Future of Work in the ASEAN
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Authored by Aayush Rathi, Vedika Pareek, Divij Joshi, and Pranav Bidare
Research assistance by Sankalp Srivastava and Anjanaa Aravindan
Edited by Elonnai Hickok and Ambika Tandon
Supported by Tides Foundation
Introduction
The world of work, and its future, have attracted a lot of attention in recent times. The discussion has been provoked by the confluence of recent technological breakthroughs that portend to have wide-ranging implications on work and livelihoods. In what has been termed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” or “Industry 4.0” , the discussion has engaged numerous stakeholders. However, no shared understanding of what this future of work will look like has materialised. Historical scholarship around technological change and its impact on the labour market was focussed in the context of high-income countries. Contemporaneously, however, research is being produced that outlines the possible futures of work in low and middle-income contexts. It is exigent to generate scholarship dedicated to low and middle-income contexts given that in addition to technological drivers, the future of work will be mediated through region and country specific factors such as socioeconomic,geopolitical and demographic change.
