Future of Work Archives - Centre for Future Work https://centreforfuturework.ca/tag/futureofwork/ A non-partisan centre of excellence, developing timely and practical policy proposals to help make the world of work better for working people and their families. Sun, 18 Jan 2026 23:59:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 https://centreforfuturework.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CFWicon-75x75.png Future of Work Archives - Centre for Future Work https://centreforfuturework.ca/tag/futureofwork/ 32 32 Your Job is at Risk from Artificial Intelligence… but not for the Reasons You Think https://centreforfuturework.ca/2025/12/17/your-job-is-at-risk-from-artificial-intelligence-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-think/ Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:02:39 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=3163 It’s three years since the public launch of ChatGPT, and the rapid roll-out of artificial intelligence apps since then has amplified fears that AI will lead to massive job loss as human workers are replaced by algorithms. For many concrete reasons, this is unlikely. However, the exaggerated financial hype associated with AI investments poses a more imminent threat to employment. In this commentary, originally published in the Toronto Star, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford explains how the stock market’s mania for AI assets is inflating a financial bubble that will inevitably pop, with major consequences for the real economy.

The post Your Job is at Risk from Artificial Intelligence… but not for the Reasons You Think appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

It’s three years since the public launch of ChatGPT, and the rapid roll-out of artificial intelligence apps since then has amplified fears that AI will lead to massive job loss as human workers are replaced by algorithms. For many concrete reasons, this is unlikely. However, the exaggerated financial hype associated with AI investments poses a more imminent threat to employment. In this commentary, originally published in the Toronto Star, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford explains how the stock market’s mania for AI assets is inflating a financial bubble that will inevitably pop, with major consequences for the real economy.

You Won’t be Replaced by an Algorithm, but you Could be Disemployed by a Financial Collapse

By Jim Stanford

Many people worry that artificial intelligence (AI) threatens their future job security. But this concern is largely misplaced. Most AI applications have dubious productive merit. Few algorithms can do tasks actually performed by humans. Many AI users are students cheating on their homework, or bored commuters creating silly videos.

And like previous technologies, AI facilitates new functions and capacities that will likely offset whatever jobs are eliminated by the technology. Without doubt, right now AI is currently creating more jobs than it is destroying.

However, there’s another way AI may indeed threaten your job – and it’s got nothing to do with an algorithm replacing you. Since ChatGPT launched three years ago, an unprecedented financial bubble has inflated in AI-related investments, concentrated in the U.S.

Fueled by speculative hype, the share prices of AI-adjacent companies have soared to valuations unprecedented in the history of the stock market. The top seven alone (the so-called Magnificent Seven) are worth over $20 trillion (U.S.), accounting for 35 percent of the combined value of the S&P 500.

This bubble magically creates trillions in paper wealth, in turn fostering all kinds of risky gambits. Financial investors take on debt to buy AI-related assets, pushing share prices even higher. Tech companies spend enormous sums on data centres, computers to put in them, software to operate the computers, and carbon-belching power plants to run it all. Incestuous transactions and financial engineering within and between the big AI firms artificially inflate revenues even further, pouring gasoline on an already-blazing market.

Meanwhile, consumer spending by rich Americans (who think they are even richer thanks to soaring portfolios) is the biggest source of new demand in the U.S. economy. Inflated by sky-high AI stocks, stock market equity now accounts for one-third of all U.S. household assets (most held by the richest tenth of the population).

This mania is reminiscent of the dot-com bubble that popped in 2001 – causing a short recession in the U.S., and laying waste to much of Canada’s then-promising tech sector (anyone remember Nortel Networks??). As usual, the stock market’s hyperactive search for the next big thing creates a bandwagon effect that vastly outstrips any realistic cost-benefit analysis.

No major AI services are currently profitable, and tech executives now publicly doubt the trillions they are investing will ever generate an acceptable return. Indeed, every query submitted to ChatGPT or other AI apps generates a further loss, since the costs (including soaring U.S. electricity prices) exceed the revenue.

These ethereal valuations also badly distort Canada-U.S. economic comparisons, even more than usual. Conservative commentators habitually post memes showing bemoaning that Canadian capital investment lags the U.S. But the AI frenzy now accounts for most of that apparent U.S. advantage. Genuine manufacturing investment and employment in the U.S. is falling, not growing. Canadians will soon be grateful we didn’t buy into this speculative mania as much as our southern neighbours.

