Weekends are time when things slow down a little. Your weekend shouldn’t be two more regular workdays. That’s a sure road to burnout. Take time to refresh yourself. Take time for something different. Take time for some of that reading you can’t find time for during the week.

Here are choice articles on hot leadership topics culled from the business schools, the business press and major consulting firms. This week there are articles about work and workers now and in the future.

From Susan Lund, James Manyika, Liz Hilton Segel, André Dua, Bryan Hancock, Scott Rutherford, and Brent Macon: The future of work in America: People and places, today and tomorrow

“The US labor market looks markedly different today than it did two decades ago. It has been reshaped by dramatic events like the Great Recession but also by a quieter ongoing evolution in the mix and location of jobs. In the decade ahead, the next wave of automation technologies may accelerate the pace of change. Millions of jobs could be phased out even as new ones are created. More broadly, the day-to-day nature of work could change for nearly everyone as intelligent machines become fixtures in the American workplace.”

From the London Business School: Work what is it good for

“We will never completely understand people and organisations if we don’t first understand why we work, say the LBS authors of a new book”

From Julia Hanna: Walmart’s Workforce of the Future

“A case study by William Kerr explores Walmart’s plans for future workforce makeup and training, and its search for opportunities from digital infrastructure and automation.”

From Shannon Marie Gaydos: 4 Bold Predictions for the Workforce of 2030

“The world of work is shifting more rapidly than ever before. But while some trends are written about ad nauseum, other key trends may not receive the attention they deserve. We read about robots and work-from-anywhere and millennials as managers, not to mention skills-based hiring and all things ‘agile workforce.’ We know tenure is trending down, ‘worktirement’ is trending up, and that school curriculums are not keeping up with the ever-accelerating pace of technology. And in the U.S. on the doorstep is 10,000 Americans a day reaching retirement age — a demographic boom leading to a 20 percent senior population by 2035, the highest in history. e can do better about looking at these trends holistically and anticipating the longer-term impacts.”

From Irving Wladawsky-Berger: The MIT Work of the Future Report

“‘The world now stands on the cusp of a technological revolution in artificial intelligence and robotics that may prove as transformative for economic growth and human potential as were electrification, mass production, and electronic telecommunications in their eras,’ said the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future in its recently released interim report. The final report will be issued after conducting additional research over the next year.”

Book Suggestions

What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader by Alison Reynolds, Jules Goddard , et al.

The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy & Society by William R. Kerr, Mark Uhlemann, et al.

The 2030 Papers: How Tech, Debt and Aging Will Change the Way We Learn, Work and Die by Shannon Gaydos

The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation by Darrell M. West

The Future of Work: Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization by Jacob Morgan

Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization? by Aaron Dignan

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Every Monday, I do a blog post about business reading and business books. Follow this link to my review of The Leader You Want to Be by Amy Jen Su