Revealing the Benefits and Burdens of Workplace Digitalization: Preliminary Insights from a Qualitative Study

The integration of digital technologies into the modern workplace has transformative implications for organizations and professionals. Digital business professionals, who play a central role in implementing digital tools, automation, and data-driven decision-making processes, are at the heart of these transformations. This qualitative study explores the main benefits and burdens of workplace digitalization as perceived by digital business professionals. Based on semi-structured interviews with 10 professionals from Austrian companies and qualitative content analysis, we identified 36 benefits grouped into 7 categories (e.g., task automation and process simplification) and 68 burdens grouped into 10 categories (e.g., the need for training and change management support). Our findings highlight the dual nature of workplace digitalization, emphasizing the need for proactive strategies to balance its benefits and burdens. By addressing these challenges, organizations can foster a harmonious coexistence between people and digital technologies, ensuring productivity and well-being in today's increasingly digitalized work environments.