Smart working is not so smart: Always-on lives and the dark side of platformisation

This article investigates the lived experiences of remote workers during the Italian lockdown, and the role of digital platforms in their working and everyday life activities, as well as the consequences of home confinement measures on personal and working conditions. Drawing on 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews, this paper support that, following a massive extension of transmedia work, remote workers experienced a ‘fractured’ and ‘always on’ life. During the lockdown, the even more pervasive role of digital media favoured the convergence of different spaces and times into the home, the erosion of the distinction between private and professional life and the exacerbation of previous social inequalities, especially gender and digital inequalities. In this scenario, platform and surveillance capitalist logics were further reinforced, while the presence bleed in the experiences of workers increased.