The future of work: understanding automation in the workplace

This event has been cancelled

In Speaker Evening Clare Szaroleta, Senior Strategic Communications Manager, Capita; and Anastasia Knox, Associate Partner, BritainThinks reveal the experiences and views of employees across England to understand how automation is impacting the future world of work, and what can be done to support people through this shift.  

This event has been cancelled 
What you’ll learn:

• A vivid picture, beyond the headlines, of what automation in the workplace really looks like
• Which common automation myths stand up to scrutiny, and which don’t
• What employers and employees think could be done to support people through the shift to automation
• The impact of automation in the workplace, in research participants’ own words, through the use of filmed vox pop clips
• How Capita is acting on the findings from this research

The debate about the role of automation in the workplace and the future of work is lively and emotive. On the one hand, we need increasing levels of automation in order to compete in the global economy. On the other, automation brings with it fears of jobs being taken over by robots, with rising levels of long-term unemployment and all the negative individual and social impacts that would bring.

Against this backdrop, Capita has delivered a programme of work to understand what is really happening in the workplace as a result of automation, and to explore the social and policy implications of this shift in the way we work.

The project, using primary research by BritainThinks, engaged employees in five sectors across England to understand their experiences of automation and their views on what action needs to be taken to mitigate its potentially negative impacts.

This interactive evening brings the findings to life through filmed clips of participants exploring what automation means for the future of work looking at:

• How employees in different sectors are experiencing automation on the ground
• The pros and cons of automation from the employee perspective
• How automated processes are introduced to the workplace and what ‘good’ looks like from the employee perspective
• What action employees think employers and Government should take to ensure the smooth introduction of automation

About the speakers:

Clare Szaroleta is a Senior Strategic Communications Manager at Capita, a consulting, digital services and software business. She leads Capita’s thought leadership campaigns across a range of subjects, including responsible technology and automation.

Clare’s background is in corporate communications, reputation management and corporate social responsibility, having experience with international organisations including Shell, Chatham House, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Which?, the consumer association.

Anastasia Knox is an Associate Partner at BritainThinks, an international insight and strategy consultancy. Her work spans a range of sectors and issues, including automation in the workplace, health and social care, and utilities. She works regularly with audiences ranging from senior stakeholders through to seldom-heard and vulnerable groups.

Anastasia is frequently in demand as a commentator on public opinion and has written for a range of publications, including national newspapers and specialist trade press, as well as making television appearances.

This event has been postponed