IFOW August 2024 Newsletter

This is a shortened version of our full monthly newsletter giving a full roundup of the most important news around the Future of Work. For the full version, please subscribe on our website.

We hope that you enjoy some rest and relaxation over the summer. Parliament is in short recess, but the recent King’s Speech has shown the pace and breadth of ambition from the new administration which is plainly focused on delivery, with dedicated bills on Employment, Equality, Devolution, Infrastructure and Skills. These will be tied together with a modern, future-oriented industrial strategy aimed at creating good work and driving investment and responsible innovation for all communities. We share the optimism of the government – our research indicates that the potential of these initiatives is justified and will help mission-driven delivery across the country.?

Yesterday, in response to a question in the House of Lords from Lord Jim Knight, former Co-Chair of the APPG for the Future of Work, the government clarified immediate proposals to regulate AI: targeted provisions focused on the safety risks of frontier AI combined with an expansion of the remit of the AI Safety Institute, which will be put on a statutory footing. ?

However, with frontier AI increasingly used in the workplace and other high-stakes domains, Baroness Jones, responding to a further question from the newly appointed Lord Hannett, former member of the Future of Work Commission, rightly emphasised the importance of ongoing assessment and thoughtful engagement to protect working people and ensure benefits are shared. This is likely to start with the new Smart Data and Digital Information Bill, and be followed as a ‘good jobs’ thread through other pieces of upcoming legislation, on which the now government made significant progress before the election, including the development of digital information principles in the workplace. ??

This makes the launch of our?own architecture for regulatory innovation – the Sandbox – even more timely. The Sandbox will focus on just those matters that the new government will be keeping under review, uncovering critical developments in AI governance at work. In line with the government's plans to rely on the boosted capacity of the regulators combined with a new Regulatory Innovation Office and the Fair Work Agency, it will overseen by a cohort of UK ?We’ll be launching our first open call for participants very soon. Stay tuned. ?

This is a time of new beginnings for the country - and for IFOW. Joining IFOW from UKRI and RAI UK, we are thrilled to welcome Jo Marriott as our new Head of Partnerships. Jo will be working to ensure we build the critical partnerships needed across industry, civil society and public funders as we advance our work beyond the Pissarides Review, which - after three years of incredible work by our research teams - is coming towards conclusion. More about that below.?

Anna, Abby and the IFOW team?

Deep Dive - The Pissarides Review on technological transformation and workers' experiences??

It’s been three years since we began The Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing, and we’re nearing the finish line. Generously funded by the Nuffield Foundation, this project explores how technology is changing work in the UK and what that means for workers. We've collected and analysed novel data spanning system, firm, and individual levels. Here’s a peek into what we’ve discovered about employees’ experiences from focus groups and an online survey of over 6,000 participants.?

How workplace technologies affect our quality of life?

The Review shows that while exposure to widespread digital ICTs is associated with improved quality of life (measured using the EQ5D scale), exposure to newer technologies like wearables, AI software, and robotics, is linked to poorer quality of life.??

This finding is crucial as it indicates that the health and wellbeing effects of automation extend beyond job displacement, affecting those who interact with these technologies daily. Poorer quality of life among workers may stem from increased anxiety in adapting to- and familiarising with the new systems. These experiences could ease over time or not, although there’s nothing in the technology itself that pre-determines its outcome. Instead, we argue that the benefits or risks of new technologies for employees’ quality of life will depend on how these technologies are designed, developed, and deployed in the workplace.??

How the quality of jobs is being impacted?

Our findings also highlight that technology broadly changes various job aspects, from salary to decision-making opportunities, presenting both benefits and risks. The impact of technology on job quality might partly explain its observed effect on employees’ quality of life.?

Employees frequently interacting with newer technologies perceive an increased risk of job loss to automation, a feeling that, even if not realised, may contribute to their lower quality of life. Surprisingly, while we expected new technologies to take over the boring tasks and free up time for more creative and meaningful work, high exposure to some technologies was linked to increased routinisation and work intensification.??

As noted in an upcoming qualitative report, discussions with social and healthcare workers illustrated this intensification trend, telling us that while going paperless and using wearables streamlined processes and improved information exchange, it also added the burden digitising and inputting every movement and measurement.??

Workforce capabilities for adapting to technological change?

With technological change happening at pace, the Review also examines how well equipped our workforce is to navigate these changes and fulfill their goals. Using the ICECAP scale based on Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, we measured workforce capabilities, finding significant variability across age, ethnicity, occupational and industry groups.?

Higher capabilities scores are consistently reported by those?with access to independent representative structures such as trades unions and employee forums, who received formal training from their employer, and those who perceive their organisation as having an employee-centred HR philosophy. This underscores the importance of organisational support in helping employees navigate technological change.?

Employees perceive frictions to move around the labour market??

Jobs, skills, and workers’ needs and career motivations are evolving. We believe capabilities are both a driver and a result of overcoming obstacles workers face when moving within the labour market, whether transitioning from unemployment to employment, changing employers, or changing roles within the same employer.??

The Mortensen-Pissarides framework suggests that economic shocks, such as the current technological revolution, can exacerbate obstacles like skills mismatches, spatial barriers to relocation, and information asymmetries. These ‘frictions’ can be costly for individuals, firms and societies, making it crucial to minimise them. Our latest report (forthcoming) offers the first operationalisation of frictions as perceived by employees and analyses their unequal distribution across the workforce.??

Together, these reports provide a comprehensive understanding of how technological change is experienced by workers, how equipped they feel to navigate a changing and dynamic labour market, and the obstacles they perceive to freely move within and between work which, with or without machines, remains central to our lives.?

We have our final Review outputs publishing over the next weeks, and a major conference planned for January where we will be delivering a final report offering implications for policy and practice to deliver a fair future of work through this extraordinary technological transformation.

Interesting reads/listens

Overwhelming Public Support for Labour’s Workers' Rights Plans?

A recent TUC poll, conducted by Opinium, reveals strong public backing for Labour's New Deal for Working People, with support transcending party lines, including among Conservative and Reform voters.??

The poll also highlighted a significant concern over living standards, with over half of respondents indicating that their financial situation is worsening. TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak emphasised that these policies are part of Labour's broader strategy to improve job quality and boost the economy, aiming to reset the UK's economic model to benefit working people.??

AI in the Public Sector: A Heat of the Moment

The Ada Lovelace Institute’s recent blog explores the growing role of AI in the public sector, highlighting the tension between hype and reality. It argues that AI promises significant benefits in areas like public services and governance, but it also risks overestimating its immediate impact.?

Events

HR Solutions: Employment Law Changes Affecting Business Transfers (Thursday, 8 August 2024, 10 AM – 11 AM, online) ?

This webinar?hosted by TechUK focuses on recent changes in employment law (TUPE) related to business transfers.?

This event is aimed at helping businesses understand and adapt to evolving employment laws, ensuring they can effectively manage business transfers while maintaining legal compliance.?

Register here.?

The Good, The Bad, The Public: Effective Involvement in Data-Centric Research (Tuesday, 13 August 2024, 1:30 PM, online)???

Bringing the public voice into frontline research is a key priority for the NIHR, as it often enhances both the quality and outcomes of research projects. Public and patient involvement in research (PPIE) is highly valued, with participants eager to shape research directions. In the field of AI, where issues of data integrity, trust, and transparency are prominent, establishing effective dialogue between researchers and the public is crucial. ?

Hosted by the Alan Turing Institute, this event will discuss a selection of case studies from the front lines: what works, what doesn’t - and what you can do about it. ?

Register here.?

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