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Working like Machines: Technological Upgrading and Labour in the Dutch Agri-food Chain

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This article engages with the role of technological upgrading for work in agriculture, a sector commonly disregarded in debates about the future of work. Foregrounding migrant work in Dutch horticulture, it explores how technological innovation is connected to the scope and security of employment. Besides, it proposes a heuristic that connects workers’ experience to sectoral dynamics and the wider agri-food chain. Our analysis reads data from a small-scale qualitative study with different actors in the Dutch agri-food sector through the lens of the global value chain literature. Nuancing pessimistic predictions of widespread technological unemployment, we find product upgrading into high value-added products, and process upgrading, such as through climate control in greenhouses, to offer the potential for more and secure employment. However, higher work intensity and the dismantling of entitlements for rest and reproduction to ‘make people work like machines’ represent the underbelly of these dynamics.
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Working like Machines:
Technological Upgrading
and Labour in the Dutch
Agri-food Chain
Karin Astrid Siegmann
International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Netherlands
Petar Ivošević
Independent researcher, The Netherlands
Oane Visser
International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Netherlands
Abstract
This article engages with the role of technological upgrading for work in agriculture, a sector
commonly disregarded in debates about the future of work. Foregrounding migrant work in Dutch
horticulture, it explores how technological innovation is connected to the scope and security of
employment. Besides, it proposes a heuristic that connects workers’ experience to sectoral
dynamics and the wider agri-food chain. Our analysis reads data from a small-scale qualitative
study with different actors in the Dutch agri-food sector through the lens of the global value
chain literature. Nuancing pessimistic predictions of widespread technological unemployment,
we find product upgrading into high value-added products, and process upgrading, such as
through climate control in greenhouses, to offer the potential for more and secure employment.
However, higher work intensity and the dismantling of entitlements for rest and reproduction to
‘make people work like machines’ represent the underbelly of these dynamics.
Keywords
economic upgrading, employment, global value chains, horticulture, labour, migrants, the
Netherlands, precarious work, social upgrading, technological change
Corresponding author:
Karin Astrid Siegmann, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS),
Kortenaerkade 12, The Hague, 2518AX, The Netherlands.
Email: siegmann@iss.nl
1244718WES0010.1177/09500170241244718Work, Employment and SocietySiegmann et al.
research-article2024
Article
2 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
Introduction
There are actually two worlds [in Dutch agriculture]. One world uses drones, robots to harvest
asparagus. Huge investments are made to improve quality, to save money, save energy. On the
other hand, there is a vast demand for cheap labour.
Trade union representative to the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER)
Processes of automation and digitalisation in the world of work raise challenging ques-
tions about the future of employment. This includes concerns about worsening labour
conditions and the risk of ‘technological unemployment’, characterised by Keynes
(2010: 325) as ‘unemployment due to our discovery of means of economizing the use of
labour’. These apprehensions have historical antecedents, from the Luddite rebellion
against the use of cost-saving technology to Marx’s prediction of a subsumption of
labour under the total process of machinery (Karakilic, 2022).
Empirical analyses help to assess and nuance these concerns. Frey and Osborne’s
(2017) influential study predicts that 47% of all jobs in the US labour market are at high
risk of complete automation over the next decade or two. More recent studies covering
different parts of the world suggest, in contrast, that Frey and Osborne’s methodology
may have led to an overestimation of the effects of technological changes and that these
are likely to vary by type of technological innovation, sector and skill level (e.g.
Acemoglu and Restrepo, 2020; Arntz et al., 2016; Maloney and Molina, 2019; Parschau
and Hauge, 2020; Zhou et al., 2020). More specifically, Pettersen’s (2019) review under-
lines that complex knowledge work may be assisted and enhanced, but not replaced, by
computers (Pettersen, 2019: 1065), while Arntz et al. (2016) argue that workers engaged
in manual work are likely to bear the brunt of structural shifts related to automation.
This article engages with the role of technological change for workers in the agri-food
sector, an industry commonly disregarded in analyses of technological unemployment.
The Netherlands’ position as the world’s second agricultural exporter in 2021 backed by
a high degree of technological innovation makes it an interesting case for the exploration
of the effects of technological advances. Yet, currently, agriculture is an afterthought in
debates on the future of work in the Netherlands. Listing automation as one of the three
most significant ongoing developments with potentially far-reaching consequences for
the amount and conditions of work, in Engbersen et al.’s (2020: 22–24) recent advice to
the Dutch government, the discussion of new technologies focuses on the services sector.
The Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER, 2016, 2021) foregrounds the
opportunities of the ongoing ‘digital transition’ for welfare but largely delinks this trend
from its advice on labour market and agriculture.
We zoom in on workers in Dutch horticulture, the country’s most successful and most
labour-intensive agricultural sub-sector. By reaching record values of 122.3 billion euros
in 2022, the Netherlands reaffirmed its position as one of the world’s largest agricultural
exporters, with horticultural – flower, vegetable and fruit – cultivation achieving the
single-highest export value. As highlighted in the introductory quote, the precariousness
that defines the situation of the migrant workers who form the backbone of this ‘highly
competitive industry in a wealthy country’ (Kroon and Paauwe, 2014: 20) is the flipside
of its export successes.
Siegmann et al. 3
We explore the role of technological change in Dutch horticulture for these workers
through the lens of what the scholarly work on global value chains (GVCs) has termed
‘economic upgrading’. Economic upgrading refers to improvements in firms’ ability ‘to
move to more profitable and/or technologically sophisticated capital- and skill-intensive
economic niches’ in a GVC (Gereffi, 1999: 51–52). While early GVC studies narrowly
focused on firms, the impacts of technological upgrading on workers have been studied
in the more recent literature that relates such economic upgrading to social upgrading. It
distinguishes the quantitative amount and qualitative characteristics of employment as
different aspects of social upgrading in GVCs (e.g. Milberg and Winkler, 2011: 344).
These match concerns for technological unemployment on the one hand and precarious
work on the other as possible consequences of ongoing automation, robotisation and
digitalisation.
The use of this conceptual lens enables both empirical and conceptual contributions.
Our analysis not only provides fresh perspectives on a sector largely ignored in the schol-
arly literature on the future of work. Moreover, it proposes a heuristic to conceptualise
the dynamics we observe. Albeit based on a small sample, the qualitative data we analyse
enable us to distinguish diverse forms of technological upgrading. By focusing on an
OECD country, we address GVC studies’ bias towards ‘developing countries’ that
assumes that rich countries provide high value-added activities to the value chain
(Fernandez-Stark and Gereffi, 2019: 63).
The article proceeds by conceptualising technological change in the agri-food sec-
tor through a GVC lens (‘Technological change in the agri-food sector through a global
value chains lens’ section), and subsequently introduces the study’s methodology. To
embed the analysis in the context of the Dutch horticultural sector, the importance of
migrants – largely from Central and East European (CEE) countries – for, and recent
technological trends in, horticulture are briefly explained in the background section
‘Contextualising migrants and machines in the Netherlands’ high-tech horticulture’.
The section ‘Exploring the effects of technological upgrading on migrant labour’ pre-
sents and discusses our empirical data. Building on the patterns we identify, the
‘Discussion’ section formulates a heuristic to relate social upgrading to different forms
of technological advances. While ongoing processes of automation bring a double
whammy of technological unemployment and high precarity for the remaining work-
ers, we also identify potential for social upgrading through product innovation and
process advances that do not directly affect the labour process. The concluding section
summarises our contributions to the literature and provides an outlook for intervention
and research.
