The future of work: continuity and change in the 21st century
My research interrogates the changing nature of work and employment, often with a focus on the impact in relation to particular demographic groups.
In May 2017, I gave several presentations for Humanities 21, downloads for 2 of these are available in my post for May. And another for an employment service provider group working with disadvantaged clients in November 2017. PPT download here with commentary in my post for November.
In July 2015, I presented a paper at the International Labour Organisation conference Developing and Implementing Policies for a Better Future at Work.
Please see my posts for June and July 2015. My full paper and PPT can be downloaded here:
Click to access vsheen_ilo-rdw_paper_-july_2015.pdf
Click to access vsheen-rdw-july-2015-ppt1.pdf
In a presentation at the U3A in August 2013 on the Future of Work, I considered what is changing and what remains the same in relation to work? And what happened to the old utopian ideas about work – with the promise of labour-saving technologies, more leisure time and more control and self determination in relation to work?
To answer these questions, we need to consider the meaning of work across several dimensions – work at its most basic level, but also as employment, jobs, labour and occupation. In considering these dimensions, I conclude that while work is being modified by technologies the most significant changes are occurring in relation to employment as a relationship between employer and employee, and the ways that jobs are being reconstituted to be much more contingent, fragmented, and short term.
My presentation Unions of the Future for the Australian Services Union National Conference November 2014 considers the implications of the future of work for how unions need to respond.
Post script – 20 February 2014 – Article published in the Conversation
Online labour marketplaces: job insecurity gone viral?
The article explores the implications of online employment agencies in terms of the future of work.
The Conversation article was republished in Business Review Weekly the Australian Finacial Review, and the SBS News Website
Post script 27 February 2014 – the Australian Financial Review reports on the success of the online agency Freelancer in its debut on the ASX and gives some insights into the nature of the business: We could be as big as Facebook: Freelancer CEO
Post script 13 March 2014 – Response in the Business Review Weekly from co-founder and CEO of Airtasker to my article.
Online ‘job insecurity’ fears overly pessimistic: Airtasker co-founder Tim Fung
View here the series of articles including my own, in the Conversation’s Future of Work series.
For my article in the series: Labour in vain: casualisation presents a precarious future for workers
Dr. Veronica Sheen 