Back to the Future of Work: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future
When contemporary conversations on the “future of work” began a decade ago, most of the technologies that would define that term still resided comfortably in the realm of science fiction, or were only just emerging into public view — self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, and personal deliveries at the push of a button.
Today — after a pandemic that prompted many to reexamine their relationship with their jobs, exposed the precarity of work for many more, and accelerated the adoption of technology — all these phenomena have come into their own, to varying degrees. Regulators, employers, and commentators alike struggle to keep pace with what this means for our labor force and for the role work will play in our society in the decades to come.
All year we’ve been marking the tenth anniversary of Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative with an editorial series examining the lessons learned from a decade of “future of work” discourse, with contributions from leaders in academia, business, labor, policy, and philanthropy. This discussion with Future of Work Fellows and contributors to explore how, together, we can shape a future of work that works for all Americans.
This conversation includes opening remarks from Future of Work Initiative Director Liba Wenig Rubenstein, followed by a panel discussion with Mary L. Gray (Senior Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research), Michelle Miller (Director of Innovation, Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Harvard Law School), Arun Sundararajan (Harold Price Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director, Fubon Center for Technology Business and Innovation, NYU Stern School of Business), and moderator Anmol Chaddha (Principal, Omidyar Network, and Fellow, Future of Work Initiative).
For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.
This event is part of our Opportunity in America series. For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go.
Highlights
For highlights from this discussion, subscribe to our YouTube channel or subscribe to our podcast to listen on the go. Check out our playlist or click below to watch.
Highlight clips from speakers – coming soon
About This Series
This post is part of a series called “Back to the ‘Future of Work’: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future,” curated by the Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative. For this series, we gather insights from labor, business, academia, philanthropy, and think tanks to take stock of the past decade and attempt to divine what the next one has in store. As the future is yet unwritten, let’s figure out what it takes to build a better future of work.
About the Future of Work Initiative
The Aspen Institute’s Future of Work Initiative, part of the Economic Opportunities Program, empowers and equips leaders to innovate workplace structures, policies, and practices that renew rather than erode America’s social contract.
About the Economic Opportunities Program
The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.
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