Technological change in the agri-food sector through a
GVCs lens
According to the critical GVC literature, the coexistence of the ‘two worlds’ of high tech
and low labour standards in agriculture sketched in the opening quote is not coincidental.
This literature identifies precarious migrant labour as constitutive of value creation in
globalised agri-food chains (e.g. McGrath, 2013; Phillips, 2016). It contrasts with early
4 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
conceptualisations of GVCs, which view economic upgrading as an unequivocally desir-
able process.
Commonly, four types of such upgrading are being distinguished. They include: pro-
cess upgrading, for example, by introducing superior technology; product upgrading by
moving into the production of higher value items; functional upgrading, which entails an
increase in the overall skill and value-added content of the activities; and, finally, chain
or intersectoral upgrading, where firms move into new industries (Fernandez-Stark and
Gereffi, 2019: 61). Product and process upgrading are often mutually dependent; for
instance, when technological upgrading of the production process leads to a new cate-
gory of products (Matheis and Herzig, 2019: 130; Ponte and Ewert, 2009: 1638). These
two types of upgrading have been the focus of agri-food chain analyses (Matheis and
Herzig, 2019: 127).
The recognition that not all producers and workers involved in GVCs gain from
upgrading led to the more recent distinction of economic and social upgrading (Barrientos
et al., 2011; Milberg and Winkler, 2011). With Barrientos et al. (2016: 1274), we under-
stand social upgrading as access to better employment opportunities, improved working
conditions and wages, as well as firmer guarantees of enabling rights, such as freedom of
association and non-discrimination. Distinguishing different pathways of social upgrad-
ing, Barrientos et al. (2011: 336) speak of ‘labour-intensive upgrading’ where workers
move to types of labour-intensive employment characterised by better working condi-
tions, while ‘higher-skill upgrading’ occurs where, for instance, education and training
facilitate workers’ moves towards better-paid employment. For agri-food chains, in par-
ticular, the mismatch between economic and social dynamics is obvious where economic
upgrading strategies translate into job insecurity and the associated vulnerability of live-
lihoods (Matheis and Herzig, 2019: 132; Ponte and Ewert, 2009: 1647).
The GVC literature identifies key value chain actors that mediate the effects of
upgrading for workers. In buyer-driven GVCs dominated by powerful transnational cor-
porations, these lead firms’ market power plays a central role. It enables them to pass on
competitive pressure on prices to growers and workers in the form of low labour costs
and flexible and vulnerable labour arrangements (e.g. Barrientos et al., 2016: 1277;
Rossi, 2019: 273).
The impact of economic upgrading on workers may be segmented by activity. Matheis
and Herzig (2019: 127) observe that process upgrading can imply a replacement of man-
ual tasks by a machine, leading to a decrease in positions demanding less skill and for
workers without formal contracts, while workers are still in demand for tasks in mainte-
nance, supervision and training.
Further, Barrientos et al. (2011: 330) draw attention to the role of third-party labour
contractors in seasonal employment in agri-food chains. While enabling growers to off-
set production or market risks and minimise labour costs, and potentially helping work-
ers to enhance their continuity of employment between different producers, ‘it can also
open up space for unscrupulous agents who expose workers to high levels of exploitation
both on and off site’.
Bearing these dynamics identified in the GVC literature in mind, our analysis pre-
sented in ‘Exploring the effects of technological upgrading on migrant labour’ and the
Siegmann et al. 5
‘Discussion’ links the high-tech features of the Dutch horticultural sector with the low
status of CEE migrant farmworkers employed in it – features that we further describe in
the contextualising section. Our analysis asks how ongoing economic upgrading through
technological advances in horticultural processes and products affects migrant workers’
potential for social upgrading through employment opportunities and secure working
conditions. The following section describes the methodology used to generate the data
that underlie this analysis.
Methodology
To explore the changes in employment and working conditions resulting from techno-
logical upgrading in agri-food chains, we conducted a small qualitative study in the
Dutch horticultural sector.
Semi-structured interviews were considered sufficiently flexible to engage with both
quantitative shifts in and changing conditions of CEE migrant workers’ employment,
while simultaneously allowing for comparison between different (groups of) interview
partners. As detailed in the ‘Contextualising migrants and machines in the Netherlands’
high-tech horticulture’ section below, this approach was also motivated by the absence of
relevant statistical employment data. The resulting in-depth conversations focused on
employment levels and working conditions in Dutch horticulture, and how new tech-
nologies influence these.
The diversity in our sample was motivated by the benefits of data triangulation.
Through chain sampling, we sought to represent diverse groups of actors – from migrant
workers to representatives of trade unions, employers, government bodies, as well as
academics – among our interview partners. We assumed that their different perspectives
would enable us to analyse dynamics in horticultural work from several angles, that way
deepening the analysis and enabling discovery. This triangulation brings together the
commonly disjoined knowledge on technological upgrading – especially from employ-
ers and government representatives – with experiences of social upgrading in the form of
employment opportunities and labour conditions from workers and their representatives.
Academic perspectives straddle both forms of upgrading. Table 1 reflects our research
participants’ diversity in occupation, but also in nationality and gender, that resulted
from this approach.
Existing contacts to the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation FNV representatives
in the agricultural sector enabled access to many of the interviewees. Especially for
migrant farmworkers, this was a challenging process. Previous research demonstrated
that CEE migrant farmworkers in the Netherlands are often reluctant to talk about their
experiences, fearing that it might negatively affect their employment status (McGauran
et al., 2016: 7). In our study, too, motivating migrant workers to participate proved chal-
lenging. Those who did were active FNV members and held regular immigration status
as EU nationals.
The participating workers’ social characteristics reflected the general position of CEE
migrants in horticulture outlined in the contextualising section. Employed in manual
jobs, their nationality matches the dominance of Polish nationals among the group of
6 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
CEE migrant workers in Dutch horticulture. This dominance is also steeped in their older
history of migration to the Netherlands. Polish nationals gained full access to the Dutch
labour market in 2007, while Bulgarians and Romanians faced a transitional regime until
2014. The resulting limited data on the embodied experience of migrant workers with
new horticultural technologies highlights the heuristic character of our analysis and the
need for follow-up research.
Based on informed consent, all but one of the 12 resulting interviews were recorded,
transcribed and analysed together with the notes that were taken during every conver-
sation. To protect interviewees’ identities, their names were changed. The interview
data were coded based on an initial code list inspired by Pajnik’s (2016: 161) frame-
work for the analysis of migrant precarity in European labour markets. It foregrounds
the role of features of the labour process (including technological upgrading), the gov-
ernance of immigration and employment, as well as workers’ social identities. The
resulting codes were enriched inductively based on the interview data. The coded
material was subsequently annotated, focusing on data segments that were labelled
with both a group of codes related to ‘Technology’ and either the code ‘Employment:
quantity’ or ‘Employment: quality’.