If I could predict exactly when the AI bubble will burst, I’d short the stock market and make billions (which I would promptly donate to the activists fighting to protect privacy against creeping AI surveillance). I can’t do that. But I am completely certain that the financial exuberance on full display in America right now has no real economic foundation, and will eventually come crashing down.

When the AI bubble pops, it will cause a recession and major job losses in the U.S. Overheated capital spending on data centres and power plants, and excessive luxury consumption by those who’ve been made rich (on paper) by the speculative flight of the market, will quickly shift into reverse. That downturn will spill over into Canada – although not as fully as in past downturns, since our exposure to the U.S. market has been moderated (a silver lining to Donald Trump’s trade war).

This is the real reason workers should fear AI – or, more precisely, fear the misdemeanours of the tech bro’s and financial wizards whose profit-seeking is exposing us to massive, needless risks. The AI algorithms cannot perform most of the useful work we do every day. But in a world dominated by greed and speculation, they could nevertheless put millions of us on the soup line.

The post Your Job is at Risk from Artificial Intelligence… but not for the Reasons You Think appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Webinar on Employment Transitions for Fossil Fuel Workers https://centreforfuturework.ca/2025/12/16/webinar-on-employment-transitions-for-fossil-fuel-workers/ Wed, 17 Dec 2025 03:19:04 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=3155 The Centre for Future Work recently released a major report, as part of its PowerShare research project, on the role of collective voice and representation in facilitating more effective and fair employment transitions as most production and use of fossil fuels is phased out in line with reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

The post Webinar on Employment Transitions for Fossil Fuel Workers appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

The Centre for Future Work recently released a major report, as part of its PowerShare research project, on the role of collective voice and representation in facilitating more effective and fair employment transitions as most production and use of fossil fuels is phased out in line with reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The full report is available here.

In a one-hour webinar, the report’s authors (Jim Stanford and Kathy Bennett) discussed the methodology, key findings, and policy implications of the research. The webinar was hosted by John Woodside, Ottawa Bureau Chief for Canada’s National Observer.

The webinar also featured comments from Jessica McCormick, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour, and Megan Gordon, Manager of Equitable Transition for the Pembina Institute.

The webinar is available on YouTube.

The post Webinar on Employment Transitions for Fossil Fuel Workers appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Transition Away from Fossil Fuel Jobs is Already Occurring: Here’s How to Manage it Better https://centreforfuturework.ca/2025/12/07/transition-away-from-fossil-fuel-jobs-is-already-occurring-heres-how-to-manage-it-better/ Mon, 08 Dec 2025 06:25:57 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=3133 A report from the Centre for Future Work presents new research on the ongoing decline of fossil fuel employment in Canada, and strategies for managing that decline more effectively and fairly. The report, Worker Voice and Effective Transitions for Fossil Fuel Workers in Canada (by Jim Stanford and Kathy Bennett), also asks fossil fuel workers what sorts of supports they want as this decline continues, and lays out best practices to avoid unemployment during the transition.

The post Transition Away from Fossil Fuel Jobs is Already Occurring: Here’s How to Manage it Better appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

A report from the Centre for Future Work presents new research on the ongoing decline of fossil fuel employment in Canada, and strategies for managing that decline more effectively and fairly. The report, Worker Voice and Effective Transitions for Fossil Fuel Workers in Canada (by Jim Stanford and Kathy Bennett), also asks fossil fuel workers what sorts of supports they want as this decline continues, and lays out best practices to avoid unemployment during the transition.

Key findings of the report include:

    • There were 177,000 jobs in direct fossil fuel work in Canada in 2024 (including oil and gas, coal, petroleum refining, pipelines, natural gas distribution, and the share of electricity generation tied to fossil fuel combustion). That is just under 1% of total payroll employment.
    • Fossil fuel employment declined by 38,000 jobs over the previous ten years (mostly in upstream oil and gas) – despite a 35% increase in Canadian oil production, and a 24% increase in natural gas production.
    • This long-term decline is set to continue for many reasons, not solely or mostly climate policy. New technologies, economic forces, resource depletion, and corporate outsourcing strategies are all eliminating fossil fuel jobs.
    • Fossil fuel workers are older than average; most will reach normal retirement age before 2050 (when Canada has committed to achieving a net-zero economy).
    • Most fossil fuel workers surveyed in the report acknowledge that employment in their industry will decline in coming decades. However, they are reasonably optimistic that pro-active planning and supports can manage that decline without mass displacement.
    • The strongest findings from surveys and interviews with fossil fuel workers include: very strong interest in early retirement programs as the most appealing transition program; and greater confidence in trade unions (rather than companies or governments) to negotiate and enforce binding commitments around employment transitions.

