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Call for Papers the Future of Work [GRAB YOUR READER’S ATTENTION WITH A GREAT QUOTE FROM THE DOCUMENT OR USE Call for Papers The Future of Work: Implications and challenges of contemporary demographic, technological and social trends Editors: John Burgess; Julia Connell; Alan Nankervis John Burgess Professor of HRM at RMIT University, Melbourne. Previous professorial appointments at the University of Newcastle and Curtin University. Recent research has addressed transitional labour markets (graduation to employment); working patterns and health; employment conditions in the aged care sector; and employment practices of multinational enterprises. Julia Connell Professor and Assistant Dean, Research Training, University of Newcastle, Australia; Visiting Professor, Graduate Research School, University of Technology Sydney. Research projects/ interests largely focus on individual and organisational capacity building including: quality of work, education and training systems, human resource policies and practices, SMEs, gender and empowerment. Alan Nankervis Adjunct Professor of HRM at Curtin and RMIT universities. Previous appointments at Western Sydney University, together with shorter-term positions at York University (Canada), Strathclyde University (UK) and several universities in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Recent research has included transitional labour markets, HRM and organisational effectiveness in the Asia Pacific, and new HRM models in China and India. The Future of Work The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) concerns the digital transformation currently taking place in society and business. 4IR involves an interface between technologies in the physical, digital and biological disciplines. It is distinguished from earlier industrial transformations by its speed, scope, and broad global impacts, most of which include the ‘transformation of systems of production, management and governance’ (Schwab, 2015). Emerging technology - such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing, represent just the tip of this technology iceberg. New technological applications include driverless cars, trucks and trains, “cashier-less” shops, robotic doctors, lawyers, farmers, mechanics, construction workers, tutors, insurance agents and bank tellers, amongst many others. The World Economic Forum (2016) surveyed senior HR managers and operating officers in 371 global companies comprising over 13million employees. The purpose of the survey was to identify the drivers and outcomes of change in the labour market over the period 2010-2015. Findings indicated that, while technology was identified as an 1 [GRAB YOUR READER’S ATTENTION WITH A GREAT QUOTE FROM THE DOCUMENT OR USE important driver of change – big data, mobile internet functions, cloud technology – concurrent structural changes were also seen as accelerating changes in employment. These structural changes included an emerging middle class in developing economies; the increase in female labour force participation rates; climate change and growing resource constraints. Reported growth sectors and occupations included finance; management; engineering and IT, while sectors in decline included manufacturing, construction and clerical services. In recent years there has been a multitude of predictions concerning future configurations of the workforce. These highlight extensive changes which have the potential to make profound impacts in a variety of different ways. Already digital platforms are disrupting industries such as retailing, hospitality, health, education, entertainment, banking, manufacturing and logistics. The status and number of workers employed through the “gig” economy is ambiguous. Current and future disruptions resulting from the 4IR are likely to result in what may be viewed as both positive and negative outcomes (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2016). For example, while there will be redundancies resulting from the introduction of new technologies, there will also be new industries and jobs created which will require new skill needs. Consequently, careers will become uncertain and work will become more globalised as more jobs require online collaboration and delivery. These factors will result in a number of challenges around managing structural adjustment. Systems of labour regulation and rights and national taxation systems may be under threat and trade unions face the loss of members in the traditional unionised sectors as they become displaced by technology. Moreover, reward inequality may intensify between low skill and high skilled workers; between those in traditional industries and those in new industries; and between those with access to technology and those without. Online service owners can potentially monopolise sectors and move profits to offshore tax havens. In summary, the 4IR is likely to result in both ‘winners and losers’ (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2016) and the trends outlined here have the potential to affect all parts of the globe, regardless of the stage of development or technology. To a large extent there is hype associated with many predictions on the future of work, but there is no doubt that the technologies are new and that the potential consequences are far reaching. The volume editors welcome submissions that deal with the likely consequences and challenges of the global trends outlined above. All methodologies are welcome. Specific issues include (and others are welcome): * Nature of the 4IR Technologies & future workplaces * Critiques of the analyses and the predictions * Demographic, generational and socio-cultural issues * Implications for training and education systems * Economic and political perspectives * Measurement and data challenges emerging from new forms of work and working * Implications for collective organisation and voice * Implications for labour regulation and standards * Human resource management and planning strategies, policies and practices 2 [GRAB YOUR READER’S ATTENTION WITH A GREAT QUOTE FROM THE DOCUMENT OR USE * Industry innovations and ‘best practice’ cases * Winners and losers in the 4IR; job displacement by sector and occupation * Implications for national and international income and wealth distribution * Implications for national taxation and welfare systems * Implications for broad social agendas such as environmentalism and decent work * Comparative Country Studies Please contact any of the special issue editors if you have any queries: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] References McAfee, A. and Brynjolfsson, E. (2016), The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies, W. W. Norton & Company, New York. Schwab, K (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab WEF (2016) The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf Submission process Submission of articles is via ManuscriptCentral: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/elrr Submissions should be within the journal’s scope. The scope statement can be found under ‘About the journal’ at: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/elr Submissions should conform to house style. The journal’s formatting requirements to be found at: https://au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/journal/economic-and-labour-relations- review#submission-guidelines Timelines • Latest possible submission deadline: 30 September 2019 (earlier submission welcome) • Review and revision process: August-Nov 2019 • Copy editing of accepted MSS: Dec 2019 -Jan 2020 • All finalised copy must reach Publisher: 1 February 2020 • Publication in ELRR Online First as finalised • Print publication: June 2020 3 .
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