Future of Work

Companies rethink the need to even have offices, or how to redesign places of work. The traditional work shift - 9-5, 5 days a week – is losing relevance. Many companies are adopting the remote work models, spawned by the pandemic, as their new normal. Does the nation need new policies of Guaranteed Basic Income, (UBI) or a drastic rethinking of the social safety nets?

Frontline and service workers have borne the health consequences of the pandemic, increasing racial and economic disparities. Certain robotic and AI applications are accelerating as the value of human workers is further questioned. Determining the likely areas of job growth and training needs is difficult. Post-secondary education has become more virtual and its costs, more controversial.

15 years ago, Bryant Hospital in Lincoln, NE was one of several hospitals pioneering the use of ‘surgical cobots’. Now they are an accepted part of surgical practices across America. In this video, for example, Dr. Michael Jobst brings new levels of precision, control, and safety to his surgical procedures, by using multi-arm robotic surgery. But does this current generation of robots cost jobs?

When local growers in Yuma, AZ reached out to University of AZ Engineering and Business programs for help modernizing the date industry, inventors and entrepreneurs Madeline Melichar and Evan Westman took up the challenge. Forming a tech start up, they have designed a drone to dispense pollen to the hard-to-reach Medjool date trees. They hope to attract new work and higher paying jobs to the area.

When COVID forced his company to completely shut down, Robert LeBlanc initially felt defeated. But looking at Toyota’s production systems helped him re-invent his business. See how he applied a ‘one-piece flow’ production model to his restaurant and hotel, and how he sees this method as the key to the future success of his industry.

There are 2.5 million domestic workers in America, and by 2030 that number is expected to double. Many are immigrants, and people of color, often underpaid, with little or no job security. But they do the work that makes all other work possible, and it’s work that’s not going anywhere. For many who lose their employment to automation and outsourcing, domestic work may be a viable option.

Today more than 55 million Americans work in the gig economy, which operates through digital platforms like Uber, Lyft and Task Rabbit. Fueled by technological advancements, the gig economy allows workers like Chloe Grishaw to set her own schedule, and know what she’s agreeing to, without any long-term obligations. The freedom and flexibility, however, comes with financial insecurity.

In addition to illuminating the ongoing drivers for disruptions to the world of work – AI, robotics, platform technology, globalization, labor practices -- the pandemic has been a driver of change. Unemployment flipped from lowest in 50 years to highest in a century.

Juan Lopez moved from the military to the oil and gas industry before becoming a wind turbine technician. His path, though not an easy one, is an example of an exciting way to navigate successfully across industries. As this clip shows, working with wind turbines, can be dangerous, but it’s an industry with a future, and Juan knows, if he can keep from getting hurt, he should always have a job.

Alexsandrah Gondora is a human model, but she’s also Shudu, the first world-wide digital model. Camerson-James Wilson works with real models, but recreates the photos he takes in 3D to create digital models, models who don’t get tired, or sick, and can be in many places at one time. But will modelling as an industry be completely replaced by Artificial Intelligence and technology at large?

Since early 2020, the world has been rocked by triple crises: the global pandemic, the ensuing economic disruptions, and the acknowledgement of long-existing racial inequities. With U.S. unemployment sky-high, a majority of Americans are concerned about the future. The usual ladders to security - education, hard work, life-long employment - appear to have broken down.

A.I. Technologist and Entrepreneur, Kai-Fu Lee believes routine jobs will be displaced faster than new jobs will be created in the next 10-15 years. Though we’ll see a net loss of jobs, there will be many jobs invented and created. But how do workers future-proof themselves for jobs that don’t yet exist? What skills will be needed, and is college really worth it?