@Work Series: Employment in the Innovation Economy
The 2016 presidential election was about many things, but one underlying driver was jobs—not so much the total number of them in the economy, but their availability for the people who need them, their quality, and their security. Indeed, even as the Great Recession fades into the rearview mirror, there is growing unease that work itself is in flux in today’s economy. People worry that if they lose their jobs they either won’t be able to find new ones that are as good or won’t be qualified for the new positions that companies need to fill. They worry that their children won’t enjoy the same standards of living that they have. And most of all, they worry that technology and trade are conspiring to kill more jobs than they create.
This last issue is of particular concern, because it fuels anxiety that could press policymakers to “save jobs” by limiting globalization and technological innovation. In fact, there is now a widespread view, not just among disgruntled populists but also among policymaking elites, that technological innovation will only speed up and thereby destroy tens of millions of jobs, impoverish workers who are left behind, and enrich only a lucky few at the top. This is an erroneous narrative, but it is nonetheless increasingly taken for granted as the truth.
ITIF’s @Work series is dedicated to demystifying and demythologizing these issues and proposing necessary, actionable policy responses. Among the topics ITIF is exploring: How has technology changed the labor market historically and how will it drive change in the future? What is the effect of technology-driven productivity on jobs and wages? Where are the new jobs likely to come from, what skills will they require, and what are the specific steps policymakers should take to reform the country’s workforce training and employment systems?
Featured:
- “Ten Facts About the State of the Economy for U.S. Workers Without College Degrees” (ITIF Report, December 2, 2019)
- “Robotics and the Future of Production and Work” (ITIF Report, October 15, 2019)
- “The Case Against Taxing Robots” (ITIF Report, April 8, 2019)
- “The Future of Work: A Guide for Transatlantic Policymakers” (ITIF and the Bertelsmann Foundation Report, December 17, 2018)
- “Which Nations Really Lead in Industrial Robot Adoption?” (ITIF Report, November 19, 2018)
- “Don’t Fear AI” (Essay for the European Investment Bank, June 15, 2018)
- “Work in the Digital Age: Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” (Essay for Policy Network, April 25, 2018)
- “How G7 Nations Can Support and Prepare for the Next Technology Wave” (ITIF Report, March 27, 2018)
- “How to Reform Worker-Training and Adjustment Policies for an Era of Technological Change” (ITIF Report, February 20, 2018)
- “Testimony Before the Little Hoover Commission on Economic and Labor Force Implications of Artificial Intelligence” (January 25, 2018)
- “False Alarmism: Technological Disruption and the U.S. Labor Market, 1850–2015” (ITIF Report, May 8, 2017)
- “Robots, Automation, and Jobs: A Primer for Policymakers” (ITIF Report, May 8, 2017)
- “‘It’s Going to Kill Us!’ and Other Myths About the Future of Artificial Intelligence” (ITIF Report, June 2016)
Related publications:
- “How MIT’s “Work of the Future” Project Gets It Wrong: Raising Taxes on Machinery and Software Would Kill Jobs and Hamper Wage Growth” (ITIF Innovation Files Commentary, October 2020).
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“How Automation Expands Opportunities for Human Labor” (ITIF Innovation Files Podcast, With Special Guest James Bessen, August 2020).