The coding process enabled us to identify connections between technological upgrad-
ing in Dutch horticulture and its implications for CEE migrants’ employment and the
security of their work. Based on Standing (2011: 7–13), we understand employment
quality as being characterised by different labour-related securities with their absence
representing precarious work. These securities range from income via employment secu-
rity to protection against accidents and illness at work, termed work security by Standing
(2011). Rodgers (1989) adds structural causes and consequences to Standing’s (2011)
characterisation when pointing out that employers typically have a high degree of control
over precarious work and that it is characterised by low incomes.
Table 1. Research participants’ backgrounds.
Name Gender Nationality Occupation / affiliation
Julius M Dutch Consultant FNV/Agrarisch Groen
Agnieszka F Polish Consultant FNV/Agrarisch Groen
Gerda F Dutch Project Leader FNV/Enforcement
Ron M Dutch Researcher Tilburg University
Inge F Dutch Labour Policy Advisor Westland Municipality
Joost M Dutch Socio-Economic Advisor LTO Nederland
Robert M Polish Worker/Shop steward FNV/Flower Sector
Tomasz M Polish Worker/Shop steward FNV/Meat sector
Jan M Dutch Worker/Shop steward FNV/Flora Holland
Frank M Dutch Manager FNV/Agrarisch Groen
Ursula F Dutch Socio-Economic Advisor, Social and Economic
Council of the Netherlands (SER)
Geert M Dutch Advisor FNV/Industrial policy, Restructuring,
Workplace Innovation
Note: FNV: Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging [Federation of Netherlands Trade Unions].
Siegmann et al. 7
Contextualising migrants and machines in the Netherlands’
high-tech horticulture
Migrant labour in the Dutch agri-food chain
CEE migrants have shouldered a large share of work in Dutch horticulture since the EU
enlargements in 2004 and 2007 enabled their intra-union mobility. Figure 1 reflects their
increased involvement compared with the sector’s output change during the past decade.
It comes as no surprise then that regions with the highest concentration of CEE migrant
workers map onto the centres of horticultural production. Many open field fruit and veg-
etable farms are located in the southern provinces of North Brabant and Limburg, while
North Holland is a hub for flower bulb production and other open field floriculture. The
Westland municipality in South Holland is the capital of greenhouse horticulture.
The exact number of migrant workers in Dutch agriculture is disputed. In 2020,
Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS) counted 21,300 work-
ers from EU countries as directly employed in agriculture. Polish citizens represent the
largest group among them, followed by workers from Romania and Bulgaria (CBS,
2022). Yet, these numbers invisibilise the bulk of migrant workers who are employed
indirectly via temporary work agencies. Besides, CBS figures may exclude seasonal
workers working a maximum of four out of six months in the Netherlands as registration
is not mandatory for them (Inspectie SZW, 2021: 12–13). Horticultural employers esti-
mate the sector to provide structural employment to 139,000 people, with the number
rising to 248,000 during peak periods (Dutch Horticulture, 2023).
Mirroring insights of the GVC literature, migrant farmworkers’ conditions in the
Netherlands are powerfully shaped by retailers. They are key actors in the ‘supermarket
model’ of agri-food chain governance. The horticultural chain in the Netherlands reflects
Dolan and Humphrey’s (2000: 152) characterisation of this model as oligopolistic com-
petition. Like in their description of the UK retail landscape, in the Netherlands the
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Output (million Euro) Other EU
Figure 1. Output and directly employed EU employees in Dutch horticulture, 2010–2017.
Source: Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS, 2017, 2022).
8 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
traditional auction system for agricultural goods has been bypassed by retailers who
control the supply chain through direct contracts with growers (Kroon and Paauwe,
2014: 25). In 2021, the five biggest supermarkets in the Netherlands held a combined
market share of 81%, a percentage that has risen over the years (Distrifood, 2022). While
this concentration has gone hand in hand with large price margins for retailers, retail
prices of labour-intensive fruits and vegetables have declined, and farmers’ income is
under pressure with only large farmers being able to cope (Kroon and Paauwe, 2014: 25).
As a result, over the years, farm numbers have shrunk, while acreage has remained stable
or increased.
Similar to dynamics identified in buyer-driven agri-food chains in the global South,
these lead firms’ price pressure is passed on to workers whose workload has been increas-
ing while their real wages have declined. As observed elsewhere in value chain analyses
(Matheis and Herzig, 2019: 127), this impact on workers is differentiated by task. In
Dutch horticulture, labour demand is highest for two types of tasks (Kroon and Paauwe,
2014: 24). On the one hand, they comprise skill and knowledge-intensive tasks, like the
application of fertiliser, the management of climate systems, sales and marketing, pro-
cess automation and machine maintenance (Kroon and Paauwe, 2014: 24; Pekkeriet and
Splinter, 2020: 15–16). On the other hand, they involve skilled work for which no spe-
cific education is needed, such as manual planting or harvesting of vegetables, fruit, or
plants (Kroon and Paauwe, 2014: 24).
Workers in such directly cultivation-related tasks bear the brunt of the pressures typi-
cal of buyer-driven agri-food chains. Reflecting EU-wide patterns of labour market seg-
mentation, most CEE labourers are employed in the second segment. This implies that
they are particularly susceptible to experiencing low and insecure wages, flexible
employment relations and physically hazardous conditions (Inspectie Sociale Zaken en
Werkgelegenheid [SZW], 2019: 16; McGauran et al., 2016). As a result, the average
hourly pay of workers from CEE countries is lowest in comparison with Dutch and other
foreign workers. In 2017, over 70% to more than 80% of workers born in Romania,
Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary held a job with an hourly rate of less than 15 euros (CBS,
2019).
Paralleling insights of the wider GVC literature (e.g. Barrientos et al., 2011), the high
share of agency employment in the Dutch agri-food chain enables the shift of market
risks to migrant farmworkers and the lowering of labour costs. This was enabled through
the legalisation of indirect employment contracts with employment agencies in 1999.
The relevant collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) provide agency workers with
staggered economic and social entitlements. During the first phase of up to 78 weeks,
their contracts may be terminated at any time and workers are paid for hours worked
only, while workers in the last phase must be offered a permanent contract and receive
payment even if there is no work for them (Inspectie SZW, 2021: 22). Dismissal after the
first phase and reemployment after a period of unemployment is common, with the result
being that most CEE migrants hold first phase contracts. This is reflected in a recent
survey of the Netherlands Labour Authority among – largely CEE origin – migrant work-
ers in which two out of three respondents held first phase contracts (Inspectie SZW,
2021: 22). The modest unemployment benefits that workers are entitled to are part of a
business model that ensures maximum flexibility at low costs to growers.
Siegmann et al. 9
Interlinked contracts further weaken migrant workers’ bargaining power. The com-
mon combination of agency employment contracts with housing, travel and insurance
contracts makes CEE migrants highly dependent on their employers, limits their ability
to ‘vote with their feet’ and increases employment agencies’ possibilities for abuse.
Migrants’ lack of a collective voice in the labour market aggravates this situation. Despite
promising initiatives, by and large, trade unions have not been effective in organising
CEE migrant workers (De Beer and Berntsen, 2019: 257).
