The fourth wave of the industrial revolution has been seen by many as a very bad idea. Fortunately we’ll soon all be replaced by sentient machines ruled by tech oligarchs.
Don't fear, there's some compelling parallels and lessons from good old fashioned organised labour!
The new ways of working in our workplaces have many benefits - and many new challenges: burnout, tech debt, remote colleagues, rapid hiring/firing, and changing career trajectories.
These challenges may be accelerating, but they’re hardly new, and neither are the solutions. There’s wisdom tucked away in the pages of history, where workers once organized, bargained, and fought for better conditions. We’d do well to dust off those old playbook pages and see what lessons still shine today.
As Cory Doctorow noted at PyCon 2025, “Tech workers’ power never came from solidarity; it came from scarcity”. With AI changing the industry, collective organizing is becoming more attractive to developers seeking job security and workplace protections.
This presentation will provide an overview of common workplace issues, such as burnout, tech debt, remote colleagues, rapid hiring/firing, and changing career trajectories and how they have been addressed in the past through techniques developed by organised labour movements, that will help you have a better work life.
Jonah Sullivan is a Managing Member of the Python Software Foundation, lead organiser of the Canberra Python Users Group, and a long-time chair of the FOSS4G Oceania Conference. A Charter Member of OSGeo and Director of OSGeo Oceania, he is deeply embedded in the open source geospatial Python ecosystem across our region. With a background in environmental science and decades of experience applying Python and GIS tools to real-world problems, from marine planning to automating carbon data pipelines, Jonah is passionate about open data, open software, and building the communities that sustain them.
