THE FUTURE OF WORK THROUGH THE LENS OF PSYCHODYNAMICS: BETWEEN UBERIZATION AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING

Abstract

This article examines the future of work through the theoretical framework of Work Psychodynamics, focusing on how suffering, recognition, and meaning-making are reconfigured in contexts shaped by artificial intelligence, uberization, and the intensification of labor demands. Fifteen recent studies were analyzed, encompassing digital platforms, mental health, work intensification, epistemic technologies, and productive restructuring. A Critical Theoretical Review was adopted as the methodological approach, enabling the articulation of diverse perspectives and the identification of convergences, tensions, and gaps that remain underexplored in the literature. The analysis revealed that contemporary transformations deepen symbolic instability and weaken workers’ identity bonds, generating effects that extend beyond the workplace and permeate everyday life. Based on these findings, the study proposes five original conceptual contributions: narrative erosion of work, symbolic orphanhood, expanded affective field of suffering, epistemic displacement of competence, and fractured recognition. These categories offer deeper insight into how subjectivity is affected by automated systems, algorithmic evaluation processes, and new forms of control. The study concludes that the future of work cannot be reduced to technological change but must be understood as a subjective, social, and political phenomenon that redefines human experience within labor activities. This article contributes to advancing the dialogue between Work Psychodynamics, technological transformations, and future-of-work studies, providing theoretical tools to support research and interventions that value workers’ dignity and mental health.