From the outset, our civilisation has been structured in large part around the concept of work. But now, for the first time in history, human labour is being systematically eliminated from the economic process, and, in the coming century, employment as we have come to know it is likely to disappear. The introduction of a new generation of advanced information and communication technologies, together with new forms of business organisation and management, is forcing millions of workers into temporary jobs and unemployment lines. While unemployment is still relatively low, it can be expected to climb continuously over the coming decades as the global economy fully enters the Information Age. We are ill the early stages of a long-term shift from mass labour to highly skilled "elite labour", accompanied by increasing automation in the production of goods and the delivery of services. Factories and companies without a workforce are beginning to appear. These developments, however, do not necessarily mean a dark future. The gains from this new technological revolution could be shared broadly among all the people, by greatly reducing the working week and creating new opportunities to work on socially useful projects outside the market economy.