Chapter 4: Employability, Automation and the Future of Work in the US and UK: An Occupational Analysis

This chapter explores the impact of digital technologies on employability and the future of work. It addresses three areas of contention within the literature. First, it examines whether new technologies are causing significant technological unemployment. Second, it discusses the idea of the ‘hollowing out’ of middle-level jobs due to technological change. Third, it evaluates the conventional ‘labour scarcity’ view, which assumes that technological change will lead to a growing demand for university-educated workers. Based on occupational trend data, it challenges the ‘labour scarcity’ view of employability and advocates a job scarcity approach, emphasizing a structural mismatch between available jobs and workforce skills. The chapter urges policymakers to focus more on job quality rather than continuing the search for ‘supply side’ solutions. Generative AI and related technologies are not skills-biased as previously assumed, as there is little evidence of an accelerated demand for ‘knowledge’ workers, and much will depend on how firms balance efficiency with human-centric employment practices.