Advances in labour-saving technology have sparked a public debate about the ‘Future of Work’. An important role in this debate is played by policy-focused literature produced by institutions such as government agencies, international organisations, think tanks, and consulting firms. Using qualitative coding, the present study analyses this ‘grey’ literature (a total of 195 documents published in English 2013–2018) with a focus on what problem perceptions, frames, and policy recommendations prevail in this literature. We find that the dominant narrative treats technological advances as a prime cause of challenges in the labour market and places the main responsibility on the shoulders of individuals in the form of ‘upskilling’. We show how versions of this narrative vary across different types of institutions, what types of organisations are the most prolific publishers of policy papers in this space, and we offer a critique of dominant narratives within the ‘Future of Work’ discourse.

中文翻译：

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构建“工作的未来”：政策话语分析

节省劳动力的技术的进步引发了一场关于“工作的未来”的公开辩论。由政府机构、国际组织、智囊团和咨询公司等机构制作的以政策为中心的文献在这场辩论中发挥了重要作用。本研究使用定性编码分析了这些“灰色”文献（2013-2018 年共发表了 195 篇英文文件），重点关注这些文献中普遍存在的问题认知、框架和政策建议。我们发现，占主导地位的叙述将技术进步视为劳动力市场挑战的主要原因，并将主要责任以“提高技能”的形式放在个人肩上。我们展示了这种叙述的版本如何在不同类型的机构中有所不同，