Shortages of skilled workers have been observed for both segments of the horticul-
tural labour force. On the one hand, the recent economic growth in the Polish and
Romanian economies and amendments in Polish taxation aimed to stem emigration have
encouraged many migrants to return since the wage gap between their countries and the
Netherlands has been narrowing (Pekkeriet and Splinter, 2020: 15). Therefore, more
employers have started looking towards Ukraine, the Balkans or Southeast Asia in the
hope of finding labourers willing to work for the prevailing wage (Inspectie Sociale
Zaken en Werkgelegenheid [SZW], 2019: 5). For knowledge-intensive support tasks in
greenhouse horticulture, Pekkeriet and Splinter (2020: 9, 16) identify bottlenecks, espe-
cially in tasks that combine knowledge of cultivation with IT skills. The lack of a skilled
workforce and increased labour expenditure have convinced some producers that the
orientation towards agricultural robots is a best possible solution for the future (De
Wilde, 2016; Hemming, 2018).
Technological upgrading in Dutch horticulture
The significant role of government policies in catalysing technological upgrading of
agricultural processes in the Netherlands (e.g. Hoste et al., 2017: 9–12) parallels the
experience in other value chains (Gereffi, 2019). As a result, the Netherlands has been
among the frontrunners when it comes to the technological upgrading of horticultural
processes.
Significant process improvements have helped to turn some of the greenhouses from
‘energy guzzlers’ into energy sources (Hoffman and Loeber, 2016: 704). Tomato cultiva-
tion based on a combination of intensified thermal screen use and ventilation systems
exemplifies this. It provides higher concentrations of CO2, which have enabled growers
to reduce their energy input significantly (De Gelder et al., 2012). More energy efficient
lighting, such as LED lighting, has contributed to the more than doubling of the tomato
and sweet pepper yields over the last three decades (Marcelis et al., 2019: 3).
Product and process upgrading are intertwined in ‘smart farming’ and applications of
genetics in Dutch horticulture. Smart farming involves the individualised treatment
plants receive based on the analysis of sensor- and GPS-generated data. Both technolo-
gies have been applied to innovate horticultural products in the Netherlands. While smart
farming allows for the customised production of specific batches for specific clients,
genetics has been used, to cultivate plants with the desired taste, smell, colour and
appearance (De Wilde, 2016: 44–45, 50–51).
The scope for automation in Dutch horticulture has shrunk in recent years, though. In
greenhouses, most procedures have been automated, except for pruning and harvesting
(Hemming, 2018; Hoste et al., 2017: 27; Pekkeriet and Splinter, 2020: 19). The ‘ceiling
10 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
effect’ in technological innovation can be explained by the complexity of matching the
human dexterity in dealing with living plants. This leads to a situation in which, for
instance, the use of harvesting robots is presently by and large confined to experimental
greenhouses (Hoste et al., 2017: 27–28; Pekkeriet and Splinter, 2020: 19).
In sum, while Dutch greenhouses have been forerunners in the automation of the
labour process, innovative forms of climate control and product innovation through
genetics, the uptake of process and product innovation in open field horticulture have
been more varied.
The scholarly literature on the impact of such technological upgrading in GVCs on
workers is both scant and inconclusive. Engineers and economists, in particular, often
assume these and other forms of technological upgrading to promise positive impacts on
working conditions (e.g. Marcelis et al., 2019: 2). Largely based on industrial dynamics
in the global South, Gereffi (2019: 241), in contrast, argues that without flanking social
or industrial policies to improve labour conditions, producers will remain stuck with low
returns and high competitive pressures. In the following section, we explore the effects
of technological upgrading in Dutch horticulture on migrant workers through our inter-
viewees’ lenses.
Exploring the effects of technological upgrading on migrant
labour
The types of technological upgrading in Dutch horticulture identified by our research
participants form the starting point of our analysis.1 We present these types in the follow-
ing sub-section. Subsequent sub-sections cover their implications for social upgrading in
the form of employment opportunities and working conditions.
Technological advances witnessed in the horticultural sector
The forms of technological upgrading distinguished in our interviews range from differ-
ent technologies for climate control via LED lighting to extend the cultivating season to
the automation and robotisation of different stages of cultivation in flower nurseries
(Table 2).
Technological innovation applied in the Westland greenhouse economy affects the
cultivation of a wide array of crops, from vegetables to flowers. Proudly, the policy advi-
sor to Westland municipality highlighted the high degree of robotisation in orchid pro-
duction: ‘You have to visit the orchid production. Every day, they produce 5 million
orchids. [They are put on a] conveyor belt, planted in a pot, laser marked about their
colour – all of that is done by a robot’ (interview, Inge, 2018).
Yet, lacking financial resources and the current insufficient sophistication of
robots prevent a widespread uptake of robotics. Jan highlighted both hurdles when
he shared that:
the CEO of a company wanted to automate completely these operations a couple of years ago,
for example like Amazon that uses robots in their warehouse to distribute the goods. My
supervisors investigated for many months, and it costed an awful lot of money, but they decided
Siegmann et al. 11
Table 2. Technological upgrading in Dutch horticulture observed by research participants.
Technology Location Crop(s) Production phase Type of upgrading
Automation of harvesting through combines Open field Blueberries, strawberries Harvest Process
Automation of bundling and tying of flowers Open field Flowers Post-harvest processing Process
Robotisation of harvest Open field Apples, pears Harvest Process
Robotisation of packaging Open field Apples Post-harvest processing Process
Robotisation of planting, laser marking,
internal transport in flower nurseries
Greenhouse Orchids, other flowers Cultivation Process
Solar and geothermal energy innovation for
climate control
Greenhouse Asparagus, tender fruit,
cucumber, salad, grapes
Cultivation Process
LED lighting to extend growing period Greenhouse Tomatoes, orchids, amaryllis Cultivation Process
Genetic modification for cultivation of
specialised plants
Small bell peppers, cherry
tomatoes, new colour orchids
Product
Source: Authors’ compilation.
12 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
not to do it because all the machines, all the robots that perform that stuff [. . .] have to operate
on the perfectly flat floor and that is not the case with our building. (Interview, Jan, 2018)
In open field agriculture, technological upgrading was observed in the harvest and post-
harvest processes. The harvest of tender fruit, such as blueberries, is sometimes mecha-
nised through combines and extended into the night through special lights. The delicate
nature of these crops presents a challenge to automation, though. A trade union consult-
ant concluded that, so far: ‘Employers prefer regular pluckers, they are more careful with
the fruit’ (interview, Agnieszka, 2018). Given their current lack of sophistication, in open
field agriculture, harvesting robots, such as for apples or asparagus, are still employed on
an experimental basis only. Post-harvesting automation in open field horticulture that the
research participants described involves, for instance, the automatic bundling and tying
of flowers in floricultural enterprises.
In addition to upgrading of the production process, some of the interviewees identi-
fied product innovations. Orchid producers in Westland, for instance, have multiplied the
number of varieties based on customers’ demand (interview, Inge, 2018). Ron cited
tomato growers pointing out that they no longer cultivate ‘water bombs’ (i.e. poorly tast-
ing, standard tomatoes), but have moved into innovative varieties, such as cherry toma-
toes or mini bell peppers (interview, Ron, 2018). In line with a common understanding
of successful product upgrading leading to an increase in unit prices (Ponte and Ewert,
2009: 1638), as observed in other agri-food chains (Dolan and Humphrey, 2000: 155;
Gereffi, 2019: 247), growers saw such crop innovation as a way to increase their margins
(interview, Ron, 2018).
