Though we now understand how information technology (IT) influences work, we know much less about how it reshapes the actual relationship between workers and their employers. That is, to what extent do employers deploy new technologies towards the erosion of traditional employment relationships? This study relies on a cross section of British workplaces to provide statistical evidence that IT actually facilitates managers’ reassignment of work once done by in-house employees to those working instead for a staffing agency, an effect that trebles in magnitude where managers have simultaneously cut employment. Furthermore, IT differentially serves opposing business strategies. While employers electing to compete on price rather than quality are more likely to reassign work, managers enacting quality-centred strategies are more likely to rely on IT to avert work reassignment. The findings demonstrate that new technologies may facilitate this form of externalization, but they do not unilaterally drive it. The estimates also illuminate IT's indirect impact on workers via managers’ use of it as a tool for restructuring employment.

中文翻译：

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信息技术、业务战略和从内部员工到机构临时工的工作重新分配

尽管我们现在了解信息技术 (IT) 如何影响工作，但我们对它如何重塑工人与其雇主之间的实际关系知之甚少。也就是说，雇主在多大程度上部署新技术来侵蚀传统的雇佣关系？这项研究依赖于英国工作场所的横截面来提供统计证据表明 IT 实际上促进了管理人员的重新分配曾经由内部员工完成的工作变成了为人事代理机构工作的人，这种影响在管理人员同时裁员的情况下增加了三倍。此外，IT 以不同的方式服务于对立的业务战略。虽然选择在价格而不是质量上竞争的雇主更有可能重新分配工作，但制定以质量为中心的战略的经理更有可能依靠 IT 来避免工作重新分配。研究结果表明，新技术可能会促进这种形式的外化，但它们不会单方面推动它。这些估计还阐明了 IT 对员工的间接影响，因为管理人员将其用作重组就业的工具。