Integrating Digital Innovation and Green Transitions in Shaping the Future of Work: An Integrative Review

Abstract

The global economy is being reshaped by the intertwined megatrends of rapid digital innovation and accelerating green transitions, which jointly redefine value creation, organisational practices and employment structures, yet research on their labour-market implications remains fragmented, particularly for emerging and developing economies. This study aimed to synthesise multidisciplinary evidence on how these “twin transitions” jointly shape the future of work, identify key workforce transformations, develop integrative themes linking digitalisation and sustainability and derive theoretical, managerial and policy implications for building a future-ready workforce. An integrative literature review was conducted using PRISMA-guided screening of peer-reviewed, Scopus-indexed journal articles published in English. A structured Boolean search yielded 3,483 records; after title/abstract and full-text screening against predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria, 124 studies were retained for analysis (noting that the concluding synthesis reports 120 studies). Using open coding, conceptual clustering and thematic analysis, four interrelated themes emerged. The review advances an integrated framework grounded in Human Capital Theory, Sociotechnical Systems Theory and the Just Transition perspective and concludes that equitable, resilient and sustainable workforce outcomes depend on integrated digital–green strategies rather than single-transition approaches, while highlighting limitations related to secondary evidence, advanced-economy bias, exclusion of grey literature and heterogeneity across definitions and methods.