The Future of Work and Workers: Insights from US Labour Studies

Abstract

The rollout of sophisticated digital tools -including advanced robotics, data analytics, machine learning and the Internet of Things -threatens to disrupt the distribution, role and nature of work in society. Raising the spectre of mass unemployment and social instability, researchers predict that technological progress will soon allow for the rapid automation of many tasks that are currently performed by humans. Already the pace of change appears to accelerate, with the spread of platform-based business models fuelling the growth of gig and crowd work. While reductions in labour supply due to demographic shifts and COVID-19 militate against mass displacement, the prospects for the offshoring of services enabled by information technology (IT) and even the most limited applications of artificial intelligence (AI) will challenge inherited divisions of labour across societies Most workers, including those far up the skills ladder and those in high-status jobs, will experience some form of disruption to their work duties. 1 Concurrently, other trends such as climate change, financialisation and workplace fissuring threaten to accelerate the ongoing concentration of power across societies in the hands of the wealthy few, leaving workers with less bargaining power and greater uncertainty.