The paper concludes with 8 recommendations for strengthening employment transition programs in the future, tied to long-run emissions reduction policies, resource depletion, and technological change.

In short, an employment transition away from fossil fuel jobs is occurring, and occurring quickly. Regardless of the twists and turns of climate policy debates, that decline will continue, driven by deeper economic and technological factors. The choice for Canadians is not whether a shift away from fossil fuel work will occur, but how we will manage it.

The new report comes as Canadian politicians start another major debate over new oil and gas pipelines. Even building a new pipeline won’t reverse the long-run decline in fossil fuel jobs. To be sure, building a pipeline creates medium-term construction work – but no more than equivalent amounts spent on other energy investments (like wind and solar energy, transmission lines, energy retrofits of buildings, or public transit). And the historic decline in direct fossil fuel employment will continue anyway.

Please see the full report here: https://centreforfuturework.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Transitions-for-Fossil-Fuel-Workers.pdf

The report’s findings and implications will be discussed further in a one-hour webinar, on Wednesday December 10 at 1:00 pm Eastern (10:00 am Pacific). In addition to the report co-authors, speakers at the webinar will include:

    • John Woodside, Ottawa Bureau Chief for Canada’s National Observer (moderator).
    • Jessica McCormick, President of the Newfoundland & Labrador Federation of Labour.
    • Megan Gordon, Manager of Equitable Transition for the Pembina Institute.

Registration for the webinar is free but essential, here.

The post Transition Away from Fossil Fuel Jobs is Already Occurring: Here’s How to Manage it Better appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> The Future of Working from Home https://centreforfuturework.ca/2023/05/04/the-future-of-working-from-home/ Thu, 04 May 2023 17:37:16 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=2073 The historic expansion of remote and home work during the first stages of the COVID pandemic was both extraordinary and vitally important in helping families, and the economy, through the challenges of that crisis.
Some two-thirds of employed Canadians worked totally or mostly from home at some point during the pandemic. Remote work was essential to preserving incomes, maintaining economic activity, and providing essential services at a time when face-to-face encounters were potentially deadly.

The post The Future of Working from Home appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

The historic expansion of remote and home work during the first stages of the COVID pandemic was both extraordinary and vitally important in helping families, and the economy, through the challenges of that crisis.

Some two-thirds of employed Canadians worked totally or mostly from home at some point during the pandemic. Remote work was essential to preserving incomes, maintaining economic activity, and providing essential services at a time when face-to-face encounters were potentially deadly.

Previous research from the Centre for Future Work, through our PowerShare project, highlighted both the dramatic expansion of remote work during the pandemic, and several important issues raised by the practice: including the need to consider working hours, safety and ergonomics, privacy, and work-family balance issues in designing fair and sustainable work-from-home systems.

In the course of this urgent natural experiment, workers, employers, and organizations had to quickly rise to the challenges of the moment. In doing so, they implemented innovative work practices, technologies, and ways of working together that proved so successful, most home workers want to keep doing it.

To further investigate the experiences of Canadian workers with these expanded remote work arrangements, the Centre for Future Work participated in a research consortium, The Shaping the Future of Work in Canada Project, to undertake original survey research into how Canadians’ jobs changed during and after the pandemic.

The Project was financially supported by the Future Skills Centre, and overseen by a consortium of researchers including Dr. Graham Lowe (project lead), Frank Graves (EKOS Research), Dr. Karen D. Hughes (University of Alberta), Dr. Merv Gilbert (workplace safety consultant), Dr. Pamela Sugiman (Toronto Metropolitan University), and Jim Stanford (Centre for Future Work).

The project gathered data from over 5,800 respondents in all regions, industries, and occupations. The findings were striking, and shed important light on why people who worked from home during the pandemic are so intent on being able to continue working that way – at least some of the time. EKOS Research provided the survey research expertise to support this project.

