51视频

10/30/2019
By Ed Brennen

Even with a double major in economics and American studies, senior Madeline Hertz figures she鈥檒l one day be among the nearly 57 million Americans 鈥� or of the U.S. workforce 鈥� taking part in the gig economy.

鈥淚f I want to afford an apartment in Boston and live the kind of lifestyle that I want, I will more than likely need to supplement my income with side work,鈥� the Andover native says.

That being the case, Hertz has a keen interest in how to better protect nontraditional gig workers 鈥� one of the topics covered at a recent panel discussion, 鈥淭he Gig Economy, Automation and You,鈥� hosted by 51视频鈥檚 Labor Education Program at O鈥橪eary Library.

Moderated by Assoc. Prof. Mignon Duffy, chair of the Sociology Department, the panel featured Scott Latham, an associate professor of management in the Manning School of Business, and Thomas Kochan, co-director of the MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research.

The discussion, which drew close to 100 students, faculty and community members, explored how freelance workers are shaping the workforce, how artificial intelligence and automation are changing the nature of employment and what students can do to prepare for the future.

鈥淪tudents were initially really excited about the gig economy, thinking, 鈥業 want to be my own boss,鈥欌�� says Elizabeth Pellerito, coordinator of the Labor Education Program. 鈥淭hat sounds great, but they鈥檙e not seeing the full picture of what that looks like.鈥�

Image by Ed Brennen

To give students of all majors a more complete picture, the panelists covered topics that included wage stagnation, universal basic income and the recent law passed in California that requires app-based companies like Uber and Lyft to extend basic benefits to contract workers.

鈥淭he next decade will witness the largest workforce disruption in history,鈥� said Latham, whose research focuses on technology鈥檚 impact on the future of work. 鈥淲e need to have a serious discussion about how we help people adapt, because this disruption is going to cut across all professions. We鈥檙e talking radiologists, pharmacists and surgeons, not just painters, plumbers and electricians.鈥�

While Kochan agreed that automation is disrupting the workforce, he said the problem is in the quality, not quantity, of the jobs that remain, which is leading to a polarization of employment and historic income inequality.

鈥淎s people鈥檚 jobs are affected, many of the jobs that people go to are low-wage service jobs,鈥� said Kochan, who is a member of MIT鈥檚 Task Force on the Work of the Future. 鈥淲e have to find ways to upgrade the quality of jobs so that we can deal with this enormous amount of anger, frustration and difficulty that we find in this economy.鈥�

Kochan referred to his task force鈥檚 , released a month earlier, that called for public and private action to harness technology to create 鈥渁 more inclusive society with a more broadly shared prosperity.鈥�

Image by Ed Brennen

鈥淲e need fundamental change in the role of corporations. This era of maximizing shareholder value has to come to an end,鈥� Kochan said. 鈥淲e have to make sure that we rebuild the worker鈥檚 voice and strengthen the role of workers.鈥�

Kochan doesn鈥檛 know if California鈥檚 gig economy rights law, which is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, will work as expected, but he鈥檚 interested in seeing it 鈥渁s an experiment.鈥�

Latham, meanwhile, said the law was well-intended but 鈥渉am-handed,鈥� since many gig workers want the personal freedom of working on demand for companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash 鈥� freedom they could lose if they are considered full-time employees.

As for advice to students about to enter this transforming work world, both Latham and Kochan said it鈥檚 critical to engage in lifelong learning.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an increasing call for a 60-year curriculum. As bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 students in this room, this is not your last stop,鈥� said Latham, who encouraged students to be active in shaping their future careers. 鈥淒on鈥檛 be passive. The future of work is not something that鈥檚 going to be the product of a light switch; it鈥檚 going to be the product of the decisions you make as individuals.鈥�

Kochan told students to seek out employers who will help them learn new skills to 鈥渄eepen and broaden your human capital,鈥� and to make sure those skills combine technical and social know-how.

Image by Ed Brennen

鈥淛ust about everyone your age grew up with these technologies,鈥� Kochan said. 鈥淵our ability to add value to them, to manipulate them, combined with the social skills of being able to analyze problems, communicate ideas, work in teams and resolve problems with colleagues 鈥� that鈥檚 what鈥檚 valued.鈥�

The advice left students like Hertz more hopeful about their futures.

鈥淧rof. Latham mentioned a stat about how most of the jobs in 10 to 15 years haven鈥檛 even been created today,鈥� Hertz said. 鈥淲hen I think about that, it鈥檚 sort of scary. But maybe it鈥檚 reassuring that I鈥檓 getting a social science degree, where I鈥檓 learning some of these communication skills that are going to be important to maintain throughout my career.鈥�

The Labor Education Program, led by Director Susan Winning, provides training, education and strategic planning support to workers, unions and other community-based organizations.

鈥淲e know students have a lot of anxiety right now about the job market and what the future looks like,鈥� Pellerito says. 鈥淲e want to start to ask some of those questions and think about what that means specifically for our students at 51视频.鈥