Imagining the (Distant) Future of Work

Across two datasets—a corpus of 485 print media articles and a multiactor survey of tech/innovation experts, authors/journalists, economy/labor market experts, policymakers/ public administrators, and engaged citizens (n = 570)—we build the case that the future of work is a fiction, not a fact; or, better yet, a series of competing fictions prescribing what the future will or should look like. Using an abductive and curiosity-driven mixed-method analysis process, we demonstrate that different narratives about the future of work stand in direct relation to specific actors in the public debate, through both framing tactics used by narrators in the media, and political and dispositional processes of narrative subscription. We conclude that future of work research requires a paradigm shift: from “predictions” to “imaginaries.” This will help counter deterministic and depoliticized understandings of the future of work. We propose an integration of theory around framing contests, field frames, narrative subscription, and corresponsive mechanisms to offer a plausible account of our empirical discoveries and develop a research agenda. Per our study’s practical implications, the future of work need not be something that happens “to us”—instead, it can be what we “make it.”.