The great labor market reboot
Over 30 million Americans have become unemployed over the past six weeks.
Millions more lost jobs in other countries, while millions more will become unemployed and poor as businesses shrink or go under.
Yet, as economies start coming out of lockdown, we face an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild the global workforce in a better, smarter way.
The pandemic outbreak galvanized a renewed realization that the pre-pandemic labor market wasn’t working for all: that many people were left behind and that opportunity and income inequalities unequally affected people of color.
Indeed, lockdowns penalized most those who were already worst off.
Low-paid, low-skilled workers saw their jobs evaporate overnight; while better-paid middle- and high-skilled workers quickly shifted to working from the comfort of their Internet-connected, digitally-wired homes.
It turns out that 37% of all jobs can be done from home. In the US, these jobs account for 46% of total wages, which means they are highly paid. In the UK, working-from-home workers are paid twice as much as those in shutdown jobs.
Amazon, Uber and others offered minimally- and low-paid workers extra pay just to encourage them to show up at work, despite the imminent risk of infection. It’s most troubling that these companies came to offer slightly more pay only when they faced the threat of complete business standstill.
This reality is unsustainable, on multiple levels.
Our post-pandemic labor market can — and, indeed, should — work differently.
The great reboot we’re talking about calls for reforming and retooling access to information, opportunity, livelihood, and economic security.
It’s about democratizing the future.
Practically speaking, key elements of the post-pandemic future should include —
Internet access as a basic public utility (because the digital divide reinforces the opportunity divide and perpetuates ‘opportunity deserts’)
Skilling as a right (so people can become more productive and move on to better-paying jobs)
Skill-based hiring as the norm (so those who can’t afford getting costly credentials are not doomed)
Fair pay as fair play (so as to end the exploitative practice of cheap labor)
The transition to the post-pandemic world presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for public and business leaders alike to act swiftly and lead the way in building a better, smarter and socially sustainable workforce.
Rebooting the market will not only benefit business; it will produce a more resilient future workforce as well.
We have an opportunity — indeed, a duty — to effect change. Not only because social and distributive justice demands it. But because urgent business needs make it the only rational choice.
In other words, recovering from the pandemic outbreak is an opportunity to accelerate business and labor market transformation into the digital future.
And, as you might have surmised, the Next Generation KnackApp is set to play an ever greater role in retooling and enabling this post-pandemic future.
Stay tuned.