The Future Of Jobs

On Twitter, I recently had a discussion with @keptsimple81 (the liberal writer of the funny @GingrichIdeas ) where we discussed the future of jobs in advanced economies where mass industrial employment is a think of the past (at least as a provider of 50s style “broad middle-class prosperity”) and office drone jobs are probably headed that way too.

The discussion afforded me the opportunity to list the articles and resources that inform my thinking on this important issue. I’m doing it here, as much for me as for you. Regular readers will be familiar with most of them, but perhaps not all of them, and even the ones we’re not familiar with deserve re-reading.

Here goes:

Matt Crawford, The New Atlantis, Shop Class as Soulcraft

Sara Horowitz, The Atlantic, The Freelance Surge is the Industrial Revolution of Our Time

Paul Graham, Hiring is Obsolete

Adam Davidson, New York Times, Don’t Mock the Artisanal Pickle-Makers

Chris Dixon, The internet is reshaping our economy from one of huge corporations with lots of jobs to huge platforms with lots of income streams

Left unwritten: why the shop-class, crafts, freelance, internet-fueled economy will be particularly good for women.