Industry 5.0 and the Future of Work: Possibilities for Human-Centricity and Workplace Innovation to Improve the Quality of Working Life

This open session explores Industry 5.0 as a socially embedded and contested process that can both improve and undermine the quality of working life. While some workers gain autonomy, learning opportunities, and participation, others may face increased monitoring, standardisation, work intensification, and skill erosion. Industry 5.0 therefore raises important questions about inequality, inclusion, and the future of work across different institutional, economic, and cultural contexts.

Initiated by the European Commission, Industry 5.0 builds on the pillars of sustainability, resilience, and human-centricity. It responds to critiques of Industry 4.0 as overly technology-driven by placing human well-being at the centre of workplace transformation. As the concept gains international attention, particularly in Asia, it is crucial to examine its potential to improve job quality, diversity, and equality.

The session invites theoretical, empirical, and comparative contributions addressing questions such as: Who benefits from Industry 5.0 and who is excluded? How do technologies and new forms of work organisation shape inequalities in autonomy, learning, and career opportunities? Under what conditions does Industry 5.0 promote meaningful work rather than deskilling? How do employee participation, collective voice, and approaches such as Modern Sociotechnology, Workplace Innovation, and SMART Work Design support human-centric workplaces?

The session aims to advance sociological understanding of Industry 5.0 beyond managerial narratives and contribute to debates on technology, inequality, and the future of employment relations from an international comparative perspective.

This symposium is supported by: KU Leuven, National Chung Cheng University, National University of Singapore, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, TNO, Seoul National University