| Tobias Seifried
|
03.11.2024
It sounds utopian, but it could be promising: Current analyzes show that transparent data, analytics and artificial intelligence can lead to a win-win situation for companies and employees and minimize the risk of strikes.
This year, the willingness to strike in Austria appears to be less pronounced than in the previous year – there were at least 35 protests in 2023, some of which lasted several weeks – but possible labor disputes are not completely off the table this year either. There has so far been no agreement on higher wages and better working conditions in trade and the social economy. But according to current analysis by a global management consultancy, strikes could soon be a thing of the past.
Because the digital experts from Kearney are now proposing a completely new approach to calm tempers and avoid the threat of strikes. The use of analytics and AI is intended to simplify and accelerate tough collective bargaining negotiations. They are convinced that these methods would not only ensure transparency on both sides, but also a holistic approach in which wages and working conditions are equally integrated. Optimization tools or AI models could then simulate the consequences of both sides’ proposals during the ongoing negotiation and make tradeoffs evaluable in order to achieve a fair negotiation result for employers and employees.
Examples from practice
Bernhard MutiusPrincipal Digital & Analytics at Kearney, cites two examples where these methods have been used successfully. “At a European airline, the employees wanted more flexible part-time models. Originally, the company wanted to prevent exactly that and insist on its previous rigid part-time offers. Analyzes then showed that intelligent control of part-time can increase productivity, as it allows for peaks in the summer and quieter periods In winter, the situation could be better accommodated through a smart distribution of working hours. Using an AI-based optimization model, Kearney developed a machine-based allocation of working hours that made it possible to increase the capacity of more than two long-haul aircraft. At the same time, the employees’ wishes became better than would have been possible with traditional methods,” says Mutius.
As a second example, he cites a leading airline on the American continent, for which consultants on both sides prepared data so transparently that fact-based win-wins were achieved in the negotiations. Mutius: “The pilots demanded higher wages. Among other things, the airline increased salaries slightly, but no longer provided the pilots with food. The pilots did not know how expensive their food, including logistics, was for the airline – and also saw no problem with the abolition, as most people didn’t like the food anyway. In addition, the departure times, which were unattractive for the pilots, could have been easily adjusted. Without the consultants’ analysis, the airline would not have been aware of this The new departure times allow greater efficiency to be achieved.”
Great potential, but also limits
However, the potential is far from exhausted. “If companies proactively measure employee satisfaction using data and AI and thus improve their employee value proposition in a more differentiated way, they could perhaps even prevent strikes in advance,” emphasizes the analyst.
Of course, according to Mutius, AI cannot ultimately prevent every strike. But where there are complicated contractual structures and many different options for improving working conditions with multidimensional effects, then AI can actually be used profitably for collective bargaining.
Gain trust through transparency
These initial successes in the airline industry are not just industry-specific. Similar parameters also apply to collective bargaining at the railways, airport staff, in the automotive industry or in the healthcare sector. But in order for analytics and AI to be used effectively for both sides, employers must gain the trust of unions and works councils. According to the authors of the study, they have so far been largely critical of AI in particular, as they primarily fear the destruction of jobs through these technologies. According to the analysis, in order for employee representatives to assess the benefits of artificial intelligence in negotiations, they need clear information about the underlying data and algorithms. If both sides support this innovation, future collective bargaining could be concluded less emotionally but with better solutions for both sides, the management consultancy concluded.
