Nov. 15, 2016
At this point automation is inevitable, but that just means we need to think longer and harder about how we prepare for its consequences.
On Tuesday, Fusion Editor-at-Large Alexis Madrigal spoke on the topic with Aspen Institute Fellow Natalie Foster and Jakada Imani of the The Workers Lab at the Real Future Fairin Oakland. They discussed the gig economy, our new political reality, and the future of labor.
Foster used to work for the Obama Administration, and has spent the past few years researching and writing about portable benefits, an idea that’s particularly popular in the technology industry where worker protections and healthcare would travel with individuals rather than being tied to employers.
“Gone are the days where we had one job and we had one employer,” Foster said.
The Workers Lab, where Imani is managing director, is an Oakland-based organization that’s trying to apply the logic of startups and Silicon Valley accelerators to projects in service of the labor movement.