WHAT ARE SOME POTENTIAL POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR GOVERNMENTS TO HELP WORKERS ADAPT TO THE CHANGES CAUSED BY AI

Job retraining and reskilling programs: As many existing jobs are replaced or significantly redefined by AI, workers will need support and funding to retrain for new roles. Governments could significantly expand apprenticeship programs and vocational training opportunities to equip workers with in-demand skills. Reskilling subsidies and targeted training vouchers for adults seeking new career paths in growing fields like healthcare, programming, and renewable energy would help facilitate career transitions. Training should also focus on teaching generally applicable skills like critical thinking, complex problem solving, collaboration, and social/cultural understanding that complement technological skills and enhance human capacities.

Upskilling incumbent workers: For workers able to retain their existing jobs that are complemented rather than replaced by AI, governments should incentivize and co-fund on-the-job upskilling opportunities. This could include subsidizing continuing education/professional development courses and credential programs for workers to take on specialized or advanced tasks as their duties evolve alongside emerging technologies. It is important to invest in keeping incumbent workers’ skills current to maximize long-term employment stability and competitiveness.

Income and job protection: New social insurance programs may be needed to temporarily financially support workers between jobs as they reskill or while transitioning to new stable employment. This could include expanding existing unemployment benefits in terms of duration and eligibility. Universal basic income policies are also gaining attention as a way to alleviate economic insecurity from job disruption, though there are open questions about feasibility and potential impacts on job seeking. Strong employment protections and just transition policies for displaced workers, such as severance pay and priority rehiring consideration, will also be crucial.

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Promote job creation: Tax incentives, public investments, and preferential procurement can be used to foster startup growth and job generation in dynamic technology sectors where new careers are being created that complement AI, like renewable energy installers, robotic engineers, wind turbine technicians, data analysts, and app developers. Targeted initiatives supporting small business formation and growth in these fields would simultaneously drive innovation and expand employment opportunities with good wages.

Rethink education: To prepare young people with a relevant foundation, educational curricula and apprenticeship programs need revamping with stronger focus on STEM, computational thinking, problem-based learning, critical reasoning, creativity, entrepreneurship, and data literacy. Lifelong learning should be treated as the new norm. Educational funding models may need to promote these shifts and support non-traditional learning pathways like skills bootcamps, digital badges, portable micro-credentials and online training platforms.

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Provide career navigation support and information: Accessible career advising services can help guide workers towards new opportunities, whether through reskilling, entrepreneurship or geographic mobility. Individualized transition roadmaps and information platforms outlining in-demand skills, training programs available, and job prospects across regions empower workers to successfully change careers. Partnerships between government, educators, employers, and technology companies can leverage user data insights to optimize these guidance services.

Invest in displaced regions and communities: Place-based strategies are important for geographical areas facing disproportionate economic disruptions due to major industry automation like towns dependent on declining factories or mines. Initiatives funding new local infrastructure, mixed-use real estate development, small business hubs and co-working spaces can help economic diversification and job creation in struggling areas and prevent ‘left-behind’ places.

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Monitor and respond adaptively: As technologies evolve rapidly, their long-term impacts on work and skills needs are difficult to foresee perfectly. Governments should establish ongoing research initiatives, public-private advisory councils and regular reporting to closely track changing job markets and skill requirements over time. Policies should be designed flexibly to respond to new data and allow for developmental course correction based on monitoring. Open and transparent communication with workers, unions, educators and companies is also critical.

Governments have a clear role to play in facilitating smooth workforce transitions due to AI through strategic investments in reskilling, upskilling, social insurance expansion, economic development initiatives and career guidance systems. Coordinated multi-stakeholder partnerships and holistic, inclusive policy approaches focused on empowering workers with relevant skills for the jobs of tomorrow can help maximize economic opportunities while mitigating societal disruption from emerging technologies. Close monitoring and adaptive policy refinement over time will further optimize support for workers, businesses and communities facing impacts from automation and AI.

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