Digitalisation delivers mixed blessings for workers in the Western Balkans

As Montenegro edges closer to closing key chapters in its EU accession negotiations, the timing of Eurofound’s conference “Life & Work in Focus: Evidence from the Western Balkans” could hardly have been better. Held at the Science and Technological Park, the event brought together researchers, government officials, employers, trade unionists and academics not only from Montenegro but from across the six Western Balkan countries.

While each nation’s digital journey looks different – as the latest European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2024 data clearly shows – the underlying pressures and opportunities are strikingly similar: technology promises better jobs and higher earnings, yet often delivers faster pace, blurred boundaries and new anxieties about the future of work.

The panel on “Job Quality and Digitalisation” zeroed in on exactly these tensions. Moderator Massimiliano Mascherini, Head of Unit for Social Policies at Eurofound, put it bluntly: too many conversations about digital transition focus on broadband and business efficiency, while “what digital transition in the workplace means for the human being that are at the centre of the workplace” gets far less attention.

Elin Brattlund, Research Support Officer at Eurofound, laid out the evidence from the 2024 EWCS — a representative survey of workers across 35 European countries, including all Western Balkan states. Computer use at work remains sharply polarised. In the Western Balkans as a whole, roughly equal shares of workers report low-intensity use (never or almost never) and high-intensity use (at least three-quarters of the time). All six countries still lag behind the EU27 average of 57 per cent high-intensity users, though Montenegro leads the region. When it comes to newer tools – generative AI, remote meeting platforms, online collaboration software, cobots and tech wearables – the picture is more varied. Albania shows above-EU-average adoption of remote meetings, online platforms and generative AI. Montenegro stands out for tech wearables. At the aggregate level, the Western Balkans outperform the EU27 only in wearables.

The impact on job quality is equally mixed. Using Eurofound’s seven-dimensional framework, workers in more digitalised roles score higher on skills and discretion, career prospects and earnings. But they also face significantly higher work intensity across every technology type measured. The steepest drop in job-quality scores occurs with generative AI. Digital tools, Brattlund explained, can accelerate pace, multiply multitasking demands and heighten output pressure — even when they are supposed to make tasks more efficient. Algorithmic management of task allocation and scheduling is linked to a modest but noticeable decline in mental well-being.

“It’s a mixed picture,” Brattlund concluded. “Technology use alone does not shape working conditions.”

The panellists turned these numbers into lived realities. Jadranka Kaludjerović, Associate Professor at the University of Donja Gorica, welcomed the research for shining a light on how digitalisation intersects with long-standing labour-market problems such as skills mismatches and weak institutional protections. For young people especially, remote digital work offers better-paid opportunities without emigration – yet many of those jobs come with night shifts and eroded social lives. Universities, she argued, must move beyond teaching technical skills to equipping graduates with critical thinking about labour rights and long-term career security.

Snežana Šćepanović of the Innovation Fund of Montenegro warned against treating digitalisation as a goal in itself. Too often, new tools are simply layered on top of old procedures, creating more work rather than less. Constant connectivity breeds a culture of permanent availability. Algorithmic management, she said, risks reducing managerial judgment to quantitative metrics. The only sustainable path forward, she insisted, is “human-centred digital transformation” – one that starts with organisational culture, employee skills and genuine consultation.

From the employers’ side, Mladen Perazic of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro called for balance and social responsibility. Recent surveys by the Chamber show managers believe they are delivering flexible work and employee satisfaction, yet workers frequently experience something different. The new Labour Law allowing remote work is welcome, Perazic noted, but real progress depends on preserving human contact, protecting work-life boundaries and treating digitalisation as more than a cost-cutting exercise.

Jelena Mitrović, International Officer at the Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro, spoke directly to workers’ fears. In banking, retail and public administration, automation is already shrinking headcounts and replacing counter staff. Employers frequently introduce new technologies without informing or consulting unions or employees, she said – a violation of basic rights. “We still live in a sphere where we have low culture of dialog,” Mitrović noted. Yet she also urged trade unions to become more proactive in reskilling and shaping digital change rather than simply reacting. She pointed to a positive precedent: a telecommunications company signed a collective agreement on distance work as early as 2014, well before the pandemic, showing that respectful implementation is possible when social partners are involved.

Branimir Bukilic, President of the Management Board of ICT Cortex, brought perhaps the most urgent warning from the sector that is driving much of the transformation. Once fiercely competitive for junior developers, the ICT industry is now watching AI rapidly replace entry-level coding tasks. “If we are losing junior positions,” Bukilic asked, “how do we ensure that we have seniors in the future?” The talent pipeline itself is at risk. At the same time, he saw a potential silver lining: AI could enable shorter working hours while maintaining or even increasing productivity, finally tipping the work-life balance in workers’ favour – if society adapts quickly enough.

Commentators from neighbouring countries underlined both differences and shared challenges. Elvisa Drishti from the University of Shkodra, Albania, noted that Montenegro’s digitalisation is more “embodied” (wearables, cobots), reflecting its tourism and service economy, while Albania leads in communicative tools and generative AI. Algorithmic management exposure appears higher in Montenegro, yet lower figures in Albania may simply mask weaker documentation in informal and platform work. Country-specific strategies are therefore essential; a single regional template will not suffice.

Iva Bubanja Rudaković, speaking online from Serbia, agreed that experiences across the region are converging: labour-market polarisation, the disappearance of junior tech roles, and the urgent need to educate not only students but the broader population about living and working with advanced technology.

The discussion repeatedly returned to one central idea: digitalisation is not inherently good or bad. Its effect depends on how it is implemented – who is consulted, whose autonomy is preserved, and whether social dialogue keeps pace with technological change.

As the conference drew to a close, the relevance of these findings stretched well beyond the Western Balkans. Eurofound’s own research across the EU27 shows the same patterns: digital tools can enhance skills and earnings while simultaneously intensifying work and eroding well-being when autonomy is stripped away. For a region on the cusp of deeper EU integration, the message was clear. Montenegro and its neighbours have a rare opportunity to shape digital transformation in a way that genuinely improves job quality rather than repeating mistakes already visible across the Union. Whether they succeed will depend on whether policymakers, businesses, unions and educators can move beyond slogans about competitiveness and build the human-centred systems the data demand.

Caption: The panelists, from L to R: Jadranka Kaludjerović, Snežana Šćepanović, Mladen Perazic, Jelena Mitrović, Branimir Bukilic [Photo: Georgi Gotev]