But some of the issues yet to be resolved include how to adapt to an ageing workforce, finding rewarding jobs for the young, the old, people suffering from mental illness and who need work to provide meaning to their lives.
The first University of Otago Winter Symposium series was held last night in Parliament's theatrette before about 80 people.
The symposium, held in conjunction with the Otago Daily Times, discussed the future of work which ODT columnist Joe Bennett declared was ''doom and gloom delivered with a smile''.
Dr Sara Walton, of the Otago University's department of management, led off the evening by explaining she and her team had been researching the future of work in Dunedin to 2030, the future of ICT in Dunedin, and had received funding to research high-value manufacturing to 2040.
Substantial and significant changes were on their way, she said.
New Zealand was likely to have a population of 5.4 million but the nature of work would have significantly changed.
Some large-scale manufacturers would still be operating but there would also be clusters of small companies working closely together.
Those smaller companies would combine to deliver high-value goods on reduced timescales and meet tight deadlines.
The world was going through its fourth digital revolution of technology and there would be a blurring of lines between physical and digital work.
Prof David Baxter, of the Otago School of Physiotherapy, discussed the significant shift in the age of the population.
In the next 20 years, 22% of the New Zealand population would be 65 or older, 500,000 people more than 2016.
Rural communities were likely to be skewed towards older people and the challenge was how to keep those people engaged in work that gave their lives meaning.
He suggested there would be an occupational shift of people to areas where they could find those with similar work or hobby interests, and used Alexandra as an example.
Alexandra was where a lot of people moved for retirement because shops were accessible, they could get to their local pub or club without driving, and the biggest danger was getting run over by a mobility scooter, he said to laughter.
Prof Richard Porter is the head of the Department of Psychological Medicine, in Christchurch, and had recently focused on the impairment in memory, thinking and emotional processing in depression and bipolar disorder, and the relationship of this to general impairment in functions.
He urged employers to be more accommodating to people with mental disorders and cognitive impairment, as the greatest help they could provide to sufferers was providing meaningful work.
Even now, workers were reluctant to tell their employer why they were off work, if they were suffering from depression or other types of mental illness.
However, one in five workers had a significant mental illness and one in 10 had severe mental illness associated with cognitive impairment.
''It's important for employers to know and understand. Providing an environment for people with cognitive illness allows them to work to the best of their ability.''
That could mean a quiet office when the reality often was an open office with constant emails, phones ringing and mobile devices constantly pinging, Prof Porter said.
Finally, Dr Andrew Coleman, who holds joint positions in the Department of Economics and the New Zealand Productivity Commission, told the audience the opening inequality divide meant most people would end up working for the very rich.
His future of work involved a lot of very good jobs, a lot of very bad jobs and a lot of people working for themselves, but not effectively.
In the past, education from a tertiary institute was a way to securing a top job. In the future, that might not be the case. Education would come from one of the top firms in the country.
''Choosing the right firm is more important than ever.''
When challenged on his gloomy future, Dr Coleman replied there was a wonderful world out there. Unfortunately, not everyone would be part of it.
The symposium series continues next week in Auckland where the topic will be: regionalism and the dominance of Auckland.
