Dr. Hye Jin Rho awarded NSF's Future of Work Grant to help prepare hospitality workers and workplaces for the future of automation

Professor Hye Jin Rho has been awarded the National Science Foundation grant for a collaborative research, “Upskilling Workers and Re-designing Workplaces for the Future of Automation in the Hospitality Industry”. Under the NSF’s Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier program, this research has received $2.5 million in funding between Michigan State University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and New Mexico State University.

The project will examine the proliferation of automation in the hospitality industry and its growing impact on large numbers of hospitality workers who are majority women and underrepresented. The group of scholars from diverse backgrounds and expertise, with the partnership with UNITE HERE, will develop a novel co-design method to bring together workers, management and technology developers in creating a shared voice in shaping the future of work in their fields. This research will ensure that worker voice, satisfaction, safety, and agency go hand in hand with an understanding of future technology and future work.