Trapped by Algorithms, Empowered by Leaders: Uncovering the Cognitive-Affective Costs of Algorithmic Management and the Buffering Role of Leader's Digital Empathy

Based on the cognitive-affective system theory, this study explores the mechanism of employee performance erosion in algorithmic management contexts and the moderating role of leader's digital empathy. Through tracking surveys of frontline employees in digital enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai, and other regions, 424 valid samples were collected for empirical analysis. The findings indicate that employees’ perceived algorithmic control significantly negatively impacts job performance through the chained mediation path of "subjective liminality → emotional exhaustion."Leader's digital empathy moderates the process by which algorithmic control influences subjective liminality and emotional exhaustion.