MSU Future of Work Initiative
We are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution. AI, automation, cyber-physical systems, and surveillance technologies are leading to rapid changes in work, changes in demands and requirements, and shifting power dynamics. Many workers fear that automation will put them at risk of unemployment, and others fear their work will be stolen to train AI models.
Increases in online platform work and a rise in precarious and insecure employment, and the proliferation of algorithmic management abuses, have highlighted the urgent need for new worker protections and policy reforms. Remote work is creating new tensions between workers and employers, and inequality gaps are widening.
Simultaneously, changing demographics have raised new questions about how to support an aging and more diverse workforce, and how to build cities and organizations that support access to work for all.
These changes are causing widespread fear and uncertainty, and have immediate and long-term consequences for how we prepare young people to enter the labor market.
The MSU Future of Work Initiative is dedicated to supporting field-building, community-engaged research that directly responds to these challenges.