The labouring capacity index: Living labouring capacity and experience as resources on the road to industry 4.0

‘Industry 4.0’ is more discourse than reality. Yet, unlike many other prognostications of social change, it quickly set off a broad and vital public debate. Industry 4.0 promises to improve economic growth, competitiveness and innovative capacity, but above and beyond these it also is supposed to bring better working conditions generally, more creativity, higher resource efficiency, greater compatibility between work and private life and working conditions that better adapt themselves to the needs of older workers (Kagermann/Wahlster/ Helbig 2013: 5).