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Who’s Generating the New Jobs, and What Skills Will Workers Need?

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Who’s Generating the New Jobs, and What Skills Will Workers Need?

Aspen Institute,

5 min read
5 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Advancing technology demands a paradigm shift to lifelong learning.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable
  • Overview
  • Visionary

Recommendation

Industry leaders Gary Pinkus and Tom Fanning join former US secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker and economist Peter Orszag to discuss how to gird the workforce for the digital age. Following the substantive, sometimes contentious panel discussion, a lengthy Q&A roams “far off topic,” as Pritzker notes in an aside to the other panelists. You may choose to skim the Q&A, but getAbstract advises giving the 25-minute panel your full attention.

Summary

A technological revolution is sweeping the United States, so why has national productivity growth slowed from 2.25% to 1.1%? Effects of disruption often manifest over the long run and take surprising turns. ATMs quadrupled in number in 25 years, yet didn’t decrease the ranks of bank tellers. Though banks hired fewer tellers, a boom of branch openings offset the downward trend. Moreover, the bank-teller job description expanded. Did ATMs make banking more productive? Arguably, no. But automation improved service standards. The dominant theories about technological disruption say that machines will...

About the Speakers

Gary Pinkus is a managing partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Tom Fanning is CEO of the Southern Company, an energy producer. Penny Pritzker is the former US secretary of commerce. Economist Peter Orszag previously directed the US Budget Office.


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