Coupling/De-coupling Phenomena in the Post-pandemic Workplace: Populist Perceptions of Inequality

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated populist trends that were already well established. Populism can occur when there is a widely held perception within a societal group that their legitimate needs are being ignored, or underserved, by a powerful elite. With the already ubiquitous digitalization of many work, entertainment, and retail modes, the technical basis already existed to decouple the geographic source of a service (labor, service product, etc.) from its demand location. The effects are experienced unequally by different socioeconomic groups and drive populist perceptions of inequality. Businesses operate in the context of cultural norms where populism can have a strong influence on the expectations placed on firms by socio-economic-political stakeholders (i.e., customers, workers, investors, politicians, and opinion leaders). This article describes how the digital transformation affects professional work through two channels: (1) Automation – Coupling and Decoupling and (2) Work Innovation/New and Innovative Routines, different patterns. It influences where work can be performed, when and what work requires a relational link versus simple transactional work – i.e., coupling.