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Ground-breaking review led by Nobel Laureate, Sir Christopher Pissarides to examine the impacts of technological disruption on people and communities across the UK
23rd June 2021
Automation has accelerated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to transform work and working lives at an unprecedented pace. This ambitious project led by the Institute for the Future of Work (the Institute) seeks to understand the different impacts of technological disruption on people and communities across the country and outline a plan for how to navigate these challenges as we emerge from the pandemic and rebuild in its wake.
Grounded in Sir Christopher Pissarides Nobel Prize-Winning research on market frictions the Pissarides Review will pilot a new, cross-disciplinary approach to evaluating disruption and modelling competing futures for work. Our overarching purpose is to help build a future of better work for the UK, with a focus on building capabilities, strengthening resilience, and reducing inequalities through better work.
The Pissarides Review will include:
The Review is a 3-year collaboration between the Institute for the Future of Work, Imperial College London and Warwick Business School, funded by an £1.8 million grant from the Nuffield Foundation. Throughout the project, we will work with the Institute’s growing network of policy makers and stakeholders in the future of work, to bring our research to life.
The Institute expects between 15–30% of current jobs will be lost within the next decade. There is a growing consensus that current economic trends are in many ways driven by technological innovation, and that in addition to sectoral differences, some communities are disproportionately at risk from these changes.
Our research will look at technological disruption in the workplace and identify ways to promote the health, well-being and capabilities of people at work by promoting the principles of good work as defined in the Institute’s Good Work Charter.
The Inquiry will be led by the Institute for the Future of Work and headed by Co-Chair Sir Christopher Pissarides.
The Future of Work and Wellbeing: The Pissarides Review will be formally launched in March 2022.
Anna Thomas, Director of the Institute for the Future of Work, said:
“Covid-19 has hit communities across the UK at a time when technological transformation was already rapidly accelerating at a rate we haven’t seen since the industrial revolution. This transformation has the potential to impact large swathes of workers across a range of sectors, causing large-scale disruption throughout the economy.
“Our research will shine a light on how this transformation has and will impact different communities and groups of workers from different backgrounds. The Future of Work and Wellbeing: The Pissarides Review will be focused on building a strong evidence base and creating a roadmap for the UK to promote worker-focused, human-centred automation.”
Sir Christopher Pissarides, Nobel Laurate and Co-Chair of the Institute for theFuture of Work, said:
“Our ground-breaking inquiry will examine the impacts of automation on the labour market, who is benefiting and who is being hit hardest by the disruption caused. We will examine which jobs will be displaced, where and how the displaced workers could be reemployed, how inequalities will develop and which communities will need policy support to adapt to these changes.”
Tim Gardam, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Foundation said:
“We established the Nuffield Foundation’s Strategic Fund to encourage ambitious, multi-disciplinary projects that would re-frame the social policy agenda in the coming decades, with a focus on increasing well-being and opportunity for the most disadvantaged.
“The Future of Work and Wellbeing: The Pissarides Review will do this through an innovative approach that will identify how best to secure and sustain people’s work and well-being in the future. Technological advances are potentially hugely beneficial for people and society, but only if we identify ways to ensure such benefits are equitably distributed and to mitigate negative consequences.”
Notes to Editors
1. For more information about the Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing contact Hannah Kitcher, Communications Lead for the Institute for the Future of Work on hannah@ifow.org or 07969209652.
2. The Review is a collaboration between the Institute for the Future of Work, Imperial College London and Warwick Business School and is funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
3. The Institute for the Future of Work is an independent research and development institute that explores how new technologies are transforming work and working lives. We research and develop practical solutions to promote people’s future wellbeing and prosperity. Co-founded by Nobel prize winning economist Sir Christopher Pissarides, technologist Naomi Climer CBE and employment barrister Anna Thomas, we work at the intersection of government, industry and civil society to shape a fairer future through better work.
4. The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds research that informs social policy, primarily in Education, Welfare, and Justice. It also funds student programmes that provide opportunities for young people to develop skills in quantitative and scientific methods. The Nuffield Foundation is the founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the AdaLovelace Institute and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. The Foundation has funded this project, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit nuffieldfoundation.org
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