New publication: The future of work

A few years ago, the province of South Holland introduced the programme ToekomstAgenda (Future Agenda). The goal of this programme is to provide the context of policy through a policy-neutral, substantive deepening of a theme. One of these themes is the future of work.

SEOR has mapped out the expected developments in the area of work as a result of technological developments for the province. What are possible changes in the nature and scope of labour and employment and how does this translate into requirements for the size and level of education of the labour force?

It is clear that technological development is bringing about a change in the labour market. However, this does not seem to lead to less employment in the medium term (until 2030). The new technologies appear to be mainly complementary to current labour in this period. However, the expectation is that the content of many jobs will change dramatically. The focus will be more on working with and alongside technology and on the social component in jobs.

The influences of technology differ greatly by sector and level of education. If much routine work is done, technology seems to replace labour. This mainly concerns workers with a low secondary education level.