What’s worse than a tyrant boss? That’s easy: it’s a robot tyrant boss.

Or, more specifically, it’s a tyrant boss using algorithmic management tools to track your every move and wanting you to work harder and faster. That’s the experience of many who work at Woolworths as reported by the Guardian, who are facing brutal consequences of a new efficiency framework including claims of increased risk of serious injury, mental stress and the looming threat of disciplinary action or even loss of employment.

Many have heard the horrifying stories of gruelling working conditions in Amazon warehouses worsened by automation, and drivers being forced to pee in bottles because of impossible efficiency expectations in the on-demand economy. This may seem like a far-off scenario for Australia, but it’s the same underlying profit motivation and fantasy of total optimisation behind the system in place at Woolworths.

These logics aren’t new. We can think back to the early 20th century and the rise of “scientific management,” or Taylorism – a process of breaking down tasks into minutely timed segments with the goal of increasing productivity. Going back even further, the roots of modern management and worker discipline can be found in US plantations, with many slaveholders sharing the modern-day obsession with data, measurement and........

© The Guardian