote work or AI tools?
- How do organizational factors—like company size, industry norms, or digital maturity—influence these adoption patterns?
- What role does self-directed career management play in navigating technological transitions?
- What are the effects of remote work and AI on productivity and employability? How do remote work and AI impact long-term career sustainability in terms of productivity and employability?
- Why do some individuals or organizations experience productivity gains while others do not?
- How do differing work environments and resources explain variation in career outcomes?
- How do managerial practices support career development in remote and AI-integrated workplaces?
- What kinds of leadership and HR practices are most effective in fostering career growth under new work arrangements?
- How are employees reshaping their career paths through proactive behaviours, such as job crafting, in response to remote or AI-enhanced work environments?
- How can we model and forecast career outcomes in the era of AI and remote work? What do longitudinal and predictive data reveal about changes in career mobility, wage progression, job transitions, and productivity?
- How can quantitative models help forecast the long-term effects of remote work and AI adoption on career trajectories?
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key deadlines
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 01/10/2025
Guest editors
Tony Fang, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada, tfang@mun.ca
Greg Bamber, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, greg.bamber@monash.edu
Jennifer A. Harrison, EM Normandie Business School, France, jharrison@em-normandie.fr
Fang Lee Cooke, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, fang.cooke@monash.edu
For more details refer here
