The way we work is changing and those at the cusp of that change will emerge victorious.

So says speakers at a conference titled “An Equitable and Sustainable Future of Work,” held April 11 at Lehigh University’s Mountaintop Campus. The school partnered with the International Labor Organization to create the event.

Among the speakers were Elliott Harris, who serves as the United Nations’ assistant secretary-general for economic development and a chief economist for the organization, served as the day-long event’s keynote speaker.

A globalist, he noted five ways that technology will change work in the coming years. Harris included digitalization of operational services; globalization of production and work relationships; how work can change rapidly, requiring lifelong learning; dynamics of trade; and the digital divide.

Another speaker, Bill Gaudelli who serves as the dean of Lehigh’s College of Education, lectured the audience about how to transform teacher education. His theory would start with examining the experience of teaching, facilitating reflection on that and then introducing theories of pedagogy.

“Experimenting learning is the foundation of learning,” he said.

Another discussion featured a panel of experts discussing how to improve global value chains for decent work. The consensus of the discussion revealed a dominant storyline - the future of supply chain is in the hands of the digital revolution. They urged leaders lead boldly on innovation, implement best practices and evolve their role to enhance operational efficiency.

One member of the panel was Bob Silverman, the executive vice president of Supply Chain and Logistics Solutions, JLL, said with new technology at the front of the digital transformation initiative, executives can lead the charge and develop their strategies to produce successful outcomes.

However, the panel did not completely label all changes as good. For example, technological advances - such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics - will create new jobs. The question is how many jobs will it create and what will be the net amount when jobs lost are considered.

“Those who lose their jobs in the transition may be the least equipped to seize the new opportunities,” Silverman said.

In addition, the panel’s consensus was that today’s skills will not match the jobs of tomorrow in a globalist economy. Worse, newly acquired skills may quickly become obsolete, requiring constant education and retraining.