## Technology and the Future of Work

_IMF Blog, May 1, 2018_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Technology and the Future of Work](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2018/05/01/blog-technology-and-the-future-of-work)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2018/05/01/blog-technology-and-the-future-of-work/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2018/05/01/blog-technology-and-the-future-of-work/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2018/05/01/blog-technology-and-the-future-of-work/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Agustin Roitman, Adrian Peralta-Alva
- Published: May 1, 2018

---

### Overview and context
- Authors: Agustin Roitman, Adrian Peralta-Alva
- Publication date: May 1, 2018
- Theme: How recent technological advances (artificial intelligence, automation and robotics) affect labor markets, wages, and inequality; policy responses to harness benefits and mitigate adverse effects.
- Historical context cited: Luddites movement at the outset of the Industrial Revolution; resurfaced during the Great Depression; again in the 1960s following a period of high productivity growth; and in the 1980s at the outset of the IT revolution.

### Key findings and analysis
- Technological change has historically helped raise incomes for most, but transitions have been difficult for many workers, firms, sectors, and whole economies.
- Many observers think the latest wave of technological innovation will be more disruptive than past waves, especially for labor.
- Indicators of concern: timid growth of real wages and the falling labor share in national income in recent decades.
- Nature of current technologies: artificial intelligence, automation and robotics might be especially dramatic because of the presumed ease with which some technologies can substitute for a broad range of human skills.
- Not all labor is replaceable; artificial intelligence might transform jobs more than it will make them obsolete.
- Technological advances boost productivity, which over time creates new jobs and allows incomes and living standards to rise.
- IMF research indicates that current slow wage dynamics is related to low productivity growth.

### Policy recommendations and country examples
- Primary policy goal: invest in peoples’ skills and build human capital to ensure broad access to opportunities from technological change.
- Facilitate labor reallocation and shorten periods during which labor remains idle:
  - Strengthen, while keeping temporary, unemployment insurance to make re-allocation of labor easier.
  - Make social benefits more portable.
  - Example: Denmark combines flexible hiring and firing rules with extensive active labor market policies and relatively generous safety nets; the system is generally successful in matching labor supply and demand, and unemployment is low by international comparison.
- Expand and adapt education and training:
  - More or more effective public spending on education, responsive to market demands.
  - Provide opportunities for life-long learning.
  - Example: Singapore offers unconditional grants to all adults for training throughout their working lives.
- Redistribution through the tax-benefit system to spread gains from technological advances:
  - Use available fiscal space for redistribution to spread gains more equitably.
  - Example: Canada cut the tax rate for middle income earners to strengthen the middle class, and more recently, made income tax benefits more generous, including by expanding eligibility.
  - IMF research indicates that addressing inequality may be beneficial for growth.
- Tradeoffs and design considerations:
  - Redistribution comes at the cost of efficiency.
  - If governments design policies in the right way, all income groups can still gain.

### Bottom line
- Technological advances present incredible economic and social opportunities, but they need to be supported by the right policies to ensure that they bring benefits to all.

### Attribution
- This blog is based on the G-20 note on Technology and The Future of Work led by Helge Berger, Romain Duval, and Wojciech Maliszewski.
- To see the authors presentation, click on video above or click here.

*IMF Blog: Technology and the Future of Work (Agustin Roitman, Adrian Peralta-Alva), May 1, 2018.*

---

## Content in this bundle

- **Technology and the Future of Work; IMF Staff Note to Group of Twenty; April 2018**
  - [Technology and the Future of Work; IMF Staff Note to Group of Twenty; April 2018 (Markdown version)](/external/np/g20/pdf/2018/041118.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Technology and the Future of Work; IMF Staff Note to Group of Twenty; April 2018 (PDF)](/external/np/g20/pdf/2018/041118.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- **sdn1402 - Executive Summary**
  - [sdn1402 - Executive Summary (Markdown version)](/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2014/sdn1402.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [sdn1402 - Executive Summary (PDF)](/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2014/sdn1402.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

---

## References

- [falling labor share in national income](https://blogs.imf.org/2017/04/12/drivers-of-declining-labor-share-of-income/)
- [https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/eng-march-22-fow1-2.jpg](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/eng-march-22-fow1-2.jpg)
- [artificial intelligence](https://blogs.imf.org/2018/01/11/the-art-in-artificial-intelligence-make-the-robots-serve-the-public-good/)
- [https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/eng-march-22-fow2-1.jpg](https://www.imf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/eng-march-22-fow2-1.jpg)
- [here](http://www.imf.org/external/spring/2018/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=5772207085001)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2018/05/01/blog-technology-and-the-future-of-work_