Managing Job quality and labour shortages with AI/AM in long-term care (MAIJobCare)

Care homes and home-care agencies are starting to use algorithms to schedule shifts, monitor workers, and allocate tasks—but no one has yet studied systematically whether this makes care jobs better or worse. This matters because long-term care across Europe is already struggling with severe staff shortages, often blamed on low pay and poor conditions. Algorithmic management is spreading rapidly as care services digitise, yet its effects on job quality and staff retention remain unknown. The research fills that gap by developing a framework to measure job quality under algorithmic management, then testing it through 15 company case studies in the UK, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, and Spain. If the research succeeds, it will produce concrete evidence on which forms of algorithmic management improve retention and care quality—and which ones drive workers away. Care providers and regulators could use these findings to design systems that support rather than undermine staff. The cross-country comparison also means lessons from one welfare state can transfer to others, helping to shape better working conditions across Europe without relying solely on international recruitment.