Career Preparedness and Safety Nets as Hedges Against an Uncertain Work Future

Abstract

Some economic forecasters envision a precarious and unstable occupational future for many workers. Yet policymakers, technologists, social scientists, and others have been slow to consider proactive solutions to prevent, or limit the effects of, large-scale work instability or loss. In this essay, I briefly consider two sets of preventive or damage-limiting strategies, one focused on large-scale systemic interventions and the other on additions to the content and focus of career development interventions. At the systemic level, I discuss proactive repairs to the social safety net to prevent poverty, unemployment, and underemployment. At the level of career services, I advocate for placing a greater emphasis on career-life preparedness and choice architecture strategies designed to help students and workers make work choices that may be relatively sustainable, if not entirely “robot-proof,” over the foreseeable future.