Key findings include:

    • People who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced considerably higher levels of job satisfaction (70-83%) and overall positive well-being across 14 distinct measures.
    • Home-based workers overwhelmingly want to continue working from home: 40 per cent want to do so all of the time, and another 56 per cent most or some of the time. Just 4 per cent of remote workers want to return to their regular workplace full-time.
    • Their motivations for continuing home=based work are broad and powerful: saving time and money on commuting tops the list (with 94% of home-based workers listing it as a major benefit), but other benefits are also strongly appreciated (including better safety, less stress, and general well-being.
    • While remote work shows to enhance workers’ job quality and well-being, it appears to have weakened the employment relationship, with 42% of those who had been working remotely at some point during the pandemic agreeing that remote work had made them feel less attached to a specific organization or employer.
    • Meaningful consultation and negotiation regarding the future of home work will be important to shaping how remote work practices evolve in the future. Only half of home-based workers had been consulted by their employers about an eventual return to traditional work sites – and even fewer (less than 40 per cent) were satisfied with their degree of input into those discussions.

The issue of remote and home-based work was thrown into the spotlight by the recent work stoppage involving over 150,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada employed at a number of federal government departments. Negotiating future remote work protocols (rather than having those terms unilaterally dictated by the employer) was a central issue in that dispute. The eventual agreement included important new provisions ensuring individual flexibility in work-from-home arrangements, written commitments and written reasons for refusal of workers’ requests (subject to review and appeal), and the creation of joint union-management committees to oversee remote work practices in each department.

The PSAC strike was a high-profile example of discussions over the future of home work that are occurring in workplaces across Canada, both private sector and public. Clearly, giving workers a meaningful say in the future of home work is vital to allowing the many benefits of remote work to be maintained, while striking a reasonable balance with the concerns of employers.

The Globe And Mail: Remote work isn't going away, and we may have striking civil servants to thank
In this commentary published in the Globe and Mail, consortium members Graham Lowe, Karen Hughes, and Jim Stanford discussed the importance of negotiation and consultation in shaping future remote work arrangements.
Bloomberg: Public employee's remote work agreement just the beginning
Extensive media coverage has considered the significance of the PSAC negotiations as a precedent for work-from-home protocols in other workplaces. As the Centre’s Director Jim Stanford explains, “The workplace has changed since the pandemic ... and a lot of employees are very reticent to give up some of the gains that they’ve acquired over that period."
Shaping The Future Of Work In Canada: Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic
See a complete report on the Shaping the Future of Work in Canada findings, published by the Future Skills Centre.

The post The Future of Working from Home appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Ontario’s ‘Right-to-Disconnect’ is no Such Thing https://centreforfuturework.ca/2022/06/24/ontarios-right-to-disconnect-is-no-such-thing/ Sat, 25 Jun 2022 00:51:17 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=1670 The Ford government in Ontario, portraying itself as being on “the side of workers,” recently passed legislation setting out certain requirements for some businesses in the province regarding expectations of workers’ availability outside of normal working hours. This legislation has been widely, but very inaccurately, reported as a “right to disconnect.” Some coverage has even fawned that Ontario is now the first jurisdiction in North America to protect this right. This claim is transparently false – and individuals who (wrongly) believe that such a right exists might take actions (such as refusing instructions from their employer) that could jeopardize their employment. The Ontario law simply requires that firms with over 25 employees operating in the province must post and communicate their policy regarding “disconnection” outside of normal working hours. There are no requirements in the legislation whatsoever regarding what that policy should contain, and whether or not workers do indeed have any right to reject work (including instructions sent via email, text, or other remote devices) outside of normal hours. The reality is that workers do not generally have that right – unless they are protected by a union contract. Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discussed with journalist Holly McKenzie-Sutter the superficial nature of the new Ontario policy, and why unionizing actually offers much better protection for workers concerned with the technology-facilitated creep of work into their unpaid time. See the full story here: There is an enormous dichotomy in Canadian employment law between non-union workplaces (where people can be fired for any reason, with minimum notice or pay in lieu) and union workplaces (where just cause rules are enforced). It’s the clearest benefit of unionizing. The Ford government’s symbolic and manipulative “right to disconnect” policy (which offers no such right at all) has inadvertently highlighted this dichotomy: if you want protection for ANY of your rights at work (including a right to disconnect), having a union is essential. In the meantime, workers should be careful about learning about their labour rights from government press releases recycled uncritically as news. Someone who heard on TV that they now have a “right to disconnect” might then tell their boss to stuff it, the next time they are asked to return emails on the weekend. But under Ontario law, they could get fired anyway – unless, of course, they have a union.

The post Ontario’s ‘Right-to-Disconnect’ is no Such Thing appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

The Ford government in Ontario, portraying itself as being on “the side of workers,” recently passed legislation setting out certain requirements for some businesses in the province regarding expectations of workers’ availability outside of normal working hours.