Technological unemployment among CEE migrant workers in Dutch
agriculture?
Do these innovations trigger technological unemployment in Dutch horticulture? This
question does not yield a straightforward ‘yes–no’ answer. We identify three different –
in part counterrotating – dynamics: firstly, investment that saves labour use per unit of
production; secondly, the technology enabled extension of the cultivation period that
leads to an annual increase in labour demand; and, lastly, employment generation through
market extension.
While our interview data reflect the current early stage of robotisation in Dutch horti-
culture, they corroborate that automation has already replaced human labour in different
parts of the sector. Jan, who has been employed in horticulture since the 1990s, observed
that in flower nurseries, automation is not a new phenomenon:
When it comes to nursery, there has been a lot of automation going on, but it hasn’t been recent,
it has been happening for years now. Some nurseries have many robots moving and shipping
young plants from one side to another and moving plants from one side of the greenhouse to
another. That part of the cultivation has been automated for years now. (Interview, Jan, 2018)
As a result, employment in these tasks was reduced drastically.
Siegmann et al. 13
Price effects of automation might nuance such substitution of human labour by
machines. For orchid cultivation, the Westland policy advisor observed that: ‘Only one
person is managing this process. It is almost without people’ (interview, Inge, 2018). Yet,
she qualified this observation with an opposing trend. When mentioning the increasing
sophistication of pepper harvesting robots that she had witnessed, Inge asserted that this
robotisation did not reduce the demand for migrant workers: ‘But I see more migrants,
not less!’. She related this to an expansion in production (interview, Inge, 2018). Parschau
and Hauge (2020: 127) explain a similar effect through the possibility of lowering prices
due to automation. Allowing producers to win market shares, this in turn increases labour
demand.
The introductory quote reflects that labour-saving technologies and the employment
of a low-paid migrant labour force represent alternative strategies to increase farms’
profitability. Different interview partners highlighted that company size matters for
growers’ technological investment. For instance, Robert, who had worked in floriculture
for the past six years, assumed that for larger companies able to afford it, investment in
automation will pay off in the long run, as productivity increases will surpass the initial
costs (interview, Robert, 2018). Trade union advisor Geert observed that: ‘If you are not
in the higher end, then you would not invest in technology’ (interview, Geert, 2018). For
other growers, the different comparative advantages of the employment of migrant
labour add up: no upfront investment is required like in the case of technological innova-
tion, indirect employment relations ensure that growers can recruit and discharge work-
ers following the seasonality of demand, and last but not least – as reflected in Agnieszka’s
point about workers’ greater care with the crop – human labour is more flexible com-
pared with technology. From employers’ perspective, the only disadvantage is migrant
workers’ need for social reproduction that distinguishes them from robots and other tech-
nologies, something discussed in more detail below.
In contrast to automation, advances in climate control and lighting in greenhouses
have stabilised or even increased labour demand. Agnieszka described how asparagus,
grape and strawberry cultivation in Limburg were shifted from open fields to green-
houses. She pointed out that this is advantageous for CEE migrants as the longer cultiva-
tion cycle that this enables stabilises workers’ employment. Policy advisor Inge
corroborated this: ‘It is not true that people are staying for a short period. Maybe in [open
field cultivation of] strawberries, but not in Westland. Work in the greenhouses is stable.
Now the work continues until November, from February’ (interview, Inge, 2018). These
assumptions are supported by a 2017 survey among Westland growers. More than a
quarter of the respondents expected labour demand to grow in 2018, while about 70%
assumed demand to remain stable (Cremers, 2018: 8).
Finally, product innovation is seen as a cause of rising labour demand. Inge pointed
out that technologies that enable product upgrading, for instance, into a greater variety of
orchids, create new jobs. She related this to customers’ higher expectations. Pekkeriet
and Splinter (2020: 14) elaborate that, for pot plant companies in particular, the demand
for added-value products has made delivery more time-consuming: ‘The orders are
becoming smaller and more customer-oriented (e.g. your own stickers, cover and chosen
pot). Not only the physical actions themselves take time, but also the organisation of the
orders.’ Researcher Ron, too, observed that the cultivation of new crops, such as mini
14 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
bell peppers, creates more employment. According to Pekkeriet and Splinter (2020: 15–
16), such employment growth is likely to take place in supporting tasks, such as energy
management, sales and marketing, process automation, personnel management and
administration, machine maintenance and in logistics where employees have to deal with
the increasing diversity of products. Given the segmentation of horticultural employment
with most regular employees being Dutch nationals, it is questionable whether these new
jobs will benefit CEE migrant workers.
How technological upgrading shapes CEE migrants’ working conditions
If the effects of upgrading on employment levels in Dutch horticulture are ambiguous,
the implications of technological innovation on working conditions are complex, to say
the least. Below, we distinguish three dynamics that emerge from our interview data.
Firstly, process automation comes with increased intensity and precarity of work for the
remaining migrant workers. Secondly, the technology-enabled extension of the cultiva-
tion period holds both the promise of greater employment security and the pitfall of
longer working hours, often under harsh climatic conditions. Finally, the higher price
margins associated with product innovation may enable direct contractual relations
between growers and migrant workers, in turn enhancing the latter’s employment and
income security.
According to the interviewed migrant workers, labour-saving automation goes hand
in hand with higher labour intensity for the remaining workers. While not perceiving
technological unemployment, Tomasz did observe increases in speed and overall work-
load resulting from technological upgrading (interview, Tomasz, 2018). Robert elabo-
rated: ‘When you’re working with the machine, the pace of the machine determines your
pace, so basically there is always someone that would push you to go faster and to pro-
vide more efficient results’ (interview, Robert, 2018). Trade union consultant Julius sug-
gested that workers compete with a machine’s productivity when he stated: ‘Employers
see those people like machines, you have to produce as much as you can’ (interview,
Julius, 2018). Agnieszka highlighted that it is the fear of dismissal that drives workers to
accept such unhealthy conditions: ‘one person often does four people’s work. [. . .] It’s
inhumane work, they do this to keep their job’ (interview, Agnieszka, 2018).
The loss of control over the work pace buttressed by the threat of dismissal implies
precarity for workers. As explained in the contextualising section, the dominance of first
phase contracts among CEE migrant farmworkers that offer flexibility to employers
implies employment insecurity for workers. This combination of a high degree of
employers’ control over the work and the resulting insecurity, as well as low wages for
workers, is characteristic for precarious work.
In contrast, technological upgrading that extends the cultivation period also brings
advantages for workers. The discussion above already suggested that the shift from open
field to greenhouse horticulture stabilises the level of migrant workers’ employment,
translating into greater employment security for workers (interview, Agnieszka, 2018).
The technological extension of the harvest affects working conditions in other ways,
too. The use of harvesting combines, for instance, in the blueberry harvest, enables
longer working days: ‘With the help of special lamps, people can continue working at
night’ (interview, Agnieszka, 2018). Triggered by the perishability of such tender fruit,
Siegmann et al. 15
this leads to a high amount of overtime that CEE workers make. Workers appreciate the
resulting higher earnings; however, they are often not paid the overtime premium they
are entitled to and not even the hourly minimum wage stipulated by the CBA (interviews,
Julius and Agnieszka, 2018). As a result, ‘they do not have any social life’ (interview,
Agnieszka, 2018). In other words: humans’ reproductive needs are being ignored to
bring workers’ productivity closer to that of machines.
