Title: Preparing for the future of work: strategic responses to uncertainty in labour markets

Authors: Loek van Kraaij; Menno Fenger; Guido van Os

Addresses: Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Wibautstraat 3b, 1091 GH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ' Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands ' Netherlands Defence Academy, Hogeschoollaan 2, 4800 CR, Breda, The Netherlands

Abstract: The future of work is uncertain with various developments that are difficult to foresee. Despite this uncertainty, governments need to prepare the labour market for the future. This article identifies four types of government responses to uncertainty: robustness, resilience, agility, and anti-fragility. These policy responses are differentiated according to the intention and timing of governments' considerations of uncertainty. Document analysis shows that this typology is a useful conceptual tool for comparing how governments anticipate the future of the labour market. This typology might also serve as a powerful heuristic to analyse governments' responses to uncertainty in other domains.

Keywords: future of work; labour market policy; uncertainty; strategic responses; policy design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPP.2023.133608

International Journal of Public Policy, 2023 Vol.17 No.1/2, pp.76 - 99

Received: 15 Feb 2022
Received in revised form: 02 Dec 2022
Accepted: 13 Jan 2023
Published online: 25 Sep 2023 *

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