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Report | November 17, 2020

The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
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Report | November 1, 2019

The Work of the Future: Shaping Technology and Institutions

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

To provide a framework for MIT's Task Force’s efforts over the next year, this report examines several aspects of the interaction between work and technology.

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Research Brief | January 25, 2021

Factories of the Future: Technology, Skills, and Digital Innovation at Large Manufacturing Firms

Susan Helper Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Daniel Traficonte PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Anuraag Singh Fellow, System Design and Management
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Research Brief | January 7, 2021

Cognitive Science as a New People Science for the Future of Work

Frida Polli CEO and Founder, Pymetrics
Sara Kassir Senior Policy and Research Analyst, pymetrics
Jackson Dolphin Data Science Research Associate, pymetrics
Lewis Baker Director of Data Science, pymetrics
John Gabrieli Grover Hermann Professor, Health Sciences and Technology; Professor, Brain and Cognitive Sciences
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Research Brief | November 24, 2020

Manufacturing in America: A View from the Field

Suzanne Berger John M. Deutch Institute Professor
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Research Brief | November 24, 2020

Additive Manufacturing: Implications for Technological Change, Workforce Development, and the Product Lifecycle

Haden Quinlan Program Manager, MIT Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies
John Hart Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Director, Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP); Director, MIT Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies
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Research Brief | October 29, 2020

Good Jobs

Joshua Cohen Distinguished Senior Fellow in Law, Philosophy, and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley; Faculty Member, Apple University
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Research Brief | October 14, 2020

Skill Training for Adults

Paul Osterman Nanyang Technological University Professor of Human Resources and Management; Co-director, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
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Research Brief | October 14, 2020

Growing Apart: Efficiency and Equality in the German and Danish VET Systems

Christian Lyhne Ibsen Associate Professor, Michigan State University; Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
Kathleen Thelen Ford Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science
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Research Brief | October 14, 2020

Applying New Education Technologies to Meet Workforce Education Needs

Sanjay Sarma Fred Fort Flowers (1941) and Daniel Fort Flowers (1941) Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Vice President for Open Learning
William Boone Bonvillian Lecturer, MIT
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Research Brief | August 3, 2020

The Faltering Escalator of Urban Opportunity

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
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Working Paper | June 23, 2021

Digital Transformation in a White Collar Firm: Implications for Workers Across a Continuum of Jobs and Skills

Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Anna Waldman-Brown PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Frank Ryan
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Working Paper | February 1, 2021

A Firm-level Study of Workforce Challenges at U.S. Manufacturers

Ben Armstrong Executive Director, Industrial Performance Center
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Working Paper | December 15, 2020

The Learning System at IBM: A Case Study

Fei Qin Associate Professor, School of Management, University of Bath; Faculty Affiliate, Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at MIT
Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
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Working Paper | December 14, 2020

Understanding the Incumbent Worker’s Decision to Train: The Challenges Facing Less- Educated Workers

Axelle Clochard Graduate Research Assistant, Workforce Learning, Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (MIT J-WEL)
George Westerman Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management; Principal Research Scientist, Workforce Learning, Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (MIT J-WEL)
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Working Paper | April 15, 2020

Training the Workforce of the Future: Insights from Work-Based Higher Education Programs in Germany and the United States

Inez von Weitershausen Research Associate, Good Companies, Good Jobs

Industrialized economies share concerns about a growing mismatch between employers’ needs and workers’ skills, and how to prepare the 'workforce of the future'.

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Working Paper | April 7, 2020

Redeployment or Robocalypse? Workers and Automation in Ohio Manufacturing SMEs

Anna Waldman-Brown PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Explore how small factory owners conceptualize automation by complementing existing technologies to understand the likelihood of an impending robocalypse.

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Working Paper | April 1, 2020

Job Skills Requirements: Levels and Trends

Michael J. Handel Research Analyst, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

Job skill requirements examined to understand historical trends & current levels, and provide a frame of reference for predicting future job skill requirements.

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Project | August 3, 2020

Mobility and the Work of the Future

Jason Jackson Assistant Professor of Political Economy and Urban Planning
John Leonard Samuel C. Collins Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Paul Osterman Nanyang Technological University Professor of Human Resources and Management; Co-director, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
Allison Forbes Senior Research Associate
Anuraag Singh Fellow, System Design and Management

The MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future uses Detroit MSA to examine the relationships between technology, work, and society through the lens of mobility.

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Project | August 3, 2020

Learning, Education, Training, and Skills

Paul Osterman Nanyang Technological University Professor of Human Resources and Management; Co-director, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
Sanjay Sarma Fred Fort Flowers (1941) and Daniel Fort Flowers (1941) Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Vice President for Open Learning
Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research
Suzanne Berger John M. Deutch Institute Professor
Kathleen Thelen Ford Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science
Tavneet Suri Associate Professor of Applied Economics, Sloan School of Management
Inez von Weitershausen Research Associate, Good Companies, Good Jobs

The focus of this sub-group is to explore new pathways and institutional arrangements for delivering skills, training, and education based on new technologies.

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Publication | January 25, 2022

The Work Of The Future: Building Better Jobs In An Age Of Intelligent Machines

David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
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Publication | January 6, 2022

The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

This new book by the Co-Chairs of the Task force discusses why the United States lags behind other industrialized countries in sharing the benefits of innovation with workers and how we can remedy the problem. The United States has too many low-quality, low-wage jobs. Every country has its share, but those in the United States are especially poorly paid and often without benefits. Meanwhile, overall productivity increases steadily and new technology has transformed large parts of the economy, enhancing the skills and paychecks of higher-paid knowledge workers. What's wrong with this picture? Why have so many workers benefited so little from decades of growth? The Work of the Future shows that technology is neither the problem nor the solution. We can build better jobs if we create institutions that leverage technological innovation and also support workers though long cycles of technological transformation. (to be published 1/25/22)

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Publication | December 21, 2021

The work of the future. Building better jobs in an age of intelligent machines.

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
David Mindell Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing; Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Founder and CEO, Humatics Corporation
Elisabeth Reynolds Executive Director, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center; Principal Research Scientist; Lecturer, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
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