Migrant workers – framed as prototypical homo economicus whose separation from
their original environment frees them from social obligations – form an ideal here
(McGovern, 2007: 218). It enables growers to contest the obligation to cater for migrant
workers’ reproductive needs. They depict migrant workers as solely oriented towards
making money quickly to return to their country of origin subsequently (interview,
Frank, 2018). Trade union consultant Julius sketches this perception as: ‘“Migrants don’t
want to play football with their kids on Saturday”. There is a perception that they embrace
the idea of working throughout the weekend’ (interview, Julius, 2018). The resulting nar-
row space for migrant workers’ social reproduction is exemplified in the fact that in the
Westland municipality with its large foreign workforce of an estimated 12,000, less than
100 children of migrant workers are registered (interview, Inge, 2018). If migrant work-
ers’ productivity is compared with machines, as Julius suggested, what needs to be
aligned from employers’ perspective is indeed the time for and associated cost of work-
ers’ social reproduction.
While shifting cultivation to greenhouses has undoubtedly benefited some workers
because they no longer have to endure harsh weather conditions in the fields, this also
comes with challenges. The Westland policy advisor flagged that: ‘Work in greenhouses
is very difficult, you have to start early at 5 a.m. in summer, it will be 50 degrees in the
afternoon’. Here, plants and their needs are more central than those of the worker – and
the ‘[p]lants seem to be able to cope with higher temperatures that do not feel comfort-
able for humans’ (Pekkeriet and Splinter, 2020: 20).
In contrast to the different forms of horticultural process upgrading, Ron was optimis-
tic that technological upgrading of products can lead to an improvement in working
conditions. He observed that the higher margins achieved through product innovation
create the financial space that enables growers to employ workers directly: ‘there are a
couple of companies that started engaging workers directly. They offer direct labour
contracts, they improve working conditions’ (interview, Ron, 2018). Such a shift from
agency-based recruitment would be an important contribution to increase migrant work-
ers’ employment and income insecurity. His optimism is mirrored by Pekkeriet and
Splinter (2020: 15–16) who assume that new tasks created by product differentiation
require a higher level of knowledge and are likely to be carried out in comparatively bet-
ter working conditions, such as free from noise, free from machines’ work pace and
under good climatic conditions. It remains to be seen whether migrant farmworkers ben-
efit from them.
Discussion
Building on the above insights that emerged from our interview data, this section devel-
ops a conceptual heuristic that relates forms of technological upgrading to their potential
for social upgrading.
16 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
Figure 2 summarises the broad pattern of how the identified types of technological
upgrading in Dutch horticulture translate into levels and conditions of employment. The
vertical axis captures changes in the amount of employment, broadly distinguishing
employment generation due to technological upgrading from technological unemploy-
ment. Distinguishing secure from precarious conditions, the horizontal axis summarises
implications for working conditions.
Quadrant I depicts the most positive scenario for workers; yet, simultaneously, it
seems to be the most speculative of the observed dynamics. Product upgrading through
innovation in vegetable and flower varieties has increased customers’ product demand
and requires more care in the preparation of orders. Both translate into employment
Security of work
Employment generation
Technologicalunemployment
Precarityofwork
Processupgrading
automation
work intensity&
workinghours
Processupgrading
extensionof
cultivationperiod
[employment&
income security ↑]
work security ↑/↓
Product
upgrading
high value-
addedproducts
employment &
income security
I
II
III
IV
Figure 2. Connecting technological upgrading with the amount and security of employment.
Source: Authors’ design.
Note: Arrows pointing upwards indicate increases in the respective dimension of working conditions, while
arrows pointing downwards reflect decreases.
Siegmann et al. 17
generation. These dynamics parallel historical experiences with product upgrading
identified in the future of work literature (e.g. Mokyr et al., 2015: 36) and more recent
findings from agri-food chains in South and East Africa (Barrientos et al., 2016: 1276).
At the same time, product upgrading has increased growers’ margins. As expressed
through the upward-pointing arrows in Figure 2, this enables them to offer greater
employment and income security to horticultural workers.
Whereas this scenario can be related to Barrientos et al.’s (2011) notion of higher-skill
upgrading, the question remains of whether these more attractive new jobs benefit CEE
migrant workers. As outlined in the section ‘Contextualising migrants and machines in
the Netherlands’ high-tech horticulture’, the horticultural labour market is segmented,
with migrant workers being concentrated in tasks directly related to the primary horticul-
tural production process (Kroon and Paauwe, 2014: 24) and Dutch nationals forming the
majority of those in charge of knowledge-intensive tasks. Overall, Dutch employees are
perceived to be entitled to greater economic and social security (e.g. Remery et al., 2002:
486–487). The targeting of Dutch educational institutions in employers’ and trade unions’
promotion of technical job opportunities in horticulture (Arkesteijn, 2019: 23) suggests
that product upgrading through horticultural innovation is likely to attract a young and
local rather than a migrant workforce.
Combining technological unemployment and precarious work, the scenario summa-
rised in Quadrant III, in contrast, seems most bleak – yet, most common. While it is
unclear whether migrant workers’ present tasks in cultivation, harvesting and post-har-
vesting operations can be automated further or a ‘ceiling’ in such technological advances
has been reached, technological unemployment has been the direct consequence of pro-
cess upgrading through automation. The remaining workers performing these tasks are
made to ‘work like machines’: adjusting to machines’ rhythm while competing with their
productivity simultaneously. This logic translates into high work intensity and long
working hours, as reflected in the upward-pointing arrows in Figure 2. The long working
hours squeeze the time available for migrant workers’ social reproduction. Besides, their
bargaining power is weakened by the threat of dismissal. Taken together, this situation
can aptly be characterised as highly precarious.
Against this backdrop, it is surprising that even trade union representatives seem to
welcome technological upgrading through automation. Geert seemed to regret that: ‘as
long as there is an availability of cheap labour, companies will not be incentivised to
invest in new technologies’ (interview, Geert, 2018). Is this related to trade unions’ fail-
ure to effectively organise CEE migrant workers? Or to the expectation that technologi-
cal innovation enhances the competitiveness of Dutch agriculture? In the mid- and
long-term, this could represent an important mechanism to guarantee jobs. As some of
the empirical contributions to the future of work debate demonstrate, more short term,
downward price effects of automation and a resulting rise in demand might compensate
for employment declines (Arntz et al., 2016: 23–24; Parschau and Hauge, 2020: 127).
Compared with the bleak implications of automation and the promises of product
innovation, process upgrading that leads to an extension of the cultivation period comes
with a mixed bag of effects on CEE migrant workers. This locates this scenario between
Quadrants I and IV. Other factors remaining stable, innovations (e.g. in climate control
and lighting) have increased growers’ annual labour demand. Potentially, this can
18 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
translate into greater employment security. It is unclear, though, whether individual
workers benefit in terms of more stable contracts and income, hence the brackets around
possible increases in employment and income security in Figure 2. Given that these
innovations do not influence the labour-intensive character of the horticultural tasks, this
scenario comes close to Barrientos et al.’s (2011: 336) labour-intensive upgrading.