- “Relax. Robots Won't Cause Us to Run Out of Jobs.” (ITIF Op-ed, RealClearPolicy, January 2019)
- “A Brief History of Our Allegedly Doomed Technological Future” (ITIF Blog, July 2018)
- “A Tax on Robots Is a Tax on Jobs” (ITIF Op-Ed, Inside Sources, November 2017)
- “I Object, Your Honor: Pew Is Leading the Witness (and Confirming Its Own Bias) in Its Survey on Automation and Jobs” (ITIF Blog, October 2017)
- “Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and the Future of Work: Myths and Facts” (ITIF Blog, September 2017)
- “Sound the Alarm: Robots Are Disrupting (Far Too Few) Jobs” (ITIF Op-Ed, Brink, June 2017)
- “13 Things to Know About How Automation Impacts Jobs” (ITIF Op-Ed, Huffington Post, May 2017)
- “In Defense of Robots” (ITIF Op-Ed, National Review, April 2017)
- “The e-Skills Manifesto 2016: Digital Skills in the United States” (ITIF Essay for the European Commission, December 2016)
- “Confusion About Job Creation Is Obscuring Productivity Crisis” (ITIF Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor, December 2016)
- “More Learning at Lower Costs for Colleges” (ITIF Op-Ed, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 2016)
- “Why It’s Time to Disrupt Higher Education by Separating Learning From Credentialing” (ITIF Report, August 2016)
- “5 Myths About the Future of AI” (ITIF Op-Ed, The Huffington Post, July 2016)
- “The U.S. Labor Market Is Far More Stable Than People Think” (ITIF Report, June 2016)
- “How to Reform Labor Law for the Gig Economy: Adapt it, Fix it, or Suspend it” (ITIF Report, May 2016)
- “Testimony Before U.S. House Committee on Small Business on Gig Economy Workers” (ITIF Testimony, May 2016)
- “Think Like an Enterprise: Why Nations Need Comprehensive Productivity Strategies” (ITIF Report, May 2016)
- “Gig Economy: Changes We Need and Changes We Don’t Need” (ITIF Op-Ed, Law360, May 2016)
- “Technology May Disrupt Occupations, But It Won’t Kill Jobs” (ITIF Article, BLS Monthly Labor Review, February 2016)
- “How Digital Technologies Impact Employment and Consumption in the EU” (ITIF Presentation, February 2016)
- “Bring on the Robots, Please!” (ITIF Op-Ed, Huffington Post, February 2016)
- “How Certain Are You That Robots Won’t Create as Many Jobs as They Displace?” (ITIF Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor, December 2015)
- “The Future of Work: Technology, Please Move Faster” (ITIF Op-Ed, Pacific Standard, October 2015)
- “Robots Don’t Eat Sugar: Productivity Growth and Sugar Consumption Now No Longer Growing Together” (ITIF Blog, August 2015)
- “Could a Robot Save Your Job?” (ITIF Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor, May 2015)
- “Rise of the (Foreign) Machines” (ITIF Op-Ed, IndustryWeek, February 2015)
- “Embracing the Rise of the Machines” (ITIF Op-Ed, Dialogue, December 2014)
- “What if We Got Serious About Education?” (ITIF Op-Ed, E21, May 2014)
- “Why Robots Don’t Kill Jobs” (ITIF Op-Ed, ROS-I, May 2014)
- “Robots Are Not the Problem” (ITIF Op-Ed, The Globalist, February 2014)
- “Are Robots Taking Our Jobs, or Making Them?” (ITIF Report, September 2013)
- “Robots Are Not the Enemy” (ITIF Op-Ed, Ideas Laboratory, September 2013)
- “Robots Taking All Our Jobs? Ridiculous” (ITIF Op-Ed, Information Week, September 2013)
- “Stop Saying Robots Are Destroying Jobs—They Aren’t” (ITIF Op-Ed, Technology Review, September 2013)
- “Robots Are Good for Us: Really, They Are!” (ITIF Blog, April 2013)
- “I (Want) Robot” (ITIF Op-Ed, Huffington Post, January 2013)
- “Antiquated Economic Policies Are Killing Jobs More Than Robots Are” (ITIF Op-Ed, Huffington Post, December 2011)
Related events, presentations, and testimonies:
- “Testimony Before the California State Assembly on Automation Applications and Workforce Implications” (March 2018)
- “AI, Robotics, and the Future of Work” (March 2017)
- “The Impact of Digitalization and Robotization on Employment” (ITIF Presentation, November 2016)
- “Three Paths to Update U.S. Labor Law for the Gig Economy: Adapt It, Fix It, or Suspend It” (ITIF Event, June 2016)
- “Testimony Before U.S. House Committee on Small Business on Gig Economy Workers” (May 2016)
- “How Policymakers Can Help Build the U.S. Manufacturing Workforce of Tomorrow” (ITIF Event, May 2016)
- “Robots and Jobs: Not To Worry” (ITIF Presentation, April 2016)
- “How G7 Nations Can Support and Prepare for the Next Technology Wave” (ITIF Report, March 27, 2018)