Prais Lecture with Chris Pissarides: The Future of Work and Wellbeing

Automation technologies are transforming work, society and the economy in the UK in ways comparable to the Industrial Revolution, with their adoption likely to significantly impact the future labour market.  Whilst there may be a productivity enhancement as new roles emerge, work patterns altered and new skills developed, it is likely that there will be a disproportionate effect on demographic groups in lower paid roles whose jobs can more easily be automated.  In short, like any evolution, it will not be the strongest or fittest that survive but those most adaptable to the change.

Building on his seminal work on labour market frictions, the Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides discusses the implications of these automation technologies and explores how this rapid technological transformation will impact different communities and groups of workers from different backgrounds throughout the UK. In doing so he examines how skills requirements are rapidly changing; how the location of work is shifting; and how the growing uncertainty about the impacts of technology require a rethinking about the structure of work.

About the Speaker 

Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2010, jointly with Peter Diamond from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dale Mortensen from Northwestern University. Professor Pissarides is Professor of Economics at LSE and holder of the Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics. He is a Governor of NIESR, a fellow of the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE and of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, as well as one of the Commissioners for the Productivity Commission. He specialises in the economics of unemployment, labour-market theory, labour-market policy and more recently he has written about growth and structural change.

About the Lecture

Established in 2019, the Prais Lecture typically examines issues relating to productivity, economic growth and human wellbeing. It was formed to commemorate Professor Sig Prais, a colleague, friend and champion of the National Institute for over 60 years. The core focus of his research was on productivity and industrial structure, where he concluded that the poor quality and education were at the root of the UK’s productivity problem. Past speakers include Lord Sainsbury, and Bart van Ark from The Productivity Institute.