Economics Wire: 3 Trends Shaping Global Labor Market

Technology, culture and globalization are influencing the global labor market, and Economics Wire identifies three trends. First, the internet is connecting more work equipment. More people work from home and other remote locations. Researchers are quickly developing robots and artificial intelligence, putting any task performed by humans under threat. Second, the workday is shrinking – which reduces wages but creates more jobs. Sweden leads the way with a six-hour day. Companies that reduce hours report increased productivity and less employee turnover. “The disparity in work days could be attributed to differences in culture, as Europeans generally discourage work from encroaching into their personal lives,” notes Economics Wire, adding that Americans must work harder often at multiple jobs due to wage stagnation as well as low tax rates that translate into fewer social protections. Finally, the labor market is showing greater inequality with the loss of middle-income jobs and a pronounced divide between high-paid positions that seek highly skilled workers and low-wage jobs for the less educated. – YaleGlobal