The Automatisation and Its Impact on the Swedish Labour Market : A Qualitative Study on how Automatisation within the Retail Market Contributes to the Job Polarisation in Sweden

Sammanfattning: The automatisation process that occurs within the Swedish retail market today is taking place at a higher rate than ever before. Previous research show how automatisation leads to both higher efficiency and productivity within the industry. Increasing numbers of stores are increasing their turnover and, as a result, higher demands are placed on the employees. A gap in the literature has been identified regarding how this technological development affects the job polarisation that takes place in Sweden. This thesis aims to explain the impact of the automatisation process on the Swedish labour market. The authors' theoretical position is intended to explain how automatisation forces employees to move from middle-wage occupations to either low- or high-wage occupations, and thus contributing to the job polarisation.   The empirical findings are based on five semi-constructed interviews with managers at FMCG stores in the Jönköping region, who are seen as key players in the subject being explored. Through the empirical findings, the authors were able to understand how technological developments affect the labour market in the retail sector and later also the job polarisation. The results show that the automatisation affects the labour market to the extent that people move from middle-wage occupations to either low- or high-wage occupations and thus affect the job polarisation. On the other hand, the direct effects of automatisation were not as drastic as the authors had predicted in advance, mainly because of the strict laws and regulations in Sweden regarding termination of employee contracts