15.679 Work Lab: Building Better Jobs
Can companies boost productivity and innovation by designing higher-quality jobs? How can organizations reorganize work to make the best use of new technologies?
15.679 Work Lab: Building Better Jobs teaches students to model, evaluate, and re-design work systems that enhance competitive performance while improving worker well-being. The lessons will be drawn particularly from frontline workers in manufacturing environments.
Working directly with employers, students will analyze cutting-edge approaches to work organization and examine how job roles are evolving in an era of rapid technological change. By focusing on specific technologies and work roles, students will learn to navigate how to manage role reconfiguration in the face of well-worn processes and organizational hurdles.
Key learning objectives:
- Understanding workforce challenges facing employers and their potential impact on short-term and long-term business performance.
- Identifying evidence-based interventions for employers to improve job quality, particularly for frontline workers in industrial settings.
- Modeling the relationship between tasks and skills in industrial jobs to identify opportunities for automation and work re-design.
Interested in hosting a project?
Please reach out to iwer@mit.edu