Newsweek - USA (2019-11-08)

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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