The impact of this scenario on work security – as protection against unhealthy condi-
tions – is ambiguous. Some of the innovations covered in this scenario may shield work-
ers from harsh outdoor conditions since they shift cultivation into the greenhouse. Yet,
working in greenhouses comes with challenging climatic conditions, too. Labour process
theory helps to make sense of these mixed impacts of technological upgrading by relat-
ing them to their influence on workers’ bargaining power (e.g. Prause, 2021). Improved
thermal screens in greenhouses, for instance, neither directly compete with CEE migrants’
labour nor deskill the tasks that greenhouse workers perform. As a result, while the sub-
ordination of humans to plants’ rapid growth comes with the endurance of difficult cli-
matic conditions and health hazards, there are possible benefits to reap in terms of greater
stability of employment and income.
Conclusion and outlook
Engaging with the effects of technological upgrading in Dutch horticulture for CEE
migrant workers, this article contributes to the scholarly literature on the future of work
with fresh empirical perspectives and conceptual innovation.
Empirically, our study addresses the gap regarding agriculture in debates around the
future of work, despite the sector’s crucial role for a significant share of the global labour
force. Empirical analyses of the future of work among technological advances either
focus on industrial production (e.g. Acemoglu and Restrepo, 2020; Parschau and Hauge,
2020) or, when covering multiple sectors, mention agriculture in passing (e.g. Arntz
et al., 2016; Frey and Osborne, 2017; Maloney and Molina, 2019; Zhou et al., 2020). We
zoom in on the case of the Netherlands, which is significant on account of the country’s
highly productive agriculture, built on the twin pillars of migrant labour and technologi-
cal innovation.
Conceptually, we contribute to the GVC literature by specifying the relation between
economic and social upgrading through an analysis that foregrounds employment and
working conditions. While the analytical distinction between economic and social
upgrading has been made for more than a decade, GVC analysis has not theorised their
relation beyond the general insight that ‘economic upgrading may lead to social upgrad-
ing, but that it is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition’ (Rossi, 2019: 277).
Technological sophistication is central to the forms of economic upgrading that GVC
analysis distinguishes (Milberg and Winkler, 2011: 343), yet surprisingly few studies of
economic upgrading unpack the underlying technologies.
The distinction of technologies for process and product upgrading allows us to spec-
ify the relationship between economic and social upgrading for the context of Dutch
horticulture. We find that process upgrading through automation that results in making
the remaining labour force ‘work like machines’ causes both technological unemploy-
ment and heightens the precarity of the workers who stay employed. Upgrading through
Siegmann et al. 19
product innovation, in contrast, holds the promise of increasing both labour demand and
price margins. That can translate not only into greater employment security but also into
higher wages and more social rights, potentially leading to ‘higher-skill upgrading’
(Barrientos et al., 2011: 336). Advances in process technologies that extend the cultiva-
tion period do not directly influence the organisation of the labour process. This may
explain workers’ more mixed experience with this type of economic upgrading. The
associated offer of more employment opportunities and greater employment and income
security for horticultural workers may come at the expense of risks for workers’ health
and safety through long working hours and the exposure to harsh climatic conditions.
Beyond the case of Dutch horticulture, the heuristic presented above speaks to the
wider debate on the future of work. Firstly, as visibly summarised in Figure 2, they add
the factor of the security – or precarity – of work to this literature’s commonly one-
dimensional focus on the risk of job displacement. Secondly, the analytical tools of
GVC analysis help to nuance pessimistic predictions of technological unemployment.
Once the type of technological advance is considered more carefully, then the potential
for more – and more secure – employment may be identified as a result of product inno-
vation or changes in the production process that do not compete with or deskill labour,
whereas labour-saving process automation comes with the double whammy of employ-
ment losses and increased precarity of work for the remaining workers. Finally, while
the literature on the future of work rarely ventures beyond workers’ occupation and
sector of employment, the scenarios we present in the Discussion section acknowledge
the significance of workers’ social identities in who is affected by technological upgrad-
ing and how.
Furthermore, our analysis enriches the often firm-centric GVC scholarship. The
growing number of workers involved in GVCs and the concern for their labour condi-
tions motivated the distinction of economic and social upgrading (Barrientos et al.,
2011). Subsequent conceptual and empirical contributions to the GVC literature, how-
ever, have often held on to the firm-centric approach to GVC analysis, with quantitative
studies using the country or industry as a unit of analysis (see review in Rossi, 2019:
275–276). In contrast, the strong presence of workers and worker representatives among
our research participants and the interviews’ focus on implications for workers enables
deeper insights into how a horticultural labour force segmented by immigration status is
affected by technological upgrading. These findings imply that CEE migrant workers
bear the brunt of the negative effects of technological advances on the scope and security
of employment. Besides the greater precarity that tends to come with automation, migrant
workers may also benefit from technological upgrading that extends the cultivation
period – bringing ‘labour-intensive upgrading’ in the form of more – and more stable –
employment. ‘Higher-skill upgrading’ that involves not only greater employment secu-
rity but also higher wages and more social rights, in contrast, seems to remain the reserve
of Dutch nationals who are recruited for more knowledge-intensive tasks and who are
seen as entitled to greater economic and social security.
These results echo critical value chain studies’ findings that the social and legal con-
struction of migrants as ‘others’ facilitates profitability in buyer-driven agri-food chains
(McGrath, 2013; Phillips, 2011). As detailed in the ‘Contextualising migrants and
machines in the Netherlands’ high-tech horticulture’ section, labour regulation that
20 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
normalises migrants’ widespread indirect employment with phased social and economic
rights, the interlinked employment and housing contracts they hold, and their lack of
effective trade union representation are three key mechanisms that weaken CEE migrants’
bargaining power. The resulting lower labour costs enable growers to cope with the price
pressure from retailers, while modest entitlements to social security help workers to
endure periods of unemployment.
Reading our empirical material from the perspective of workers’ bargaining power also
enables us to identify levers for change. While growers’ labour governance seeks to
increase the productivity of workers in tandem with machines to survive the competitive
pressures of agri-food chains, numerous examples illustrate that workers do not work like
machines, but that workers’ adaptability is unmatched by automated processes. This adap-
tive capacity gives workers structural power that results from their significance in the agri-
food chain (Wright, 2000: 962), especially amidst growers’ difficulties to recruit workers.
While the currently weak levels of organisation of CEE migrant workers in the
Netherlands form an obstacle to realising this structural power, individual examples of
collective action, such as a strike against wage theft and poor housing conditions among
Polish nursery workers in Brabant (No author, 2015), are promising. To strengthen
migrant workers’ collective organisations, trade unions need to question their widespread
frame that migrants facilitate their own exploitation by undercutting the wage and work-
ing time norms stipulated in the CBA. This frame reproduces the ‘othering’ of migrant
workers, rather than building solidarity.
The actualisation of CEE migrant workers’ diverse power resources may contribute to
‘shifts in what is considered an “innovation”’ (Hoffman and Loeber, 2016: 706) – namely
from economic upgrading for few large horticulturalists to social upgrading for many
actors involved in Dutch horticultural production – including CEE migrant workers.
Last but not least, the dynamics depicted in Figure 2 call for further investigation.
