With increasing automation comes the concern that many non-cognitive jobs will be replaced by machines. This could cause a polarizing effect where there are fewer and lower-paid jobs for middle-skill workers, and higher pay for high-skill workers. However, a new report by the World Economic Forum finds some reason to be optimistic about the future of work. With some reskilling, the average US worker has no less than 48 “good-fit” new career pathways to choose from.

“For the most part, R&D expenditures that result in product innovation are generally labor-friendly, creating new jobs, while embodied technological change that results in process innovation is generally job-destroying,” writes Marco Vivarelli in his article Innovation and employment.

While Michael Gibbs acknowledges that technology can cause market polarization, he points out that “new technology has always generated dire labor market predictions that have never come to fruition.”

Should we be optimistic about the future of work? View more articles about innovation and the future of work:

• How is new technology changing job design? by Michael Gibbs
• Innovation and employment by Marco Vivarelli
• Who owns the robots rules the world by Richard B. Freeman