# A Brief Historical View of The Workplace of Tomorrow By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-01-23 In the 1950s and 1960s, there were occasional exhibits, films, and cartoons focusing on “the workplace of tomorrow.” There were several aspects to these predictions. The two were new gadgets and improved quality of life. We now inhabit a time well beyond those envisioned futures. How did we do? The gadgets were produced almost exactly as predicted. We have watch phones and pocket televisions to name just two. As for the quality of life, things haven’t improved much at all. In fact, in some important respects, we are perhaps worse off. Offices aren’t cleaner. We aren’t more ennobled by our work. We don’t have more vacations or shorter work weeks. Sure, we are more productive, but much of those gains go to corporate salaries and investors. What can we learn from a brief historical view of predictions about the workplace of tomorrow? First, it is relatively easy to envision and create technological gadgets. If one can envision how something existing today can be made smaller, more powerful, and more densely integrated, it could very well exist in the future. When it comes to gadgets, if one can think it, one can make it. As for existence, quality of life is not nearly as positively correlated with technology as we have thought. Technology isolates as well as integrates. The same laptop camera that allows for working remotely could monitor uninterrupted. Becoming more productive does not necessarily lead to increases in wages or standards of living. The workplace of tomorrow will be much as it is today unless those engaged in its execution work in solidarity to create something better aligned with human needs and desires. #### Related Items [[Society]] [[Work]] [[Technology]] [[Productivity]]