(24 Mar) Still Worth Doing? A Public Conversation on the Future of Work

Perhaps the only thing clear about the future of work is its own uncertainty. Yet, amid economic disruption and the rise of AI, public discussion has mostly been limited to predicting available jobs and “employable” degrees. This panel shifts our attention back to the question of work and its role in social life. What will change in the everyday tasks we fulfil as workers, and what meaning should we give to such efforts? What sort of career is still worthy of human skill and emotion? How do we review a performance when labor is partly outsourced to technology?

Featuring researchers from across Singapore’s universities, this panel will discuss the changes and challenges in three major aspects of work: care, creativity, and communications. In looking ahead, this panel explores not only what jobs will likely persist, but how work must and should evolve. Join us to reimagine the future of work!

Speakers

Assoc Prof Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Yasmin is Associate Professor of Sociology at SMU’s School of Social Sciences. She studies how the changing ideas of “skill” shapes how and why people migrate across borders. Her book, Stuck at Home: Pandemic Immobilities in the Nation of Emigration was published by Stanford University Press.

Prof Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho

Elaine is Provost’s Chair Professor at the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on transnational ageing and care in the Asia-Pacific; and diaspora engagement and diplomacy. Both topics address her overarching interest in citizenship geographies.

Assoc Prof Cheng Chi-Ying

Chi-Ying is Associate Professor of Psychology at School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. Her research examines how individuals negotiate their multiple social identities and reap the benefit of intra-personal diversity from various types of identity integration.

Asst Prof Pei Sze Chow

Pei Sze is Assistant Professor of Digital Culture and New Media at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. She teaches global cinema cultures and studies the social, cultural, and political impacts of AI on creative work, focusing on Singapore and Asia.

Dr Laurel Teo

Laurel is Senior Research Fellow at Institute of Policy Studies heading the Society and Culture department. She studies workplace behaviour, focusing on the Future of Work; tech impacts and how workers, especially vulnerable groups, can become future-ready through reskilling and upskilling.