While jobs are being destroyed, created and transformed, the fundamental issue is that there are not enough well-paying jobs to go around and not enough clear pathways leading to them.
Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, underlying structural changes have placed significant pressure on labour markets. This has profound implications for inter-personal and inter-place inequalities.
The challenge, therefore, is how we create good jobs in a time of crisis, where everyone and everywhere benefits. This event will discuss the opportunities a transition to net zero presents, and how skills policy needs to be reframed to support strong, sustainable and inclusive job creation.
Meet our speakers and chair
Carl Benedikt Frey (@carlbfrey) is Oxford Martin Citi Fellow at the University of Oxford where he directs the programme on the Future of Work at the Oxford Martin School. His academic work has featured in over 100 media outlets, including The Economist, Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Time Magazine, and Le Monde. His most recent book, The Technology Trap, was selected a Financial Times Best Books of the Year in 2019.
Rebecca McDonald (@r_mcdonald_) is the Head of Economics at Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Her work focuses on labour market and social security policy and how these can be used to improve the lives of those living in poverty in the UK. Recently, she has led JRF’s economic thinking on how to improve job quality for low-paid workers and on social security adequacy. Rebecca previously worked at Centre for Cities, an urban policy think-tank, and before that was an economic consultant at PwC.
Anna Valero (@asvalero) is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Centre for Economic Performance, Deputy Director of the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion (POID) and an Associate of the Grantham Research Institute, at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her research is focused on the drivers of productivity and innovation, and in particular the role of skills and universities in explaining differences in economic performance between firms and regions.
Neil Lee (@ndrlee)is Professor of Economic Geography at the Department of Geography and Environment, and leads the Cities, Jobs and Economic Change Research Theme at the International Inequalities Institute, at LSE. Neil's research considers cities, economic change and the social dimensions of innovation.
More about this event
This event is part of the LSE Festival: How Do We Get to a Post-COVID World? running from Monday 13 to Saturday 18 June 2022, with a series of events exploring the practical steps we could be taking to shape a better world.
The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many of the School's departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.
Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival
Podcast & Video
A podcast of this event is available to download from How Can We Create Good Jobs in a Time of Crisis?
A video of this event is available to watch at How Can We Create Good Jobs in a Time of Crisis?
Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.