May 2015

IZA Policy Paper No. 100: The Big Trade-Off in the World of Labor

The world is changing rapidly. This paper describes key shifts and it discusses their likely impacts on employment-related aspects. Labor market pressures are felt around the globe, and robots and automation increasingly become reality. However, there will be no "end of work". Rather, it is that work will take on different forms. Important innovations are required nonetheless to carefully and smartly balance the positives and negatives of the changing workforce and workplace. But societies have already shown their ability to cope with great changes in the past.