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Research Brief | October 26, 2020

The Impact of New Technology on the Healthcare Workforce

RB09-2020

Ari Bronsoler, Joseph Doyle, John Van Reenen
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Reports

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

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.

Research Briefs

Research Brief | January 25, 2021

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

RB19-2021

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

Research Brief | January 7, 2021

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

RB18-2021

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

Research Brief | December 17, 2020

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work

RB17-2020

Thomas Malone Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor of Management
Daniela Rus Director, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL); Andrew & Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Robert Laubacher Associate Director, MIT Center for Collective Intelligence

Research Brief | November 24, 2020

Manufacturing in America: A View from the Field

RB16-2020

Suzanne Berger John M. Deutch Institute Professor

Research Brief | November 24, 2020

The State of Industrial Robotics: Emerging Technologies, Challenges, and Key Research Directions

RB15-2020

Lindsay Sanneman PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Christopher Fourie PhD Candidate, Aeronautics and Astronautics
Julie Shah Professor, MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Research Brief | November 24, 2020

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

RB14-2020

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

Research Brief | November 10, 2020

Understanding and Addressing the Modern Productivity Paradox

RB13-2020

Erik Brynjolfsson Director, Stanford Digital Economy Lab; Senior Fellow, Stanford HAI and SIEPR; Professor Stanford Department of Economics
Seth Benzell Assistant Professor, Chapman University; Digital Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab
Daniel Rock Assistant Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Digital Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab

Research Brief | November 10, 2020

Extending Unemployment Insurance Benefits to Workers in Precarious and Nonstandard Arrangements

RB12-2020

Katharine G. Abraham Professor of Economics and Survey Methodology, University of Maryland
Susan Houseman Vice President & Director of Research, W.E. Upjohn Institute
Christopher J. O’Leary Senior Economist, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Research Brief | October 29, 2020

Good Jobs

RB11-2020

Joshua Cohen Distinguished Senior Fellow in Law, Philosophy, and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley; Faculty Member, Apple University

Research Brief | October 29, 2020

Robots as Symbols and Anxiety Over Work Loss

RB10-2020

Christine Walley Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology

Working Papers

Working Paper | June 23, 2021

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

WP14-2021

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

Working Paper | February 1, 2021

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

WP12-2021

Ben Armstrong Executive Director, Industrial Performance Center

Working Paper | January 22, 2021

Strengthening Manufacturing Innovation Ecosystems Before, During, and After COVID: Lessons from Massachusetts

WP11-2021

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

Working Paper | December 15, 2020

The Learning System at IBM: A Case Study

WP10-2020

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

Working Paper | December 14, 2020

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

WP09-2020

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)

Working Paper | December 11, 2020

Avenues of Institutional Change: Technology and Urban Mobility in Southeast Michigan

WP08-2020

Russell Glynn MIT Technology & Policy Program, SM ‘21
Kevin X. Shen MIT Technology & Policy Program SM '21; MIT Transportation, SM ’21
Mario Goetz MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning, MCP '20

Working Paper | November 24, 2020

A Case Study of Integrating Technology and Work Systems at Kaiser Permanente’s Health Hubs

WP07-2020

Anubhav Arora Healthcare Design Strategist
Barbara Dyer Senior Lecturer, Work and Organization Studies, MIT Sloan
Thomas Kochan George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Professor, Work and Organization Studies; Co-Director, Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research

Working Paper | October 23, 2020

Participatory Design for Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Enterprises

WP06-2020

Anastasia K. Ostrowski PhD, Student Personal Robots Group, MIT Media Lab
Bastian Pokorni Head of Connected Manufacturing Systems, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
Simon Schumacher Researcher & Project Lead Future Work Lab, Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA

Working Paper | May 20, 2020

Robots, Automation, and Employment: Where We Are

WP05-2020

Lukas Wolters PhD Candidate, Political Science

How to think about automation and potential job loss, where predictions of rising automation & job replacement come from, and offering paths for future research.

Projects

Project | September 29, 2020

MIT Global Research Network

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
Timothy Sturgeon Senior Researcher, MIT Industrial Performance Center
Jason Jackson Assistant Professor of Political Economy and Urban Planning
Charles Fine Chrysler Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management; Professor of Operations Management and Engineering Systems

The Global Research Network is an MIT-led network of researchers, generating comparative international research to help reach data-driven conclusions on topics related to the work of the future and other relevant topics.

Project | August 3, 2020

Regions and Industries

Suzanne Berger John M. Deutch Institute Professor
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
Frank Levy Rose Professor Emeritus, MIT
Susan Helper Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Daniel Traficonte PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Anna Waldman-Brown PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

MIT WotF task force researches trends in several industries in terms of technology adoption, changing skills requirements and overall changes to work and jobs.

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.

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.

Project | August 3, 2020

Advanced Manufacturing

John Hart Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering; Director, Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP); Director, MIT Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies
Julie Shah Professor, MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

MIT Work of the Future approaches manufacturing to understand how new technology is designed and developed, and how it changes the nature of the work & skills required to succeed.

Other Publications

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

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)

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

Publication | July 16, 2020

The Nature of Work after the COVID Crisis: Too Few Low-Wage Jobs

David Autor Co-Chair, MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future; Ford Professor of Economics, MIT Department of Economics
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

The authors ask whether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the conventional wisdom about automation and inequality in the US over the past four decades.