Glossary

What is Work 4.0?

Digitalization accelerated the already existing concepts of “New Work” and gave rise to “Work 4.0.” The term “Work 4.0” emerged in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; it was coined in 2011. It describes how digital transformation digitally supports and transforms existing work processes.

Thanks to modern software and hardware, people can work independently of time and location, and the entire world of work is globally interconnected. This also poses challenges for HR managers in leadership positions within companies. The specific term “Work 4.0” was developed within the framework of the German federal government’s Research Union. Through a “Work 4.0” dialogue process that ran through the end of 2016, the Federal Ministry of Labor established a framework for a dialogue on the future of the working world. The focus was not only on working in the new production environments of Industry 4.0, but also on proactively addressing and helping to shape—based on the guiding principle of “good work”—the social conditions and rules of the future world of work, i.e., “New Work.”