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The Future of Work

The way that we will all be working in the future is changing more dramatically than ever before. The advent of robots, artificial intelligence, the sharing economy, crowd sourcing and impact sourcing are all driving these changes. This regular newsletter aims to highlight and distil some of the latest thinking on the future of work to help you better understand and face the challenges.

White Collar Automation

Many people are under the illusion that it is manual jobs that will disappear due to robots and automation. But actually it is the white collar workers who will suffer the most. This article from Pacific Standard explains it well, as does this one from Quartz. Don't say you haven't been warned.

'Below the API' Jobs

This article from Peter Reinhardt takes a slightly different perspective on the hollowing out of those middle management jobs. Essentially he splits them between 'Above the API' (the people, for example, who develop the Uber app) and 'Below the API' (the Uber drivers). Forbes Magazine have taken it further and modelled it in a graph (shown above). The scary bit is, of course, those 'Below' jobs that can subsequently be automated.

Super-Intelligence

Nick Bostrom’s book is a comprehensive assessment of the risk of ‘super intelligence’ and what the human race will need to do in order to avert global disaster. This is a heavy-going, deep and far-reaching book that describes clear paths on how to manage the biggest risk facing humanity in the near future. Read this to be informed, but read this to be prepared. [read more]

Socially Responsible Sourcing

The future of work is not all about robots - in fact there is a side that brings social benefits to working, with services outsourced to groups of disadvantaged people. Impact Sourcing, as it is known, covers a wide range of types of work, with the most common being the digitisation of documents by economically disadvantaged people from poor countries. As well as reasonably-paid jobs, many also receive education and, of course, the self-confidence that comes with earning a living. This article from Devex explains it well.

The Symphony View

It's clear that white-collar jobs are going to be hit hard by the continued introduction of software robots and AI. If the impact isn't felt immediately then it will be once the 'Below the API' jobs are further automated. But the human race has been very good at keeping one or two steps ahead of its own developments, morphing (as the UK has done) from a predominantly manufacturing-based economy to a services-based one. We predict that new roles (let's call them 'clerical engineers') will arise that will combine the domain expertise (say legal or finance) with automation and artificial intelligence skills, so that workers' capabilities can be augmented and enhanced through the application of technology. It will require massive re-training, and those not comfortable with technology may fail, but we look forward to being part of the transition to an automation-enhanced future of work. And particularly when we can involve the poorest and most disadvantaged people in that transformation. For more information click here.

Symphony Ventures Ltd.
18 King William Street, London, EC4N 7BP

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