How scheduling, monitoring, and automation in service jobs affect worker health over a lifetime
Official title: Effects of Job Quality in the Service Sector on Health-Related Outcomes Across the Life Course
Funded at Harvard University · NIH-11411612 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project finds out how unpredictable schedules, workplace monitoring, and automation in service jobs affect the health and aging of service workers.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cambridge, United States) |
| Project start | April 15, 2021 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $83,593 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG066898-05S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11411612 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are U.S.-based service-sector workers (for example in retail, food service, or hospitality) who experience unpredictable schedules, surveillance, or automation and who can complete online surveys.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not work in the service sector, who lack exposure to scheduling or monitoring issues, or who cannot participate in online surveys are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
You may be asked to complete a short online survey delivered through Facebook that asks about your work schedule, monitoring or surveillance at work, automation, and basic health information. The researchers will gather new, large-scale survey data from service-sector workers across ages and job types and link those responses to health-related outcomes. They will use statistical analyses to see how temporal job features — like irregular hours or pace-of-work monitoring — relate to stress, health behaviors, and long-term aging. The goal is to provide evidence that can inform workplace policies affecting millions of service workers.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could point to workplace practices and policies that improve schedules, reduce harmful monitoring, and protect worker health as they age.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies have linked job conditions to health, but measuring these newer temporal job practices at large scale via online surveys is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Harvard University
Cambridge, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schneider, Danny — Harvard University
- Study coordinator: Schneider, Danny
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.