What happened to the life of leisure?

Today we see yet another report threatening that AI will replace our jobs. PWC estimate that around 30% of existing UK jobs could face automation over the next 15 years. The estimates may vary slightly by percentage and timescale, but they are all pointing in the same direction.

This report is more positive than others, claiming that new AI-related technologies will boost productivity and generate additional jobs elsewhere in the economy. Along with this they warn that income inequality may rise. They paint a scenario of 'haves' and 'have nots' with male workers being at greater potential risk of job automation than women, with education as the key differentiating factor for individual workers.

We have a world based on full time employment with people needing to work 5 days a week to maintain an acceptable standard of living. Despite the automation of jobs that we have seen so far, we are suffering from long hours working and high levels of stress. We have organisational cultures where the people who put in the long hours are seen as being 'loyal' and 'dedicated'. People who are 'flexible workers' or 'part timers' are still seen as less committed.

What happened to the life of leisure that was coming with all this automation? Robots and computers were going to do the boring work so humans were left to do the interesting stuff. We were all going to work for three days a week and have four day 'weekends' because productivity improved so much with using technology. We would all be sitting on a sunny beach even when we were working, because technology had freed us up from traditional work constraints.

The technology has done the reverse of what we expected. Instead of producing the relaxed environment where we can have enjoyable, healthy working lives, we are overloaded with hundreds of emails in our inbox and are stressed out trying to keep up. We are working 24/7, constantly looking  at our smartphones wherever we are. Our personal lives have been invaded, but don't blame the technology.

The problem lies with the way work is organised and the organisation cultures that encourage bad working practices. If we want people to have healthy balanced lives then we need jobs that deliver the 'life of leisure' promised by technology. As AI takes over more human work and there is less to go round, let's not have half the population stressed out working long hours and the other half unemployed.  Let's all have a sensible, satisfying amount of paid work in our lives and also have time for family, friends, hobbies, sports and a healthier lifestyle.

We need the older workers

The UK is running out of workers. According to the CIPD current employer plans suggest that we’ll need to fill 13.5 million job vacancies in the next ten years, but only 7 million young people will leave school and college. With fewer people entering the labour pool, it's critical for employers to be able to embrace talent and fill roles.

Andy Briggs, CEO of Aviva Life and the UK Government’s business champion for older workers has called for a million more older people to be in work by 2022. To address the widening skills gap, tackle age bias in work and enable people to stay in work longer, Mr Briggs is urging every UK employer to increase the number of workers aged 50-69 in the UK over the next five years.

Employers in the UK are no longer able to retire someone just because of their age but many are sticking with a traditional approach to the older workforce. Half of the people in a recent CIPD survey over the age of 55 said they would be working beyond 65. But only one in four employees think that their employer is meeting the employment needs of the over 65s. 

The CIPD is recommending five essential components that should form an organisation’s strategy to address the ageing workforce challenges:

1 Ensuring they have inclusive recruitment practices

2 Improving the capability of line managers to manage an age-diverse workforce

3 Investing in training and development that is based on potential, not age

4 Supporting employee health and well-being across demographics

5 Embracing the talent attraction and retention benefits of flexible working.

It seems that flexible/smart working is an ideal arrangement for this group of people who have talent and experience to give to their employers but no longer wish to be in fixed, full-time working arrangements.