As automation increasingly disrupts labor markets and the workforce, governments must implement proactive policies to ensure that the benefits of technological progress are shared broadly across society. If left unaddressed, automation has the potential to exacerbate socioeconomic divides and inequality by primarily affecting lower-skilled jobs and helping those with higher skills, more education, and greater wealth. Through implementing a robust and multifaceted policy approach, governments can help manage this transition and prevent automation from disproportionately harming disadvantaged populations.

One of the most important steps governments must take is to significantly invest in vocational education, job training programs, and lifelong learning opportunities. As automation eliminates many routine tasks, reskilling and upskilling large swaths of the workforce will be essential for allowing people to gain the new skills needed for jobs less susceptible to replacement by machines. Beyond just allocating funding, governments should work with employers, unions, community colleges, and universities to design comprehensive training programs tailored towards developing skills matching those forecasted to be in growing demand as work becomes more non-routine and interactive. Subsidizing such programs, especially for disadvantaged groups, can help prevent barriers that may hinder workers’ ability to transition into new occupations and fields.

Governments also need to modernize their social safety net programs and labor policies to provide a robust support structure given the potential mass displacements of workers. This includes expanding and reforming unemployment insurance programs to provide more coverage, for longer periods of time, and make eligibility requirements more flexible given the possibility of permanent job losses, rather than temporary layoffs, due to automation. Active labor market policies could assist the unemployed, such as job search assistance programs, wage subsidies for jobseekers, public sector hiring and community benefit programs. Advancing universal basic income proposals is another option some argue could help address issues of job insecurity and inequality in an automated future. Beyond cash transfers, targeted social programs may also be needed to support vulnerable populations disproportionately impacted.

To complement these efforts, governments must implement new policies that foster business investment and job creation in sectors with growth opportunities amidst automation. This involves everything from tailoring tax incentives for R&D targeting certain fields to strategic public investments in scientific research, high-tech infrastructure, and other areas aligned with developing technologies like AI, biotech, green energy and more. Streamlining regulations and creating specialized industry zones can also attract private capital towards expanding employment opportunities. Similarly, placing conditions on subsidies or tax breaks for automating companies to retrain displaced workers or implement hiring quotas could help address the challenge in a balanced manner.

In addition to active labor market and social policies, governments need to consider reforming education at all levels to better prepare citizens for the skills demands of tomorrow. K-12 education systems should integrate more STEM, computational thinking and social-emotional skills from an early age. Meanwhile, higher education requires reforms like subsidizing vocational programs, making public colleges tuition-free, and incentivizing curriculums aligned with emerging fields. Lifelong learning opportunities beyond initial schooling also need empowerment through options like subsidized online course platforms, skills certification programs and learning accounts workers can draw from over their careers.

Governments have a role to play in shaping how automation is developed and deployed to maximize its benefits for society. “Automation with a human touch” should be a guiding principle. This involves everything from supporting interdisciplinary research at the intersection of technology and jobs to establishing ethics review boards and human-centered design standards for AI. It may even require interventions like mandating reasonable retraining periods before large-scale layoffs due to automation or requiring “human in the loop” oversight for algorithms affecting people’s lives. The goal is for technological progress and job disruption to be managed inclusively and cooperatively between workers, companies and policymakers.

By comprehensively investing in workforce reskilling, strengthening social safety nets, fostering new job growth, reforming education and helping guide more responsible technology development, governments have the means to ensure automation lifts society as a whole rather than leaving many behind. It will require a level of proactivity, coordination and innovation from policymakers not seen to date. If done right, an automated future could be one with broadly shared increases in living standards, leisure and quality of life – but left unmanaged it risks greater inequality, insecurity and societal problems. With the right balanced policies, the benefits of automation can be maximized while the costs are minimized.