0820_AUG Comstock's Magazine 0820 August | Page 38

ECONOMY
Employment
Thinking Differently
About Our Workforce
Amid the Pandemic
by Evan Schmidt
It’s only been a matter of months,
but life can already be characterized
as before and after COVID-19. It has
touched all areas of life, the workplace
chief among them. Who knew
that our region’s major institutions,
like educational systems, could go
remote in the span of a few weeks?
Who imagined that we could lose such
a significant portion of jobs across
major sectors, like hospitality, retail
and food service? As we contemplate
how to carry on post-COVID, we are
challenged to think differently about
the way we do work, the opportunities
that will emerge, and our approaches
to prosperity and growth.
Thinking differently about post-
COVID life is a chance to reimagine and
update our social, economic and workforce
systems to be more agile, inclusive,
efficient and responsive to the needs
of people. Now is a time of significant
change — we must not let the massive
disruptions we are facing go to waste.
Instead, we need to use this moment to
reimagine our future.
These challenges are top of mind in
my new role as Valley Vision’s CEO. Based
on our years supporting our region’s
workforce system, four priorities are clear
as we contemplate needed changes to
the ways we prepare our workforce and
develop our economy.
Evan Schmidt is CEO of Valley Vision, a civic
leadership organization focused on creating
livable communities in the Capital Region. At
Valley Vision since 2014, Schmidt leads collaborative
and data-driven solutions to economic,
social and environmental challenges.
Schmidt has expertise in advancing research
and initiatives in the future of work.
Prepare for accelerated automation
Automation and other technology trends
already in motion will only gain momentum
as the pandemic reshapes the economy
and ways of doing work. As businesses
recover, employers will be more
likely to look for efficiencies by replacing
human capacity with technology. A recent
report, “Automation Risk for Jobs in
the Capital Region,” conducted by Valley
Vision and the North/Far North Center
of Excellence for Labor Market Research,
hosted by Los Rios Community College
District, found that 32 percent of the 1.2
million jobs in the region are at high risk
of automation. As detailed in the report,
high-risk automation jobs overwhelmingly
are low wage and are filled by
women and people of color. Additionally,
sectors like food and retail hit hard by
COVID-19 are also at highest risk of loss
of jobs due to automation. Creating recovery
responses that address increasing
automation and digitalization of jobs
will be critical.
Develop strategies around
workforce needs
First, the health of our businesses is
critical to the health of our communities.
The Sacramento region has
laid out strategies for supporting our
high-growth sectors and promoting
inclusive economic growth through our
regional plan, Our Path Forward: The
Prosperity Strategy. Without a collaborative,
supportive effort toward recovery
for our businesses, our communities
cannot thrive. Second, we must consider
the diverse needs of workers. Because
automation trends are accelerating, jobs
that come back post-COVID won’t be
the same as the ones lost. Programs that
retrain and upskill workers are critical
to ensure a pathway from old jobs to new
jobs that are more highly digitized and
more automated. Additionally, a study
by Becker Friedman Institute suggests
up to 42 percent of lost jobs may never
come back, due primarily to harms of
recession, increased automation, and
changing demand and perspectives
as a result of COVID-19. The reality is
some people won’t have jobs to return
to post-recession and will need support.
Universal-income-type programs —
or programs that guarantee monthly
income — should be considered. Finally,
we must teach 21st-century skills in our
K-12 schools and work to close disparities
in educational outcomes. We need
education to encourage curiosity, perseverance
and adaptability while celebrating
the uniqueness of diverse children.
Center efforts on inclusion
We can’t reimagine systems using old and
prejudicial lenses that deny some people
the ability to reach their potential. Now is
a moment to reform education, workforce,
social and other systems. We must
listen, learn and act as a whole community
in ways that create new systems of
inclusion that can close divides.
Set audacious goals
At this time of change and challenge,
we must create goals that unify us and
that we can rally around. For example,
digital skills and digital inclusion have
been identified as a strategy for social
mobility by the Brookings Institution. As
a region, we could make a commitment
around a common set of futurefocused
digital-skill-attainment goals
for students and adults, work to ensure
that all students are certified in these
skills, and all adults have access to them.
This would prepare our communities for
jobs and brand our region as home to a
talented, future-ready workforce. These
types of audacious goals can bring us
together and create a clear path of action
in these times.
Workplaces and workforce needs
were already changing, and COVID-19
is intensifying and accelerating those
changes. To meet the challenges, we must
think differently about our future and
aim for where we want to go rather than
recreating where we have been.
38 comstocksmag.com | August 2020