#357 Changing Nature of Work

Summary:

At a time when the global economy is growing and the poverty rate is the

lowest in recorded history, it would be easy to become complacent and overlook

looming challenges. One of the most critical is the future of work, the

subject of the 2019 World Development Report. (https://live.worldbank.org/search?keyword=World+Development+Report)

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“Machines are coming to take our jobs” has been a concern for hundreds

of years—at least since the industrialization of weaving in the early 18th

century, which raised productivity and also fears that thousands of workers

would be thrown out on the streets. Innovation and technological progress

have caused disruption, but they have created more prosperity than they

have destroyed. Yet today, we are riding a new wave of uncertainty as the

pace of innovation continues to accelerate and technology affects every part

of our lives.

We know that robots are taking over thousands of routine tasks and

will eliminate many low-skill jobs in advanced economies and developing

countries. At the same time, technology is creating opportunities, paving

the way for new and altered jobs, increasing productivity, and improving

the delivery of public services. When we consider the scope of the challenge

to prepare for the future of work, it is important to understand that many

children currently in primary school will work in jobs as adults that do not

even exist today.

This Report emphasizes the primacy of human capital in meeting

a challenge that, by its very definition, resists simple and prescriptive

solutions. Many jobs today, and many more in the near future, will require

specific skills—a combination of technological know-how, problem-solving,

and critical thinking as well as soft skills such as perseverance, collaboration,

and empathy. The days of staying in one job, or with one company, for

decades are waning. In the gig economy, workers will likely have many gigs

over the course of their careers, which means they will have to be lifelong

learners.

Summary:

1. The number of firms that offer work opportunities rises with technology.

2. The total number of jobs is rising in the East while declining in the West. Meanwhile the total number of available global jobs is rising.

3. The cost of creating a business as well as the time to create a new business is decreasing. This gives rise to the creating of new  jobs in small businesses. 

4. New technology based businesses create platforms for the formation of new job forming firms.

5. There is a rising number of countries that take advantage of technology to give rise to rising GDP per capita and in this way lead to the formation of job creating new businesses.

6. As universal income rises the lower costs in an economy lead to the creating of new jobs.

7. High income countries can generate more taxes, which makes more funding available to create new jobs.