This legislation has been widely, but very inaccurately, reported as a “right to disconnect.” Some coverage has even fawned that Ontario is now the first jurisdiction in North America to protect this right. This claim is transparently false – and individuals who (wrongly) believe that such a right exists might take actions (such as refusing instructions from their employer) that could jeopardize their employment.

The Ontario law simply requires that firms with over 25 employees operating in the province must post and communicate their policy regarding “disconnection” outside of normal working hours. There are no requirements in the legislation whatsoever regarding what that policy should contain, and whether or not workers do indeed have any right to reject work (including instructions sent via email, text, or other remote devices) outside of normal hours. The reality is that workers do not generally have that right – unless they are protected by a union contract.

Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discussed with journalist Holly McKenzie-Sutter the superficial nature of the new Ontario policy, and why unionizing actually offers much better protection for workers concerned with the technology-facilitated creep of work into their unpaid time. See the full story here:

Ontario's right to disconnect law too vague to help work-life balance, experts say

There is an enormous dichotomy in Canadian employment law between non-union workplaces (where people can be fired for any reason, with minimum notice or pay in lieu) and union workplaces (where just cause rules are enforced). It’s the clearest benefit of unionizing.

The Ford government’s symbolic and manipulative “right to disconnect” policy (which offers no such right at all) has inadvertently highlighted this dichotomy: if you want protection for ANY of your rights at work (including a right to disconnect), having a union is essential.

In the meantime, workers should be careful about learning about their labour rights from government press releases recycled uncritically as news. Someone who heard on TV that they now have a “right to disconnect” might then tell their boss to stuff it, the next time they are asked to return emails on the weekend. But under Ontario law, they could get fired anyway – unless, of course, they have a union.

The post Ontario’s ‘Right-to-Disconnect’ is no Such Thing appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Canadian Workers Need More Technology, Not Less https://centreforfuturework.ca/2022/04/25/where-are-the-robots/ Mon, 25 Apr 2022 12:54:48 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=1586 There is little evidence that robots and other advanced technologies are displacing workers and causing technological unemployment in Canada. To the contrary, Canada’s adoption of new technology has surprisingly slowed down in recent years. That is the conclusion of a major new report on innovation and automation in Canada’s economy, from the Centre for Future Work. The report, titled Where are the Robots?, reviews nine empirical indicators of Canadian innovation, technology adoption, and robotization. They paint a worrisome picture that Canadian businesses have dramatically reduced their innovation effort since the turn of the century, and are lagging well behind other industrial countries in putting new technology to work in the real economy. But the fact that automation and robotization are proceeding much slower than commonly assumed, doesn’t mean that workers’ jobs are ‘safe.’ While there is no evidence that the quantity of jobs in Canada has been undermined by new technology, there are many signs that the composition and quality of work has shifted in negative ways. Technology-intensive industries and occupations account for only a small share of new job creation. Most new work has been concentrated in human and caring services (like health care and education), and in private services – many of which (such as hospitality and retail) are characterized by insecure, poorly-paid, low-tech positions. “Far from losing sleep over whether robots are going to take our jobs, Canadian workers should be more concerned with the slow pace of technology adoption by businesses,” says Jim Stanford, Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, and author of the report. “The failure of employers to implement new technologies is causing an over-reliance on low-quality work, holding back our productivity and incomes, and squandering the potential for safer jobs and more leisure time.” The report makes 6 policy recommendations to improve innovation and technology adoption in Canada, including reforming fiscal incentives, expanding publicly-funded R&D, nurturing industries that use more robots and machinery, and giving workers more say in how technological change is implemented in workplaces. “Technology will be neither the hero nor the villain in the future of work – it all depends how technology is used, and how the costs and benefits are shared. But the reality is that Canada’s technological performance is flagging, fast. Revitalizing technological innovation and adoption, and ensuring that it enhances jobs not displaces workers, is vital to our future economic and social progress,” Stanford concluded. Please see the full report, Where are the Robots? The Surprising Deceleration of Technology in Canadian Workplaces. This report was published by the Centre for Future Work’s PowerShare project, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and with support from the Atkinson Foundation.

The post Canadian Workers Need More Technology, Not Less appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

There is little evidence that robots and other advanced technologies are displacing workers and causing technological unemployment in Canada. To the contrary, Canada’s adoption of new technology has surprisingly slowed down in recent years. That is the conclusion of a major new report on innovation and automation in Canada’s economy, from the Centre for Future Work.

