24 NEWSWEEK.COM NOVEMBER 15, 2019
STEM
up to 30 percent of jobs are at risk of auto-
mation. And the assumptions of previous gener-
ations—that a company would provide lifelong
employment and a comfortable retirement—is
increasingly breaking down. Ninety four percent
of new jobs are temporary, gig or contract work,
and fewer people are able to save for retirement.
These shifts are impacting millennials through-
out their careers, but they’re also creating issues
for older workers as companies push them out in
order to replace them with younger workers. A re-
cent study by ProPublica showed that more than
half of workers over the age of 50 will be pushed
out of a job and only 10 percent will find another
job that pays a comparable amount.
It’s important that the government supports
efforts by companies to retrain and re-
skill their workers. But studies show that
government-run retraining programs
are ineffective—the success rate being
somewhere between 0 and 15 percent. When you
think about it, that effectiveness level shouldn’t be
that surprising. The truck drivers I know didn’t like
school the first time around. Asking them to learn
to code now in their adult lives is ridiculous.
Instead, we have to reinvigorate local economies
through what I call a “Freedom Dividend” of $1,000
a month. That will provide a safety net for those
laid off because of technological changes while also
providing a safety net for entrepreneurs. For exam-
ple, it might not make sense for someone to leave
their job to start a restaurant in their struggling
community. But it might make more sense if you
have $1,000 a month as a floor.
Another step government can take: Create senior
positions in the administration to work with indi-
viduals in the affected job categories to find a path
forward. I’ve already committed to hiring a trucking
czar to help truck drivers transition from their cur-
rent jobs to other jobs, and I would do something
similar for retail workers, food service/prep workers
and others impacted by the automation wave.
HOW TO PROTECT
JOBLESS GEN ZS,
MILLENNIALS AND
GEN X-ERS IN 2030
“Technology and progress are good things ... as long as we set up systems
to ensure that everyone gets to BENEFIT from
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