The future of work and time
“All the modern technologies have only let us work more, and work harder.” This is a popular statement these days, but they do not fit well with the actual numbers. Tools and machines have made us faster and stronger. Digital technologies have made us smarter and have let us communicate faster. Over time, technologies have dramatically increased our productivity. Today, we get more done in less time. Our output has increased both at the workplace and in the household.
When we get more productive, we work less. This is easy to understand when looking at the household. When the washing machine is washing the clothes, it makes no sense to spend as much time on washing clothes as before the machine. The same is true for the overall economy. The higher the productivity in a country, the lower the amount of hours that people work.
This brings us to today. We do not live in an equal world, but overall we produce much more food, products and services while working less. This process will continue dramatically. Why dramatically? The answer to that question is at the core of what we do at shareNL. Over the past few years we have been working, researching and advising the collaborative (and sharing) economy. This year we are diving even deeper into new networks and technologies such as blockchain, AI, IoT and robots, in a series of meetups. In addition, we are organizing an event called ‘reshaping work’ together with the University of Amsterdam. In collaboration with multiple resources and stakeholders consisting of businesses, governments, research and media, we live and learn the future every day. What will happen to human productivity? When will fully autonomous productivity be added to the mix? How does this impact the welfare of people? What needs to be done today to prepare for tomorrow? What will you do with your time 10, 20 and 30 years from now? Where will the decisions that affect you be made?
We expect an unprecedented change in society, and we are on a mission to reshape society in such a way that everybody will have access to all the goods and services that are needed to live connected, sustainable and happy life.
Written by Pieter van de Glind, co-founder of shareNL