scholarly journals “This time may be a little different” – exploring the Finnish view on the future of work

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 22-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ville-Veikko Pulkka
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Future Of Work ◽  
Work Sharing ◽  
Technological Unemployment ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
The Future ◽  
Nationally Representative

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore Finns’ labor market development predictions for the next ten years and shed light on preferred policy responses to the digital economy. Design/methodology/approach Nationally representative survey data employed in this paper were collected in autumn 2017. The data collection utilized a multiphase sampling, and the interviews (n=1004) were carried out on telephone to minimize selection-bias and produce demographically balanced data. Findings Over two-thirds (71 percent) of Finns do not expect technological unemployment to constitute a permanent problem in the digital economy. Nevertheless, 74 percent assume that technological unemployment will increase at least temporarily. A considerable majority (85 percent) also believe that future jobs will be more precarious. Younger generations, despite their currently weak position in the labor market, are surprisingly more optimistic in their predictions. Analysis of preferred policy responses support this paper’s main thesis that the Finnish view on the future of work is rather optimistic: education reforms and streamlining the current social security gather dedicated support, whereas more unconventional ideas such as basic income or work-sharing remain contested. Originality/value To predict possible barriers to labor mobility stemming from digital economy discourses and to anticipate possible political fluctuations, studies on the public view are needed. This research aims to provide a solid framework for further comparative explorations of the public view.

scholarly journals Weather Literacy in Times of Climate Change

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Fleischhut ◽  
Stefan M. Herzog ◽  
Ralph Hertwig
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
The Public ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Future ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Weather Risks

AbstractAs climate change unfolds, extreme weather events are on the rise worldwide. According to experts, extreme weather risks already outrank those of terrorism and migration in likelihood and impact. But how well does the public understand weather risks and forecast uncertainty and thus grasp the amplified weather risks that climate change poses for the future? In a nationally representative survey (N = 1004; Germany), we tested the public’s weather literacy and awareness of climate change using 62 factual questions. Many respondents misjudged important weather risks (e.g., they were unaware that UV radiation can be higher under patchy cloud cover than on a cloudless day) and struggled to connect weather conditions to their impacts (e.g., they overestimated the distance to a thunderstorm). Most misinterpreted a probabilistic forecast deterministically, yet they strongly underestimated the uncertainty of deterministic forecasts. Respondents with higher weather literacy obtained weather information more often and spent more time outside but were not more educated. Those better informed about climate change were only slightly more weather literate. Overall, the public does not seem well equipped to anticipate weather risks in the here and now and may thus also fail to fully grasp what climate change implies for the future. These deficits in weather literacy highlight the need for impact forecasts that translate what the weather may be into what the weather may do and for transparent communication of uncertainty to the public. Boosting weather literacy may help to improve the public’s understanding of weather and climate change risks, thereby fostering informed decisions and mitigation support.

Immaterial labour, public librarians, and third-generation public libraries

2016 ◽  
Vol 117 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 186-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhan A Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
Public Librarians ◽  
Policy Arena ◽  
Blind Spots

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to draw attention to one specific upper-level government policy document in which a discourse of perpetual innovation and customer service is promoted, and the kinds of questions such discursive interventions raise for the future of work in public libraries; and second, to demonstrate the explanatory potential of the concept of immaterial labour for questions relating to emerging labour processes in libraries. The concepts of “prosumer” and Web 2.0 are included as discursive resources of relevance to any discussion of immaterial labour. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of a public policy visioning document for public libraries in Ontario, Canada, with reflections on related literatures. Findings – The concept of immaterial labour provides an additional analytic tool suitable for questions of relevance to public librarians and library scholars. Within the government text under review which deals specifically with the future of the public library to 2020, the identity of the public librarian is alarmingly absent. Conversely, the library patron as a producer and consumer is privileged. Research limitations/implications – Failure to attend to the broader policy arena within which the public library resides creates dangerous blind spots for public library professionals, educators and researchers. Practical implications – This paper demonstrates the value of a discourse analysis for uncovering the ideological dimensions of policy documents, while simultaneously modelling the method using the kind of policy text commonly produced in governments around the world. Social implications – This paper shows how failure to attend to the broader policy arena within which the public library resides creates dangerous blind spots for the public library community. Originality/value – This paper contextualizes the immaterial and volunteer labour of the public library user as producer/consumer in the context of the future of the frontline professional and waged librarian.

HR’s new role: rethinking and enabling digital engagement

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ravin Jesuthasan
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Of Work ◽  
The Future ◽  
Digital Engagement ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to explore how a new industrial revolution with digital technology at its core is disrupting the workplace. It shares how HR has an opportunity to use data and digital technologies to reinvent how organizations engage with their workforce. It answers the question of how HR pivots from its legacy focus on compliance and being a steward of employment to the work and helping the organization strengthen its connection with its workers through improved digital engagement. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on Willis Towers Watson thought leadership and references recent findings from their research. Findings The paper explores how digital technologies have changed how workers connect with their co-workers and the organization. In addition, it examines how digital technologies are changing how work gets done. Research limitations/implications The paper is not exclusively based on research. Practical implications The paper explores how digital technologies drive engagement, HR’s role as steward of the work and enabler of digital engagement and best practices for enabling digital engagement in the modern workplace. Originality/value This paper fulfills a need to assist HR leaders in thinking through the implications of the future of work and how digital technologies will shape that future.

