Labour's Tom Watson and the Future of Work

Labour Deputy Leader Tom Watson this week published his Future of Work Commission report outlining targeted proposals seeking to ensure that technological opportunities benefit the whole economy and workforce. In the report Watson calls on society to ‘embrace the android’ and argues that the rise of automation does not necessarily need to lead to large levels of job losses. The report suggests that with targeted government investment the ongoing technological revolution should create as many jobs as it takes away.

Recommendations in the report which was convened and chaired by Watson include developing a artificial intelligence curriculum for secondary schools and measures to ensure that workers have career long access to retraining to meet shifting workplace demands.

 Responding to Tom Watson’s Future of Work Commission report, Seamus Nevin, Head of Policy Research at the Institute of Directors, said:

 “Many of the key recommendations within Tom Watson’s Future of Work report will resonate with employers up and down the country. The instinct to be techno-positive, whilst making targeted proposals for ensuring that the rising digital tide really does lift all boats, is the right one.  This will ensure the UK makes the most of the opportunities technology is creating for everyone.

 “The IoD has long campaigned for measures to help employees back into training without compromising their living standards or ability to work. Watson’s proposals will help bring our skills system into the twenty-first century by developing the culture of lifelong learning that we desperately need. Similarly, encouraging employers to make use of new innovations that can help people work more flexibly is also one of the key benefits to reap from the age of automation.

 “However, on his proposals to establish a ‘new representative body for entrepreneurs’, we suggest that the UK already has one well established. The IoD’s entrepreneurship network (the IoD99) is the fastest growing group for entrepreneurs, with a strong voice in the public debate, both at home and internationally. Last week the group was named as the UK’s official representative for young entrepreneurs within the G20.

 Also included in the report was a push for the UK’s corporate governance framework to put greater emphasis on stakeholder representation and engagement on UK boards. The paper suggests that by shifting priorities from shareholders to stakeholders some headway could be made on the UK’s productivity problem.