THE FUTURE OF WORK: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

This article analyses the labour market challenges of the ongoing technological and digital transformation in advanced economies. After analysing how technical progress has affected employment, productivity and inequality throughout the 20th century, it assesses to what extent current technological progress is having different effects to those observed in the past. The evidence shows a greater polarisation of employment and an increase in the wage premium in favour of more skilled jobs, despite the increase in the relative supply of workers with higher education. Depending on how countries manage digital transformation, multiple equilibria in terms of employment, productivity and inequality are possible. Societies are not faced with massive technological unemployment, although they must manage the necessary changes in employment, education and R&D policies, as well as in the welfare state to ensure equal opportunities for all, and an equitable and efficient distribution of the benefits of technological progress