The report, titled Where are the Robots?, reviews nine empirical indicators of Canadian innovation, technology adoption, and robotization. They paint a worrisome picture that Canadian businesses have dramatically reduced their innovation effort since the turn of the century, and are lagging well behind other industrial countries in putting new technology to work in the real economy.

Business Investment in R&D, 1980-2019

But the fact that automation and robotization are proceeding much slower than commonly assumed, doesn’t mean that workers’ jobs are ‘safe.’ While there is no evidence that the quantity of jobs in Canada has been undermined by new technology, there are many signs that the composition and quality of work has shifted in negative ways. Technology-intensive industries and occupations account for only a small share of new job creation. Most new work has been concentrated in human and caring services (like health care and education), and in private services – many of which (such as hospitality and retail) are characterized by insecure, poorly-paid, low-tech positions.

“Far from losing sleep over whether robots are going to take our jobs, Canadian workers should be more concerned with the slow pace of technology adoption by businesses,” says Jim Stanford, Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, and author of the report.

“The failure of employers to implement new technologies is causing an over-reliance on low-quality work, holding back our productivity and incomes, and squandering the potential for safer jobs and more leisure time.”

The report makes 6 policy recommendations to improve innovation and technology adoption in Canada, including reforming fiscal incentives, expanding publicly-funded R&D, nurturing industries that use more robots and machinery, and giving workers more say in how technological change is implemented in workplaces.

“Technology will be neither the hero nor the villain in the future of work – it all depends how technology is used, and how the costs and benefits are shared. But the reality is that Canada’s technological performance is flagging, fast. Revitalizing technological innovation and adoption, and ensuring that it enhances jobs not displaces workers, is vital to our future economic and social progress,” Stanford concluded.

Please see the full report, Where are the Robots? The Surprising Deceleration of Technology in Canadian Workplaces. This report was published by the Centre for Future Work’s PowerShare project, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and with support from the Atkinson Foundation.

The post Canadian Workers Need More Technology, Not Less appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Changing Work, for Good, After COVID https://centreforfuturework.ca/2021/12/22/changing-work-for-good-after-covid/ Wed, 22 Dec 2021 20:32:52 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=1438 As Canada enters the fifth wave of COVID contagion and restrictions, with new infections reaching the highest levels yet, we need to consider again how the pandemic must change our approach to valuing work, and protecting workers, on a permanent basis. In this keynote speech to the recent annual conference of the Parkland Institute in Alberta, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discusses the labour policy lessons learned during the first waves of the pandemic – and why it’s vital to make permanent changes to crucial aspects of our labour market (including sick pay, protections for workers in precarious jobs, and genuine improvements in workplace health and safety). The lecture draws on his paper for the PowerShare project on 10 priorities for reforming work after the pandemic. Watch the full video here: https://youtu.be/GAv_9WaFuYo   Or follow this link to view the video on Youtube in a new window. This and other Centre for Future Work videos are available on our YouTube channel: please subscribe here to receive automatic updates on future releases.

The post Changing Work, for Good, After COVID appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

As Canada enters the fifth wave of COVID contagion and restrictions, with new infections reaching the highest levels yet, we need to consider again how the pandemic must change our approach to valuing work, and protecting workers, on a permanent basis. In this keynote speech to the recent annual conference of the Parkland Institute in Alberta, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discusses the labour policy lessons learned during the first waves of the pandemic – and why it’s vital to make permanent changes to crucial aspects of our labour market (including sick pay, protections for workers in precarious jobs, and genuine improvements in workplace health and safety). The lecture draws on his paper for the PowerShare project on 10 priorities for reforming work after the pandemic.

Watch the full video here:

 

Or follow this link to view the video on Youtube in a new window.

This and other Centre for Future Work videos are available on our YouTube channel: please subscribe here to receive automatic updates on future releases.