Online job quality quizzes: are they of value?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Job Quality ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Random Probability ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare two methods of data collection on job quality – an online quiz and a random probability survey. Design/methodology/approach Data are from a nationally representative sample of workers in Britain aged 20–65 years. Participants in the survey are randomly selected whereas those completing the quiz are recruited using uncontrolled convenience sampling promoted through trade union websites, newsletters and advertising on social media platforms. The survey and quiz contain the same questions and data from both methods are collected within 14 months of each other. Findings The results show that the sample recruited for participation in the online quiz is skewed towards those working in the public sector, people in higher education and towards younger age groups and women whereas the random probability survey is more representative of the adult working population in the UK. Significant differences in the results obtained by the two collection methods are found which suggests that social desirability bias is having an effect on participant responses. Practical implications Therefore policy makers should consider the advantages and disadvantages when selecting methods to collect data for tracking changes in job quality. Originality/value This paper has an original approach by examining the procedures in different methods of gathering data on job quality and the effects of this on the data collected.

Stepping back to move forward: Centering capital in discussions of technology and the future of work

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 129-133
Author(s):  
Benjamin Shestakofsky
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Future Of Work ◽  
Technological Unemployment ◽  
The Future ◽  
Constructivist Approaches ◽  
The Relationship

Some researchers have warned that advances in artificial intelligence will increasingly allow employers to substitute human workers with software and robotic systems, heralding an impending wave of technological unemployment. By attending to the particular contexts in which new technologies are developed and implemented, others have revealed that there is nothing inevitable about the future of work, and that there is instead the potential for a diversity of models for organizing the relationship between work and artificial intelligence. Although these social constructivist approaches allow researchers to identify sources of contingency in technological outcomes, they are less useful in explaining how aims and outcomes can converge across diverse settings. In this essay, I make the case that researchers of work and technology should endeavor to link the outcomes of artificial intelligence systems not only to their immediate environments but also to less visible—but nevertheless deeply influential—structural features of societies. I demonstrate the utility of this approach by elaborating on how finance capital structures technology choices in the workplace. I argue that investigating how the structure of ownership influences a firm’s technology choices can open our eyes to alternative models and politics of technological development, improving our understanding of how to make innovation work for everyone instead of allowing the benefits generated by technological change to be hoarded by a select few.

How automation and digital disruption are shaping the workforce of the future

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 242-245
Author(s):  
Debora Card ◽  
Craig Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Skills Gap ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Of Work ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
Digital Disruption ◽  
To Come ◽  
It Skills

Purpose With the US unemployment rate at 50-year lows and the increased use of automation expected to force organizations to replace or retrain over 25 per cent of their workforce, enterprises need new ways to re-skill employees to prepare for future needs. Design/methodology/approach The authors spoke with HR leaders of different enterprises to see how they will adapt to the future of work with the combination of automation in the workplace. After gaining insights from multiple sources, they were able to come to some conclusions on how the future of work is shaping up to be. Findings After gaining insights, they were able to find that companies that seek to combine the best of human ingenuity, empathy and change resilience with the prudent use of automation and re-skilling will be leading the workforce of the future. Originality/value This paper from ISG was created to give insights into Strategic HR Review from real customers and research conducted. This paper gives valuable insights on how enterprises are actually re-skilling employees to adapt to the rise of automation and IT skills gap.

scholarly journals Employment targeting in a frictional labor market

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chetan Ghate ◽  
Debojyoti Mazumder
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Friction Model ◽  
Search And Matching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose Governments in both developing and developed economies play an active role in labor markets in the form of providing both formal public sector jobs and employment through public workfare programs. The authors refer to this as employment targeting. The purpose of the paper is to consider different labor market effects of employment targeting in a stylized model of a developing economy. In the context of a simple search and matching friction model, the authors show that the propensity for the public sector to target more employment can increase the unemployment rate in the economy and lead to an increase in the size of the informal sector. Design/methodology/approach The model is an application of a search and matching model of labor market frictions, where agents have heterogeneous abilities. The authors introduce a public sector alongside the private sector in the economy. Wage in the private sector is determined through Nash bargaining, whereas the public sector wage is exogenously fixed. In this setup, the public sector hiring rate influences private sector job creation and hence the overall employment rate of the economy. As an extension, the authors model the informal sector coupled with the other two sectors. This resembles developing economies. Then, the authors check the overall labor market effects of employment targeting through public sector intervention. Findings In the context of a simple search and matching friction model with heterogeneous agents, the authors show that the propensity for the public sector to target more employment can increase the unemployment rate in the economy and lead to an increase in the size of the informal sector. Employment targeting can, therefore, have perverse effects on labor market outcomes. The authors also find that it is possible that the private sector wage falls as a result of an increase in the public sector hiring rate, which leads to more job creation in the private sector. Originality/value What is less understood in the literature is the impact of employment targeting on the size of the informal sector in developing economies. The authors fill this gap and show that public sector intervention can have perverse effects on overall job creation and the size of the informal sector. Moreover, a decrease in the private sector wage due to a rise in public sector hiring reverses the consensus findings in the search and matching literature which show that an increase in public sector employment disincentivizes private sector vacancy postings.

Introduction: Technological Unemployment and the Future of Work

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Peters ◽  
Petar Jandrić ◽  
Alexander J. Means
Keyword(s):  
Future Of Work ◽  
Technological Unemployment ◽  
The Future
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