IBL News | New York
MIT released a free, practical, eight-week-long course that provides resources and tools to plan a career path in the age of increasing dominance of artificial intelligence.
The course, Shaping Work of the Future, is available through MITx on edX and may be accessed at any time of the year. So far, over 17,000 learners have enrolled in the class.
Participants are eligible to sign up and receive an MITx Certificate upon completion.
Now in its sixth year, Shaping Work of the Future, has added new content, such as case studies and lectures from MIT’s leading technology and workplace academics. This year’s partnerships include, among others, the World Economic Forum and the International Labor Organization.
“The course goes beyond the headlines and focuses instead on what steps we can actually take to impact the future of work along with future-proofing our own skillset,” said the authors.
The key to this year’s new content are findings from the initial report by the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future with a focus on how to improve the quality of jobs, reduce income inequality and provide opportunities for long-term career success for everyone in the labor force. Additionally, featuring a case study on Optimax Systems, Inc.’s innovative management philosophy built on three key pillars, along with a a discussion on the ways participants can bring their ideas to fruition around the creation of a new social contract.
Co-designers of the course includes Thomas Kochan, George Maverick Bunker, the Professor of Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and the co-director of the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research, and Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future and the MIT Industrial Performance Center.
Kochan has contributed two new lectures on “High Road Business Practices” and “The Role of Government” to the curriculum. Meanwhile, Dr. Reynolds’s contributed lectures on “Geography of Work” and “Policy Recommendations from the Task Force.”
David Autor, Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, added a new lecture on “Work of the Past: Work of the Future”.
“If we take the right actions, we can empower workers to build rewarding careers and shape the future of work in ways that meet the needs of individuals, families, economies, and societies,” said Prof. Kochan. “To do so, we first need to understand how work is changing, how firms can compete and prosper while still supporting good jobs, how to update the policies, institutions, and practices governing the world of work, and then outline a path for everyone to help build a new social contract. That’s what this course is all about!”
Session topics are:
Class 1: Challenges & Opportunities for Work: Today and Tomorrow
Class 2: The Past Century of Work
Class 3: How Emerging Technologies are Changing Work
Class 4: Rethinking Skills and Education
Class 5: The Role of Business in Shaping Work
Class 6: The Role of Labor in Shaping Work
Class 7: The Role of Civic Institutions and Government in Shaping Work
Class 8: Putting it all Together: Social Contract Phase 2 and Developing a Personal Impact Plan
