The Oxford Martin Programme on
the Future of Work
The Challenge
The 21st century has already brought astonishing technological achievements. From smartphones to internet shopping, our lives are transformed in many ways, and the world of work is affected in particularly dramatic ways.
Yet these changes are not always positive, and any benefits are not always widely shared. This programme, with the support of Citi, is investigating the implications of a rapidly changing technological landscape for economies and societies.
The programme will provide an in-depth understanding of how technology is transforming the economy, to help leaders create a successful transition into new ways of working in the 21st Century.
The programme will provide novel and relevant evidence on:
- How technology is transforming companies and industries;
- Why some places are better at adapting to this transformation;
- Related implications for living standards, inequality and social mobility.
The Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Work is part of a research partnership between the Oxford Martin School and Citi, analysing some of the most pressing global challenges of the 21st Century. As well as collaborating on research, the Oxford Martin School and Citi are publishing joint Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (Citi GPS) reports, most recently Technology at Work v6.0.
ROBOT-PROOF
Long Read - June 2019
When it comes to the capabilities of intelligent machines we've seen nothing yet, says Dr Carl Benedikt Frey.
So how can we prepare future generations for a very different world of work?
Read
Research
Technology & Work
Just as industrial robots have changed the nature of manufacturing, big data and smart machines are now transforming a wide range of industries and occupations.
We are researching the broader trends, as well as the effect on specific industries and companies.
Technology & Structural Transformation
The team is investigating why some places are better at adapting to the transformation of industries and occupations.
We examine why some cities and nations have successfully managed the renewal process, while others have not.
Technology & Inclusive Growth
Throughout history, technological progress has delivered growing incomes and higher standards of living for many. Yet technology is increasingly displacing workers.
We seek to understand how technology impacts on growth, inequality and social mobility.
Technequality
Working with the Technological and Economic Change programme, the team is part of a consortium to understand how technological innovations impact the size and nature of inequalities and labour market outcomes in the EU. This Horizon 2020 project will also assess policies to reduce technology driven inequalities.
featured blog
Automation and the future of work – understanding the numbers
In 2013, we published a paper entitled “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?”, estimating that 47% of U.S. jobs are at risk of automation. Since then, numerous studies have emerged, arriving at very different conclusions. Many policymakers naturally find it hard to make sense of these results. Which study is right? And why do they arrive at very different conclusions? In this article, we shall seek to explain why these estimates diverge.
videos
'Technological change, the future of jobs and development' with Prof Joseph E. Stiglitz
Book talk 'Cloud Empires: How Digital Platforms Are Overtaking the State and How We Can Regain Control' with Prof Vili Lehdonvirta
Book talk: "Exponential: how accelerating technology is leaving us behind and what to do about it" with Azeem Azhar
news
View allIs the robot revolution compatible with maintaining workers livelihoods in the UK?
Robotic technology has revolutionised production and manufacturing sectors in industrialised nations, shaping the modern world over the last three decades.
Long-distance collaboration makes scientific breakthroughs more likely, suggests Oxford University research
In an analysis of data for over ten million research teams, across eleven academic fields from 1961 to 2020, a new working paper from the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Work has determined that over the past decade remote collaboration between academic teams has led to more scientific breakthroughs.
Cities could be MORE important post-pandemic, not less
Paradoxically, more in-person work environments and the concentration of jobs in cities could be a medium- to long-term impact of the pandemic’s shift to remote working, suggests Citi GPS Technology at Work v6.0: The Coming of the Post-Production Society.
New report shows that COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to remote working
The fifth edition in the Citi GPS Technology at Work series, A New World of Remote Work, looks at how COVID 19 fast-forwarded existing trends and quantifies the possible impact of these trends on the future of work.
Publications
View all
Automation or globalization? The impacts of robots and Chinese imports on jobs in the United Kingdom
Directed technological change and general purpose technologies: can AI accelerate clean energy innovation?
Disrupting Science

Robots for economic development

The GDPR effect: How data privacy regulation shaped firm performance globally
Privacy Regulation and Firm Performance: Estimating the GDPR Effect Globally
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