京都大学 大学院経済学研究科・経済学部

Time Table
13:15-14:45 Management Seminar (presentation)

“Imagining the (Distant) Future of Work”　Nicky Dries

Abstract:
All throughout history, people have been imagining and telling stories about the future—driven, it seems, in equal parts by hope and fear. Currently, the fourth industrial revolution—characterized by a fusion of technologies blurring the lines between the physical, the digital, and the biological—is projected to bring about changes in the world of work so disruptive in scope and so exponential in pace, that they have no historical precedent. That said, not everyone agrees on the nature and implications of the changes on the horizon. Generally speaking, three groups can be identified in the public debate: optimists, pessimists, and sceptics. While optimists tend to focus on the potential of new technologies to augment human labor, pessimists focus on the threat of automation and the massive job loss that would come with it. Similarly, while some believe that economic inequality will only increase as a result of the fourth industrial revolution, others believe that governments will introduce a universal basic income to compensate for the loss of jobs caused by automation—in the process also creating a new societal model. Sceptics, finally, believe that claims about the velocity and scope of projected transformations in the world of work are vastly exaggerated, and that the future will look more or less like the present, with a few tweaks here and there. So, which group of experts is right? The answer is probably ‘none of them’.

About:
Nicky Dries is Full Professor of Organizational Behavior at KU Leuven (department of Work & Organisation Studies) and at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo (department of Leadership & Organizational Behaviour). In Leuven, she runs the Future of Work Lab within the Faculty of Economics, that studies social imaginaries for the future. The Lab’s research builds on methods aimed at triggering people’s imagination about the future, using media analysis, robotic art and design, virtual reality, and science-fiction movies. The mission of the Lab is to re-politicize the future of work, and stimulate democratic debate. Nicky is a former Fulbright Scholar (Boston, 2012). To date, she has published over 60 international peer-reviewed articles, 2 books, and 20 book chapters. She is very active in science communication outside academia as well, and regularly publishes trade press articles (e.g., HBR.org, Forbes.com), op-eds/editorials, and podcasts, and has appeared in a documentary TV series on the labor market implications of disruptive technologies (i.e. “The Digital Dilemma” on VRT). In 2021, Nicky was selected from more than 1000 applicants to be part of Belgium’s ‘40 under 40’ inaugural cohort representing the nation’s promising future societal leaders. Currently, Nicky is an Associate Editor at Journal of Management (JOM), as well as being on several other editorial boards (e.g., HRMJ, EJWOP). She has also been an evaluator of several national and European scientific funding agencies (e.g., FWO in Belgium, NWO in the Netherlands, the Research Council of Finland, and the European Commission, among others).

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