Back to the Future of Work: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future

When contemporary conversations on the “future of work” began a decade ago, most of the technologies that would define that term still resided comfortably in the realm of science fiction, or were only just emerging into public view — self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, and personal deliveries at the push of a button. Today — after a pandemic that prompted many to reexamine their relationship with their jobs, exposed the precarity of work for many more, and accelerated the adoption of technology — all these phenomena have come into their own, to varying degrees. Regulators, employers, and commentators alike struggle to keep pace with what this means for our labor force and for the role work will play in our society in the decades to come.

All year we’ve been marking the tenth anniversary of Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative with an editorial series examining the lessons learned from a decade of "future of work" discourse, with contributions from leaders in academia, business, labor, policy, and philanthropy. This discussion with Future of Work Fellows and contributors to explore how, together, we can shape a future of work that works for all Americans.

This conversation includes opening remarks from Future of Work Initiative Director Liba Wenig Rubenstein, followed by a panel discussion with Mary L. Gray (Senior Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research), Michelle Miller (Director of Innovation, Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Harvard Law School), Arun Sundararajan (Harold Price Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director, Fubon Center for Technology Business and Innovation, NYU Stern School of Business), and moderator Anmol Chaddha (Principal, Omidyar Network, and Fellow, Future of Work Initiative).

For more information about this event, including a transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources, visit our website.

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This event is part of our Opportunity in America series.