Perpetual connectivity as digital labor

A conceptual reframing of the always-on work culture

Bibliographic Data

ID22090352
AuthorsNthabeleng Innocentia Mdhluli (University of South Africa, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume14
Pages1867925-1867925
Publication date2026-05-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpubh.2026.1867925
PMID42293643
OpenAlexW7162788207
LanguageEN
References cited48

Orientation: Digital communication technologies have transformed the temporal and spatial organization of contemporary work, embedding continuous availability into organizational life. Despite considerable scholarly attention, the labor involved in maintaining perpetual digital availability remains under-theorized. Motivation for the study: HRM scholarship has predominantly treated connectivity as a contextual feature of digital work rather than as a labor process with direct occupational health implications. This framing obscures connectivity's function as a mechanism of attentional appropriation that warrants HR governance. Research purpose: This article reframes perpetual connectivity as a distinct form of digital labor. It argues that the always-on culture constitutes a site of value extraction and attentional appropriation that requires occupational health-grounded HRM theory and governance. Research design: A critical integrative review and theory synthesis was conducted, following Jaakkola (1). The synthesis integrates Labor Process Theory, Digital Sociology, and HRM scholarship. Findings: The article develops the Perpetual Connectivity Labor Model (PCLM), which specifies how organizational connectivity expectations generate informal digital labor through the mechanism of attentional labor extraction. Eight propositions guide empirical testing. Practical/managerial implications: The model offers HR practitioners a basis for governing digital responsiveness norms, recognizing informal digital labor within workload systems, implementing right-to-disconnect frameworks, and configuring HR analytics to monitor connectivity patterns. Contribution/value-Add: The article introduces attentional labor extraction as a novel explanatory mechanism, specifies the occupational health pathway from connectivity expectations to attentional depletion, and articulates a governance framework for digital work

Appropriation · Cognitive reframing · Conceptual framework · Conceptualization · Emotional labor · Mediation · Organizational culture · Scholarship · AI and HR Technologies · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employer Branding and e-HRM

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