The post Changing Work, for Good, After COVID appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Busting Myths about Technology and the Future of Work https://centreforfuturework.ca/2021/10/12/busting-myths-about-technology-and-the-future-of-work/ Tue, 12 Oct 2021 22:12:22 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=1259 We are constantly told that ‘technology’ is driving profound changes in work, workplaces and society. We might be concerned about the impacts of some of those changes, but since they are the result of ‘technology,’ and everyone since the Luddites knows you can’t stop technology, there is no point trying to resist or ameliorate those changes. But what is ‘technology’, anyway? We don’t live in the world of Terminator, where machines control society (not yet, anyway!). Technology is just a shorthand way of referring to the composite of human knowledge about how we work, what we produce, and the tools we use to produce it. Human beings, not some irresistible exogenous force, made the decisions about what problems to solve with new technologies, how they are implemented in real-world use – and, critically, how the costs and benefits of new technologies are shared. Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discussed these issues in a recent webinar hosted by Humanist Canada (the association of humanists across Canada). That’s the perfect audience with which to put the ‘human’ back into discussions about technological change. Video from the 1-hour webinar is posted below. For more on how to channel and regulate technology in ways that lift working conditions and living standards (rather than intensifying work and producing greater inequality), please see our recent Centre for Future Work #PowerShare report: Bargaining Tech: Strategies for Shaping Technological Change to Benefit Workers, by Jim Stanford and Kathy Bennett. https://youtu.be/PpFqQyJSEsI Click here to view this webinar on the Humanist Canada website.

The post Busting Myths about Technology and the Future of Work appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

We are constantly told that ‘technology’ is driving profound changes in work, workplaces and society. We might be concerned about the impacts of some of those changes, but since they are the result of ‘technology,’ and everyone since the Luddites knows you can’t stop technology, there is no point trying to resist or ameliorate those changes.

But what is ‘technology’, anyway? We don’t live in the world of Terminator, where machines control society (not yet, anyway!). Technology is just a shorthand way of referring to the composite of human knowledge about how we work, what we produce, and the tools we use to produce it. Human beings, not some irresistible exogenous force, made the decisions about what problems to solve with new technologies, how they are implemented in real-world use – and, critically, how the costs and benefits of new technologies are shared.

Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discussed these issues in a recent webinar hosted by Humanist Canada (the association of humanists across Canada). That’s the perfect audience with which to put the ‘human’ back into discussions about technological change. Video from the 1-hour webinar is posted below. For more on how to channel and regulate technology in ways that lift working conditions and living standards (rather than intensifying work and producing greater inequality), please see our recent Centre for Future Work #PowerShare report: Bargaining Tech: Strategies for Shaping Technological Change to Benefit Workers, by Jim Stanford and Kathy Bennett.

Click here to view this webinar on the Humanist Canada website.

The post Busting Myths about Technology and the Future of Work appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Centre for Future Work Submission to Ontario Future of Work Consultation https://centreforfuturework.ca/2021/08/03/centre-for-future-work-submission-to-ontario-future-of-work-consultation/ Tue, 03 Aug 2021 17:06:38 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=1173 All provinces in Canada are still grappling with the economic and employment effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. Ontario’s labour market was among the worst-impacted in Canada by the pandemic. And these immediate challenges are layered on top of longer-run issues related to the future of work: including technology, demographic changes, new business models, and others. In this context, the Ontario government recently launched a hastily-organized public consultation on the Future of Work, overseen by a 7-person ‘Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee’. The consultation is unusual for several reasons, including the non-representative composition of the committee itself (there are no committee members representing union, worker, or equality-seeking organisations), the highly-compressed timeline for public submissions (less than one month, in the middle of summer), and the unusual and clearly targeted nature of the three discussion questions posted to guide the consultation. The process has been strongly criticized by various stakeholders and in the media. In particular, since one of the three discussion questions focuses squarely on proposals to change Ontario’s labour laws to accommodate the current employment practices of on-demand digital platform businesses like Uber (practices which are being challenged, in Ontario and around the world, with regulatory, political, and trade union interventions), many worry that the whole consultation is effectively a vehicle to support new legislation to liberalize and legitimate these controversial gig economy practices. The future of work will determine the prosperity and well-being of workers in Ontario for decades to come, and any proper inquiry into this set of topics should be done right: with time, with resources to consult with experts and conduct original research, and reflecting a genuine range of views and interests. While the issues related to on-demand platform work are important and complex, they hardly constitute the full extent of future of work discussions that Ontario should be having. And this consultation, so hurried and narrow, is not the proper forum to consider the far-reaching and likely unintended consequences of accepting proposals from Uber and other platforms to change labour laws to cement and legalize their current practices. Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford prepared a submission to the Ontario consultation, based on his experience as a labour economist and also an advisor to numerous previous Ontario economic policy initiatives (most recently including as a member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Advisory Council on Ontario’s Economic Future). His submission argues that the committee should consider a broader range of issues: including threats to future labour demand, not just workforce supply, and the importance of public supports like accessible child care to future labour force participation. He also provided a critique of claims that on-demand platform work represents a ‘new era’ in work, one which advances desired ‘flexibility’ for workers in these businesses. Please see our full submission to the Ontario Future of Work consultation.

