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Recent investments in automation and AI are reshaping the hospitality sector. Driven by social and economic forces affecting service delivery, these new technologies have transformed the labor that acts as the backbone to the industry-namely frontline service work performed by housekeepers, front desk staff, line cooks and others. We describe the context for recent technological adoption, with particular emphasis on algorithmic management applications. Through this work, we identify gaps in existing literature and highlight areas in need of further research in the domains of worker-centered technology development. Our analysis highlights how technologies such as algorithmic management shape roles and tasks in the high-touch service sector. We outline how harms produced through automation are often due to a lack of attention to non-management stakeholders. We then describe an opportunity space for researchers and practitioners to elicit worker participation at all stages of technology adoption, and offer methods for centering workers, increasing transparency, and accounting for the context of use through holistic implementation and training strategies.
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This content will become publicly available on July 4, 2026
Working Together: Algorithmic Management and Peer Relationships in the Hospitality Industry
Algorithmic management is transforming traditional face-to-face service sectors like hospitality. To understand this phenomenon, we conducted an interview study in a unionized, mid-sized urban hotel on the West Coast of the USA. Through this work, we examine how an algorithmic management (AM) platform mediates work in a housekeeping department. Our analysis highlights the effects of AM on social processes, revealing that despite careful configuration, the tool’s implementation still challenges traditional communication and coordination. This study contributes empirical evidence on AM impacts in a collaborative service environment, emphasizing the importance of organizational dynamics in AM design and implementation. We offer design opportunities for flexible workplace technologies that support, rather than frustrate, the relational aspects of service work.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2128954
- PAR ID:
- 10618218
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400714856
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3221 to 3234
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Human-centered computing HCI theory, concepts and models Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Madeira Portugal
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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