The future of work

Gianluca Salvatori The future of work. The belief that long-term automation creates as many jobs as it destroys is currently wavering. For some years now, we have witnessed a phenomenon that gives cause for concern when it comes to employment. New technologies are now replacing features that until recently were not considered automatable. The future of work has never been so difficult to predict. It may seem like an unsubstantiated allegation: after all, on other occasions in the past, we have gone through high-impact changes that have substantially altered the forms and the ways we work. It happened with the transition from agriculture to modern industry, and again during every industrial revolution. However, every time the emergence of new jobs - in sectors other than those where technological innovation has developed, because the "income effect" overtook that of substitution - has ended up compensating, in the medium to long term, for the loss of traditional activities - such as blacksmith or horse groomer - caused by the introduction of new technologies. More often than not, the quality of the working conditions actually improved; until now, in fact, the new jobs that have replaced the ones destroyed have been generally better and more well-paid than those replaced by innovation. Read More