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Making digital welfare work: conceptualizing digital compensatory work by frontline professionals
University of Borås, Faculty of Caring Science, Work Life and Social Welfare. University of Borås, Faculty of Textiles, Engineering and Business.
School of Social Work, Lund University, Lund 221 00.
School of Learning, Humanities and Social Sciences, Halmstad University, Halmstad 301 18.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5246-1605
2026 (English)In: Journal of Professions and Organization, ISSN 2051-8803, E-ISSN 2051-8811, Vol. 13, no 3, article id joag011Article, review/survey (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Digital technologies in welfare organizations frequently generate gaps, ambiguities, and misalignments that require professional intervention. Yet prior research has tended to portray frontline workers mainly as resistant or adaptive actors, leaving under-examined their active contributions to sustaining broader digital infrastructures. This article introduces the concept of digital compensatory work to capture how professionals intervene when specific digital technologies fall short of their own standards for professional service delivery. Drawing on an exploratory literature review, we identify three forms of such compensatory work: complementing digital technologies, rectifying their shortcomings, and dismissing them when they conflict with professional judgment. By theorizing these practices, the article expands existing understandings of professional discretion in digital welfare services, shifting attention from resistance and adaptation to value-driven interventions that actively uphold service quality within digital infrastructures. In doing so, it contributes to debates on digital welfare and highlights the essential role of professional agency in sustaining human service organizations under conditions of digital transformation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxford University Press, 2026. Vol. 13, no 3, article id joag011
Keywords [en]
professional discretion, digitalization, human service organizations, digital coping, digital compensatory work, public service delivery
National Category
Social Work
Research subject
The Human Perspective in Care; Business and IT
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-35475DOI: 10.1093/jpo/joag011ISI: 001731953700001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105036528884OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-35475DiVA, id: diva2:2052405
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2022-00288Available from: 2026-04-13 Created: 2026-04-13 Last updated: 2026-05-06Bibliographically approved

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Carlsson, Julia S

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41424344454647 47 of 47
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