J-PAL North America’s newest initiative explores the work of the future
Nonprofit and industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers gather for a kick-off conference to discuss how to make work more equitable, efficient, and just.
“J-PAL North America’s Work of the Future Initiative was launched to catalyze rigorous research on urgent questions.”
— David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics and co-chair of the new initiative
“The future of work will be determined by who yields power and for what purposes. We are in a moment of great transition — we have an opportunity to imagine what a new social contract can be,” said Sarita Gupta, executive director of Jobs with Justice and co-director of Caring Across Generations as she kicked off last Friday’s launch of J-PAL North America’s Work of the Future Initiative.
Gupta opened the confercence with a powerful call to action for participants to shift the narrative around “the future of work.” The newest initiative from J-PAL North America, a research center in MIT’s Department of Economics, the Work of the Future Initiative seeks to identify effective, evidence-based strategies that increase opportunity, reduce disparities, and help all workers navigate the work of the future.
Millions of workers throughout the industrialized and developing worlds could be affected by automation, rising inequality, stagnating educational attainment, and other labor market trends in the coming decades. Many workers lack access to jobs that pay living wages, have jobs with insufficient benefits or protections, or lack the necessary skills or education to progress within their industries in the face of technological change.
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