Based on a small sample and a purposive sampling approach, our results do not lend
themselves to generalisation. They represent empirically grounded hypotheses to be
tested and refined based on a larger number of observations. In particular, there is a need
to, firstly, conduct more in-depth interviews with migrant farmworkers, and, secondly,
generate and employ survey data, to engage with shifts in employment due to technologi-
cal upgrading in a more rigorous manner. The dynamics we have traced also offer poten-
tial for cross-country comparison of the implications of technological advances in
agri-food chains. Such comparative studies might be particularly relevant and enlighten-
ing among the competing producers and countries in which they are located. Overall,
such follow-up research is relevant not just to illuminate future scenarios in the world of
work, but also to gauge to role of labour and technology for food security.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge excellent research assistance by Tyler Williams as well as helpful
feedback by Peter Knorringa and three anonymous reviewers. All remaining errors are solely ours.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/
or publication of this article: The research underlying this article was supported by the Research
Siegmann et al. 21
Innovation Facility of the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam
(ISS), the Netherlands, and a grant by the Toyota Foundation.
ORCID iDs
Karin Astrid Siegmann https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6664-9249
Petar Ivošević https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5982-142X
Oane Visser https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5673-4439
Note
1. While covering a broad spectrum of technological upgrading in the Dutch agri-food sec-
tor, this overview does not claim to be exhaustive. For instance, artificial intelligence (AI)
applications for crop management, yield forecasting and disease detection are entering Dutch
horticulture (Pekkeriet and Splinter, 2020: 22). Yet, these have not been discussed by our
research participants. We suspect this is due both to these applications’ limited take-up and
because they affect managerial rather than directly production-related work.
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Rotterdam (ISS), the Netherlands. Her research is concerned with how precarious work is
24 Work, Employment and Society 00(0)
fashioned at the intersection of global economic processes with local labour markets, stratified by
gender and other social hierarchies as well as how precarious workers challenge and change the
structures that marginalise them. She currently coordinates research on transactional sex as a live-
lihood strategy in conflict contexts. In addition, she is involved in initiatives that seek to develop
and apply transformative research methodologies.
Petar Ivošević holds an MA in Development Studies, with a major in Agrarian, Food and
Environmental Studies, obtained at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus
University Rotterdam (ISS), the Netherlands. His professional experience encompasses agricul-
tural trade, environmental advocacy and grant writing for public interest. He is particularly inter-
ested in environmental governance and energy transition and has been involved in several environ-
mental initiatives in the Western Balkans. Following his career in professional sports, he continues
to engage in youth work and promoting access to education and social inclusion through sports.
Oane Visser is Associate Professor in Development Studies at the International Institute of Social
Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), the Netherlands. He conducts research on new
(digital) technologies in agriculture, farmland investment and rural movements. He is principal
investigator of an Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) (UK) funded project examining
farmer-led innovation and open-source technologies in digital agriculture. He also leads a Local
Engagement Facility (LEF) project on high-tech and low-tech urban agriculture, and is an editor of
Focaal – Journal of Global & Historical Anthropology.
Date submitted September 2022
Date accepted March 2024
... Een deel van het uitputtende werk (hoge werkintensivering) zal naar verwachting worden uitgevoerd door arbeidsmigranten (zie bv. Seidler et al., 2024;Siegmann, et al, 2024). Dergelijke hoog-risico-groepen zijn ondervertegenwoordigd in de data, onder meer vanwege de taalbarrières. ...
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In dit rapport richten we ons op de aspecten van de kwaliteit van werk die gerelateerd zijn aan de balans tussen regeleisen (kwantitatieve taakeisen) en regelmogelijkheden (autonomie), zoals in het ‘job demands-control-model’. Deze invalshoek veronderstelt dat werkkenmerken bepalend zijn voor de kwaliteit van werk en niet de tevredenheidsoordelen van personen. In de praktijk spelen tevredenheidsoordelen echter een belangrijke rol in het HR- en personeelsbeleid, zoals blijkt uit de populariteit van medewerkerstevredenheidsonderzoeken. Tevredenheidsoordelen kunnen echter misleidend zijn, aangezien personen hun oordelen vaak aanpassen aan de situatie. Hierdoor kunnen minder gunstige banen, zoals uitputtende of stressvolle banen met hoge regeleisen en weinig regelmogelijkheden, relatief gunstig worden beoordeeld. Dat blijkt ook uit de analyses in dit rapport waarbij uitputtende banen vergeleken worden met uitdagende (actieve) banen (hoge regeleisen, veel regelmogelijkheden), ontspannen banen (lage regeleisen, veel regelmogelijkheden) en saaie banen (lage regeleisen, weinig regelmogelijkheden). Een meerderheid van werknemers met uitputtende of stressvolle banen is tevreden met de interessantheid van hun werk, hun salaris en zekerheid, al geldt dat in nog grotere mate voor werknemers met uitdagende, ontspannen en saaie banen. Echter, werknemers in uitputtende banen hebben vergeleken met werknemers in andere type banen vaker burn-out klachten, emotioneel zwaar werk, hebben meer ziekteverzuim en rapporteren minder vaak een goede algemene gezondheid. In de periode 2014-2022 bleef het percentage werknemers in de verschillende type banen redelijk stabiel – al daalde het percentage werknemers met een uitdagende baan van 20,5% naar 17,2%. De tevredenheid met het inkomen daalde in alle type banen, terwijl de tevredenheid met werkzekerheid overal toenam. Tegelijkertijd namen burn-out klachten, ziekteverzuim en emotioneel zwaar werk aanzienlijk toe in alle type banen. Over de jaren 2014-2022 nemen de verslechterende gezondheidsuitkomsten het sterkst toe bij werknemers in uitputtende banen. In 2022 komen de uitputtende banen vaker voor bij vrouwen dan mannen, vaker bij jongeren dan ouderen, en vaker bij personen met een middelbaar opleidingsniveau dan met een laag en hoog opleidingsniveau. Werknemers met uitputtende banen zijn relatief vaak werkzaam in de zorgsector, onderwijs en horeca, en in zorg-, onderwijs- en dienstverlenende beroepen. De uitsplitsing naar inkomensgroepen toont aan dat werknemers met uitputtende banen het vaakst vertegenwoordigd zijn in de laagste inkomenscategorie. De conclusie is dat de kwaliteit van werk over het algemeen stabiel is in de periode 2014-2022, desalniettemin stijgen burn-out klachten, emotioneel zwaar werk, en ziekteverzuim, en veranderen de tevredenheidsoordelen enigszins. Werknemers met uitputtende banen oordelen in meerderheid dat zij tevreden zijn met hun baan, maar zij hebben wel vaker te maken met gezondheidsgerelateerde klachten. Dit kan er mogelijk op wijzen dat hun tevredenheidsoordelen een aanpassing zijn aan werkkenmerken die risicovoller zijn dan die van werknemers in andere typen banen. Belangrijkste bevinding is dat gezondheidsgerelateerde klachten voor deze groep met uitputtende banen ook het meest zijn toegenomen. Hoewel nader onderzoek nodig is, suggereren de bevindingen dat het belangrijk is om te kijken naar de condities waaronder men werkt, en te zorgen voor een verbeterde balans tussen de regeleisen van het werk en de regelmogelijkheden binnen de taken van de erknemers. De regeleisen of taakeisen kunnen te hoog zijn. Maar het kan ook te wijten zijn aan andere werkgerelateerde factoren (bv. het niet opvullen van vacatures) en factoren in de privésfeer.
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