The post Centre for Future Work Submission to Ontario Future of Work Consultation appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

All provinces in Canada are still grappling with the economic and employment effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. Ontario’s labour market was among the worst-impacted in Canada by the pandemic. And these immediate challenges are layered on top of longer-run issues related to the future of work: including technology, demographic changes, new business models, and others.

In this context, the Ontario government recently launched a hastily-organized public consultation on the Future of Work, overseen by a 7-person ‘Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee’. The consultation is unusual for several reasons, including the non-representative composition of the committee itself (there are no committee members representing union, worker, or equality-seeking organisations), the highly-compressed timeline for public submissions (less than one month, in the middle of summer), and the unusual and clearly targeted nature of the three discussion questions posted to guide the consultation. The process has been strongly criticized by various stakeholders and in the media. In particular, since one of the three discussion questions focuses squarely on proposals to change Ontario’s labour laws to accommodate the current employment practices of on-demand digital platform businesses like Uber (practices which are being challenged, in Ontario and around the world, with regulatory, political, and trade union interventions), many worry that the whole consultation is effectively a vehicle to support new legislation to liberalize and legitimate these controversial gig economy practices.

The future of work will determine the prosperity and well-being of workers in Ontario for decades to come, and any proper inquiry into this set of topics should be done right: with time, with resources to consult with experts and conduct original research, and reflecting a genuine range of views and interests. While the issues related to on-demand platform work are important and complex, they hardly constitute the full extent of future of work discussions that Ontario should be having. And this consultation, so hurried and narrow, is not the proper forum to consider the far-reaching and likely unintended consequences of accepting proposals from Uber and other platforms to change labour laws to cement and legalize their current practices.

Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford prepared a submission to the Ontario consultation, based on his experience as a labour economist and also an advisor to numerous previous Ontario economic policy initiatives (most recently including as a member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s Advisory Council on Ontario’s Economic Future). His submission argues that the committee should consider a broader range of issues: including threats to future labour demand, not just workforce supply, and the importance of public supports like accessible child care to future labour force participation. He also provided a critique of claims that on-demand platform work represents a ‘new era’ in work, one which advances desired ‘flexibility’ for workers in these businesses.

Please see our full submission to the Ontario Future of Work consultation.

The post Centre for Future Work Submission to Ontario Future of Work Consultation appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]> Our Times Feature Article on PowerShare Voice Report https://centreforfuturework.ca/2021/07/19/our-times-feature-article-on-powershare-voice-report/ Mon, 19 Jul 2021 17:26:48 +0000 https://centreforfuturework.ca/?p=1141 The Spring 2021 edition of the Canadian labour magazine Our Times features a cover article on workers’ voice: how Canadian workers can express their concerns, and win meaningful change, in their workplaces. The article is based on the recent Centre for Future Work report, Speaking Out, Being Heard, Making Change: The Theory and Practice of Workers’ Voice in Canada, by Jim Stanford and Daniel Poon. That report was published earlier this year as part of our PowerShare project. With the kind permission of Our Times, we are reposting the feature article here. Please see the 5-page article, which is a useful resource for union educationals, train-the-trainer sessions, and other uses: “Workers’ Voice: Fighting for the Right to Speak Up, and Be Heard, in the Workplace.” Our Times is an invaluable source of news and analysis for anyone interested in the movement for workers’ rights in Canada; please visit their website to subscribe.

The post Our Times Feature Article on PowerShare Voice Report appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>

The Spring 2021 edition of the Canadian labour magazine Our Times features a cover article on workers’ voice: how Canadian workers can express their concerns, and win meaningful change, in their workplaces. The article is based on the recent Centre for Future Work report, Speaking Out, Being Heard, Making Change: The Theory and Practice of Workers’ Voice in Canada, by Jim Stanford and Daniel Poon. That report was published earlier this year as part of our PowerShare project.

With the kind permission of Our Times, we are reposting the feature article here. Please see the 5-page article, which is a useful resource for union educationals, train-the-trainer sessions, and other uses: “Workers’ Voice: Fighting for the Right to Speak Up, and Be Heard, in the Workplace.”

Our Times is an invaluable source of news and analysis for anyone interested in the movement for workers’ rights in Canada; please visit their website to subscribe.

The post Our Times Feature Article on PowerShare Voice Report appeared first on Centre for Future Work.

]]>