The way we work
New PBS series lifts the lid on today’s workplace — and what could be coming next
IT’S a brave new world, where cobots (collaborative robots), automation, artificial intelligence and globalization, among other factors, advances and shrinks our working world. A new three-part PBS docuseries airing Wednesday at 10 p.m., “Future of Work,” explores the new normal, with a deep dive into the current state of work and its future. A fourth generation farmer talks about technology; a surgeon in the operating room works alongside a robot; a restaurant owner picks up the pandemic pieces by creating an all-inclusive labor model.
Explored with expert commentary and insight, “Future of Work” also includes a six-part series through PBS Digital Studios’ YouTube channel and a social series on the PBS IGTV channel.
The show was inspired by Studs Terkel’s best-selling 1974 book, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” (Pantheon), which looked at the lives of manufacturing workers. Series creator and executive producer Denise Dilanni expanded this concept to industries and socioeconomic groups across the country. As the pandemic erupted during filming, the series’ original themes became even more pronounced.
“There were a couple things that were really clear that were going on pre-pandemic,” she said. “Work was being separated from a physical space. People were working remotely. There was an increased reliance on cobots and autonomous robots. We knew there were many questions about whether a college degree was the path to the future in terms of future-proofing your job.”
Dilanni’s team, including Llewellyn M. Smith, director and writer of the second episode, also interviewed people such as Diego Gerena-Quiñones, a lifelong New Yorker who began working for a messenger service in 2012. Facing unsteady pay and no healthcare benefits, Gerena-Quiñones bought a fleet of cargo bikes to secure steady work for himself and his co-workers. Unfortunately, it came to a screeching halt during COVID-19, and Gerena-Quiñones ended up moving to Puerto Rico.
“We were blown away with how honest he was,” said Smith. “He was very frank about the psychological impact — depression, the fear about what was going to happen in terms of making money. He described that his whole world collapsed. He was riding high on the vision of having his own company.”
The candidness of the subjects, the expert commentary and reminders of past industrial revolutions make it must-see TV. You can’t help but think: Am I future-proofed? What skills do I need to learn? How can my career get ahead of artificial intelligence?
Ravin Jesuthasan, a self-proclaimed futurist, global thought leader and co-author of “Reinventing Jobs: A 4-Step Approach for Applying Automation to Work” (Harvard Business Review Press) featured in the series, recommended staying abreast of which industries and jobs are trending up versus trending down.
“There are always markers of what jobs are emerging, if we look hard enough,” he said. “Our planning horizon should not be a lifetime or even 15 years. It should be closer to five years. We need to have the mindset of continuous learning, so we can stay relevant.”
Jobs at risk of being automated include bookkeepers, underwriters, factory workers, paralegals, receptionists, data entry specialists and file clerks.
“We need to ask: ‘How can tasks that I do be done better?’” said Jesuthasan. “Where can automation or AI replace my work, augment my work to make me more productive, or transform the work and create new opportunities? It’s important to think about technical skills as well as human/enabling skills like creativity, critical thinking, innovation, empathy, communication.”
“It’s about what skills do you need, and then, how can you deploy them in other ways that are hopefully creative and make you, one would hope, indispensable?” said Jesuthasan.
Vivienne Ming, a scientist and entrepreneur featured in the series, said that whatever you do, rest assured somebody is trying to find a machine to do it instead.
Smith found it interesting to hear Ming talk about her employees feeling challenged by the uncertainty of their future.
“They know they’re not indispensable,” he said. “The opportunities are incredible, but so are the challenges and the fears. A lot of people who are going into college now, that’s not the world they are going to meet.”
Do we need to redefine the American dream? “If you’re saying the American dream needs predictable progress and betterment beyond [that of ] our parents, all of our advisors and a lot of research says that’s not the way it’s going to be for the vast majority of people,” said Smith. “It’s a matter of rethinking what we want to make of that so-called American dream. If it’s tied to predictable endless future progress generation after generation, year after year, no, that’s gone. That’s my opinion, anyway.”
Dilanni also looked at the so-called barbell economy — growth at the top with very specialized, highly paid skilled work and rapid expansion at the bottom with low paying, low skill jobs, while middle class jobs shrink.
“We have a very segmented society when it comes to work,” said Dilanni. “What we’re trying to do with the series is to let folks know that, and to really marry the changes in work: Logistical changes, global changes, labor practice changes. There are many different American dreams depending on where you land in this nation. Secure work, home ownership, sending your kids to school, letting your kids do better than you did economically — if that’s only available to 20 or 30 percent of the population, what is the implication of that?”
Dilanni recalled a writer who said that we get to decide what we want to do with all these work changes. “The conversation as a nation we want to have is about equity, about social justice. I hope that all the work we’re doing around all these platforms provokes that.”
Vaccinations, anyone?
The tennis begins at 11 a.m. Monday at the U.S. Open with no Roger Federer, no Rafael Nadal, no Serena Williams and no unvaccinated fans.
The U.S. Open is the first tennis tournament to go full capacity since the pandemic, but in the past week, the tournament strengthened its COVID-19 fan protocols.
On Friday, the USTA announced only vaccinated fans with documentation will be allowed into Flushing Meadows despite tickets going on sale two months ago with no restrictions.
On Saturday, the USTA’s original decision was reversed by the mayor’s office, ruling Arthur Ashe Stadium an indoor venue when the roof is in place, meaning masks must be worn.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also decreed only vaccinated fans could be allowed into that main stadium, but the USTA then took it a step further and extended the ban to the entire grounds so as not to create mass confusion at various entrances.
In June, the USTA originally decided the air filtration system was good enough at Ashe for it to still be considered an outdoor venue. The USTA held a one-hour press conference Wednesday to reaffirm its belief in Ashe as an outdoor space. So much for that.
Meanwhile, the roof closes during rainy matches but stays in place throughout the card once closed, even if the rain goes away.
Hence, bring an extra mask, and don’t forget the vaccination card. The USTA said Friday night that Ticketmaster would refund tickets to unvaccinated fans if they don’t care to sell them, but fans still were receiving no-refund messages on the website 20 hours after the announcement.
A USTA spokesman said Ticketmaster was delayed in changing the message and refunds responses now appear. Tickets sales were already down because of the dearth of international tourists who normally flock to Flushing for the Open. “We all have seen in a world still dealing with COVID-19 and things began to shift,’’ USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier told The Post. “With the release of the Mayor’s Executive Order last week, we, and everyone else in New York City, got further details on identification of indoor public spaces. We began to make adjustments then. Over the past day or so, further evolution on what specifically qualifies as an indoor space became clear, so we needed to further adjust our protocols.’’ The mayor’s office stated the Mets and Yankees don’t require proof of vaccination for fans because both stadiums are entirely outdoors. That the USTA took the extra step of banning unvaccinated fans from the entire grounds was applauded by the mayor’s office.
The irony is not lost that about 50 percent of the players in the ATP and WTA are unvaccinated. Third-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas boasted about his unvaccinated status as recently as two weeks ago at the Cincinnati warm-up.
The Greek phenom faces former Open champion Andy Murray in a marquee first-rounder on Ashe Stadium on Monday’s day card. Murray feels the vaccinated versus unvaccinated player issue will grow in importance.
“Over the next few months things are going to probably end up changing quite a bit,’’ Murray said Sunday. “I know the conversations with regards to the Australian Open and stuff are already happening. There’s going to have to be a lot of pretty long, hard conversations. Even in New York, you’ve got the situation with gyms need to be vaccinated; eating in restaurants. The reason why all of us are getting vaccinated is to look out for the wider public. We have a responsibility as players that are traveling across the world to look out for everyone else as well.’’