My colleagues at Washington DC’s Foresight Alliance have just put out a new, wide-ranging, and very insightful report on the future of work entitled – in grand futurist style, The Futures of Work.
The getdown:
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Software and robotics will reshape work in nearly every industry and region—eliminating some jobs, complementing human workers in other jobs, and creating entirely new jobs. Whether machines ultimately take work from people or work alongside them, considerable turmoil is highly likely.
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Flexible and freelance work structures could speed the destruction of conventional jobs, producing an uncertain mix of insecurity and freedom for workers at every level.
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Workers in lower-income countries will need new paths to secure livelihoods in the face of these disruptive changes, as prior development models centered around rural work and manufacturing are losing their relevance.
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New structures, from income guarantees to new kinds of asset ownership, are being proposed to help ensure a positive future for workers. The Futures of Work evaluates many of the most prominent ideas.
The report would probably run you a whole lotta budget if you ordered it privately, but thanks to their partners at the Rockefeller Foundation, you can actually read it for free. Which you should because you will learn a lot.