Exploring the nature and future of work

The nature of work comes in many diverse forms. Just a few aspects and perspectives include: 

• the many forms that 'work' presents itself e.g. self-employment, portfolio working, working as an employee, volunteering etc
• the various kinds of employers out there that you may end up working for e.g. yourself/your own business, micro- and medium-sized, national, multi-national contracts, corporate, social enterprises, not-for-profit, charities, public sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) etc.
• the skills and behaviours required that enable you to enter and succeed in a chosen career or with a given employer(s) and the coninuing professional development (CPD) you'll need to ensure you remain employed / employable througout your working life.  

All of these aspects may then be subject to change (across unpredictable timeframes) based on a whole range of issues. Such issues may include:  

• your experiences, personal circumstances (permanent or yet unforeseen), career aspirations, future opportunities, span of your personal network etc.
• politics, local and global economic influence, societal changes, sustainability agendas, advancement and influence of automation, digital technologies and Artifical Intelligence etc.

In terms of further understanding these aspects of work and their influence on ourselves and others, unfortunately these issues (and perspectives) rarely sit neatly as bite-sized independent issues, so we need to accept that there are no hard and fast lines of demarcation between these subjects and they will often interrelate and intersect. 

However, to help frame your learning and understanding of these issues and help you to decide what broad aspect of the Future of Work you would like to explore further during the Global Hackathon, we have created 3 main themes to help structure your undertanding of the various aspects of 'work'. This thematic approach will also provide the opportunity for you to indicate which area or sub-themes you would prefer to explore during the Hackathon and help us to create teams of students with common and similar interests.  

This section of the website will therefore help you to have a greater understanding of the various aspects of the world of work, acquire a basic understanding of related themes and terminology (if you don't already posssess these) and hopefully provide a common understanding and framework to allow you to discuss and explore such issues with your peers and wider personal networks. 

Click on the following links and themes to find out about the various issues and sub-themes that we shall be exploring during the Future of Work spring programme and Global Hackathon: Globalisation, Skills and Behaviours, Working Environment.