Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Work forms the backbone of America’s social contract. It defines how people access opportunity, build security, and participate in the promise of the American dream. The future of work will determine whether this social contract strengthens or erodes.
That future is not decades away. Accelerated technological change and declining social trust are exposing gaps in current policies and markets right now. This creates an urgent opportunity to bring stakeholders together who can actively shape what comes next.
The Future of Work Initiative collaborates with colleagues across the Economic Opportunities Program and the broader Aspen Institute to pursue this vision. Our work centers on three core questions:
What support do business and labor leaders need to advance experimentation and advocacy for shared prosperity?
How can we reimagine workplace governance, protections, and benefits to build resilience against rapid change and close gaps based on place, race, education, and gender?
How can structured, transparent collaboration between labor and business help restore social trust?
We cultivate leadership across sectors to create specific conditions for the future. We envision businesses that value workers and their organizations as essential innovation partners. We want workers to have multiple pathways for exercising agency over their economic and technological futures. We seek business metrics that align with worker empowerment.
Our goal is to equip leaders to shape the future rather than merely adapt to it. We aim to point the way toward solutions that heal America’s social divisions and strengthen the social contract that work makes possible.
