Employment and Industry 4.0. Technological Change and the Future of the Labour Market

The increasing economic and social life with digital technologies is to bring a sustainable structural change that influences professional, public and private life. Against the background of the fundamental uncertainty about the effects of digitalisation, this study examines for the first time for Austria how employment could develop by 2030 in terms of employment status, qualification and job profiles and what opportunities and challenges can be expected with regard to the labour market at this time. The study analyses the current scientific literature on employment effects of Industry 4.0, a statistical long-term analysis of the development of the Austrian labour market and interactions with over 70 stakeholders in industry workshops, interviews and a strategy workshop. As a result, the study provides scenarios for possible employment effects of Industry 4.0 and defines approaches that make a successful transformation to Industry 4.0 possible.