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21 Canadian Lab. & Emp. L.J. 239 (2018)
The Political Economy of Precariousness in an Era of Artificial Intelligence: Precarious Work, or None at All

handle is hein.journals/canlemj21 and id is 247 raw text is: The Political Economy of Precariousness in an Era of Artificial Intelligence: Precarious Work, or None At All? Wayne Lewchuk* Canadian labour markets in recent decades have been seen a decline in the standard employment relationship - i.e. permanent full-time, full-year jobs with benefits - and a shift to less secure forms of employment such as part-time jobs, temporary agency work, short-term contracts, and self-employment. This decline has been marked by the failure of wages and benefits to keep pace with productivity growth, increasingly unequal distribution of income, a decrease in labour's share of GDP, and falling union density. In an attempt to provide a more nuanced picture of the nature and extent of precarious employment in the contemporary Canadian economy, the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group developed new instruments to measure the prevalence of the standard employment relationship and of employ- mentprecarity. The author summarizes thefindings set out in PEPSO's research reports, highlighting some of the differences between workers found to be in secure employment and those in precarious employment, and noting the sig- nificant social costs associated with the increase in precarity. In the author's view, concerns that artificial intelligence technology will lead to the end of employment are likely exaggerated. However, the adoption of AI technology in an already stressed labour market may well perpetuate or even accelerate existing trends. The author concludes by outlining several areas in which policy initiatives may help to restore some balance between productivity and wages and provide a buffer against employment insecurity. 1. INTRODUCTION This paper explores the spread of precarious employment in Canada since the 1970s. It asks what this might mean as we adapt to a world in which reliance on artificial intelligence in the workplace becomes more widespread. In particular, it seeks to answer the ques- tion of whether labour policy should focus mainly on a world with- out employment, or on a world where employment is increasingly precarious. * LIUNA Professor of Global Labour Issues, School of Labour Studies and Department of Economics, McMaster University.

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