Automation in industrial sectors is already a well-developed topic in management, economics, and sociology literature. By contrast, this short contributed volume sheds new lights on the process of automation in the service sector, by means of a workplace case-study approach. It investigates three essential sectors largely populated by a vulnerable workforce composition, namely logistics, cleaning and healthcare, and assesses the extent to which processes of automation introduced by managerial decisions entail labour expulsion and human substitution. The result of the research shows that the most low-valued workers are among the least automatable, because of the inherent complexity of their activities. Leveraging on this, the book argues the need to reconsider the essentiality of labour as determinant of its value. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of management, economics and sociology with an interest in labour, industrial relations, innovation and decent work and employment.

Valeria Cirillo is Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy. She is also an external affiliate of the Institute of Economics, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, and member of the PhD board in Economics at Sapienza University of Rome. She is Associate Editor of the Italian Economic Journal (Springer) and Structural Change and Economic Dynamics (Elsevier).

Matteo Rinaldini is Associate Professor in Economic Sociology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Unimore), Italy. He is coordinator of the PhD School Humanities, Technology and Society at Unimore. He works on organizational changes, technological transformation, job quality and industrial relations.

Maria Enrica Virgillito is Associate Professor in Economics at the Institute of Economics, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy. She is a Global Labour Organization Fellow and serves as Editor for the Macro and Development yearly issue of Industrial and Corporate Change (Oxford University press), and as Associate Editor for Structural Change and Economic Dynamics (Elsevier) and for Review of Evolutionary Political Economy (Springer).