Description: "With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and labor-saving technologies like self-checkouts and automated factories, the future of work has never been more uncertain, and even jobs requiring high levels of human interaction are no longer safe. [This book] explores the human connections that underlie our work, arguing that what people do for each other in these settings is valuable and worth preserving. Drawing on in-depth interviews and observations with people in a broad range of professions--from physicians, teachers, and coaches to chaplains, therapists, caregivers, and hairdressers--Allison Pugh develops the concept of 'connective labor,' a kind of work that relies on empathy, the spontaneity of human contact, and a mutual recognition of each other's humanity"
Review Quotes: "Based on a multiyear study of US workers and workplace, Pugh's The Last Human Job is set against a scene of quantification, standardization, and task automation at scale. At stake in Pugh's analysis is the future of connective labor, or the skilled practice of perceiving, acknowledging, and reflecting back others' thoughts and feelings--a blend of emotional labor and psycho-social recognition. . . . Connective labor is not just a task, Pugh says, nor is it reducible to measurable ends. It is an inalienable part of humanity itself, without which the social fabric is left threadbare and thin."---Jenny L. Davis & Hayoung Seo, Public Books