Is Work Worth Saving? | Dr. Ben Zweig

Is Work Worth Saving? | Dr. Ben Zweig

From 12 Geniuses Podcast by Don MacPherson

February 9, 2026 · 34 min · Season 14 · Episode 22

About this episode

Dr. Ben Zweig discusses the challenges in the world of work and how to improve job design for dignity and purpose.

Dr. Ben Zweig joins the podcast from NYU’s Stern School of Business to discuss what is wrong with the world of work and how to fix it. Ben is the author of the book “Job Architecture: Building a Language for Workforce Intelligence,” professor of Economics, and CEO of Revelio Labs.  In this conversation, Ben discusses the challenges created when a new employee finds out after working a few months that the job that was described to them is different than what they are doing. Ben says this lack of clarity results in pendulum swings between rapid job expansions and mass layoffs. He also discusses how work can be better designed to be a source of dignity and purpose. Ben believes that management is about job reconfiguration in order to keep employees relevant so those employees are able to meet current and future needs at their organizations. Ben also shares his opinion on whether or not work - in an augmented world of robots and AI - should be saved. The interview finishes with a conversation about the future of work, how artificial intelligence will augment every job, and the likelihood AI and robots will be taxed in order to generate revenue to pay for universal basic income…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr Ben Zweig

Topics covered

  • work
  • job design
  • management
  • artificial intelligence
  • future of work

Keywords

  • workforce intelligence
  • job architecture
  • AI
  • universal basic income

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Job Architecture

Books & works: Job Architecture: Building a Language for Workforce Intelligence

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