Skills and Future of Work
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As nations engage in a race for global advantage in innovation, ITIF champions a new policy paradigm that ensures businesses and national economies can compete successfully by spurring public and private investment in foundational areas such as research, skills, and 21st century infrastructure. Our research on skills and the future of work covers skill-building through science, technology, engineering, and math education; use of technology in primary and secondary school; higher education reform; innovations such as massive open online courses; and incumbent worker-training policies.
More Publications and Events
June 10, 2024|Podcasts
Podcast: Remaining Realistic and Optimistic About the Promise of the Future, With Jim Pethokoukis
The future will be much improved if society fights the fear of technology.
May 28, 2024|Presentations
Who’s Afraid of Big Tech? Unpacking the Discourse on Technology and Its Harms
Rob Atkinson speaks at a panel discussion to delve into his latest book, Technology Fears and Scapegoats.
May 7, 2024|Books & Edited Volumes
Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths about Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy
Technologies and tech companies are accused of creating a myriad of societal problems. Technology Fears and Scapegoats exposes them as mostly myths, falsehoods, and exaggerations. It issues a clarion call to restore the West’s faith in technological progress.
April 22, 2024|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Internet Access Reduced Women’s Job Losses in Latin America During COVID-19
A recent working paper found that women in Latin America and the Caribbean with internet access had a 5 percent lower rate of job pre-pandemic job loss and about a 4 percent increase in their labor force participation rate than those without internet.
March 4, 2024|Blogs
Fact of the Week: A 1 Percent Increase in STEM Technicians Raises Manufacturing Firms’ Productivity by 4 Percent
A recent working paper found that manufacturing firms, a 1 percent increase in techies’ share of wages was associated with a 4 percent increase in TFP in the next year.
January 29, 2024|Podcasts
Podcast: Using Artificial Intelligence to Augment Workflow, With Nitin Mittal
Used to its full potential, artificial intelligence (AI) can assist employees, improve interactions with customers, and increase efficiency.
January 16, 2024|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Robot Adoption Among Brazilian Firms Did Not Result in Significant Job Losses
A working paper analyzed the effect that robot and tool adoption have on Brazilian workers and found that there were no statistically significant effects on employment or earnings for workers with at least a high school diploma.
December 17, 2023|Blogs
Fact of the Week: Adoption of “Industry 4.0” Technologies Increased Italian Firms’ Productivity by 3.7 Percentage Points
A November 2023 working paper found that firms that adopted Industry 4.0 technologies experienced, on average, a 3.7 percentage point increase in labor productivity.
November 14, 2023|Op-Eds & Contributed Articles
Technology Will Eliminate Some Jobs, But That’s Not the End of the Story
As Robert D. Atkinson writes in National Review, the reality is that all AI applications that increase worker productivity are in the national interest, regardless of whether they complement or replace the worker.
November 2, 2023|Blogs
Top 10 Things I Disagreed With in the US Senate AI Insight Forum on the Workforce
Contrary to pessimists’ worst fears, the job dislocation impacts from AI are likely to be very manageable—and AI-based automation will be critical to boosting workers’ wages.