Thousands of German employees surveyed recently for a “quality of work” report say digitalization – along with with robotics and new communication technologies – is making their jobs harder.

The report, issued by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), expresses concern over the fact that workers say the intensity of their workloads has actually increased.

The DGB’s survey found that 82% of respondents were affected by these changes on a daily basis, with 60% stating that they were affected ‘to a large extent’ or ‘to a very large extent’.

Employees believe that these new developments have had an adverse impact on their health, mainly because of the stress and pressure they find themselves under as a result. Almost half of the workers who took part in the survey stated that digitalisation had led to a stepping up of workplace monitoring.

The majority of workers in all industries (with the exception of the restaurant and café sector) confirmed that digitalisation had changed the way they work.

German workers also feel that these new technologies have been introduced into their companies and organisations without their having any say in the process.