York Festival of Ideas
The Future of Work
A recent Gallup Poll of ‘global desires’ revealed that everyone in the world shares one basic desire: a good job with steady hours. This desire often comes before family, democracy or even religious freedom. But how achievable is this now or in the future? Already, the average amount of time that people spend in jobs is going down, the number of career transitions is going up, unemployment is on the rise globally and the waves of disruption hitting every industry are accelerating.
Friday 16 June
10.15am - 11.30am
The World of Work Today
Following a keynote speech from Harriet Harman MP, members of our expert panel, including Orazio Attanasio of University College London (UCL) and Jonathan Bradshaw of the University of York, discuss the changing world of work from job insecurity to zero hours contracts and under-employment. How safe do we feel in our work? How has immigration actually affected the UK labour market?
Speakers include:
- Jonathan Bradshaw, University of York
- Harriet Harman MP (October 1982 to May 2017)
- Ashwin Kumar, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Chair)
- Ian Preston, UCL
- Katie Schmuecker, JRF
2.30pm - 4pm
Jobs, Technology and Skills
How will robotics and artificial intelligence shape our jobs in the future? Join Xavier Mesnard, Partner with A.T. Kearney France and Louisa Michelson, Counsel, Labour and Employment Law, IBM to hear their analysis of how robotics and artificial intelligence will shape our future jobs.
Speakers include:
- Tim Adlam, Designability
- John McDermid, University of York (Chair)
- Xavier Mesnard, A.T. Kearney
- Louisa Michelson, IBM
- Michael Rendell, PwC
12 noon - 1.30pm
Extracting Meaning and Value from Work
Guy Standing's The Precariat has achieved cult status as the first account of this emerging class of people, who face lives of insecurity, moving in and out of jobs that give little meaning to their lives. Following a keynote speech from Guy, Jo Swaffield and Daiga Kamerade will discuss the implications of this emerging class of people. What meaning should we be able to derive from our work and what changes are necessary to obtain real value from our work? The session is chaired by Martin Vander Weyer, Business Editor of The Spectator.
Speakers include:
- Daiga Kamerade, University of Salford
- Guy Standing, Basic Income Earth Network
- Jo Swaffield, University of York
- Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator (Chair)
4.30pm - 6pm
Re-imagining Work: Mapping the future
A recent report by Reform suggested that 90 per cent of all civil service jobs could be replaced by artificial intelligence in the future. So what kind of work will we be doing in the future and what does that mean in terms of the kinds of skills and education we need to meet those challenges? Should we be scared or optimistic about the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence on labour markets? What does this mean for different parts of the labour market and should government and the economy respond?
Speakers include:
- Richard Brabner, UPP Foundation
- Mark Cahill, Manpower UK
- Susan Himmelweit, Open University
- Alexander Hitchcock, Reform
- Colin Stanbridge, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Tony Prescott, Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield