THE FUTURE OF WORK

Capitol Weekly presents
The Future of Work
February 18, February 25, March 4, March 11

The battles over the Dynamex decision, AB5 and Proposition 22 reveal an uncertain landscape for working people in California. Priced out of the nation’s most expensive housing market, some workers are choosing to leave the state. Manufacturing, once a mainstay of good-paying jobs in California, is in deep decline. Gig work is booming – but is it sustainable? And, a year-long pandemic has devastated many industries – how will they come back?  What is the Future of Work in the Golden State?

Click here to read the program with profiles of the speakers, etc.

The Future of Work was presented in four hour-long Zoom presentations held on four successive Thursdays, from Noon-1PM, starting February 18.

Each presentation is available as a podcast here.

Panel 1, February 18: After the Pandemic 

Senator Nancy Skinner; Micah Weinberg, CA Forward; Julie Baker, Californians for the Arts; Jot Condie, California Restaurant Association

Moderated by Sonya Sorich, Sacramento Business Journal

What will the workplace look like when the pandemic is over? One report indicates that women made up 100% of the job losses in December, 2020 – why, and what happens now? What will happen to the industries that have been particularly hard-hit, like restaurants and live events/entertainment? And what will be different about work post-pandemic: is working from home the ‘new normal’?

Leo Feler, UCLA Anderson Forecast; Tom Hiltachk, Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk; and Nicole Moore, Rideshare Drivers United

Moderated by Rich Ehisen, State Net Capitol Journal

After a hard-fought battle at the ballot box, Proposition 22 is law. But, questions remain, the first of which is: does it stand up to the current court challenge? How will 22 impact unions? What other industries may turn to gig work? And, what does a new, pro-labor administration in the White House mean for California?

Panel 3, March 4: The Big Picture

Rob Lapsley, California Business Roundtable; Lenny Mendonca, McKinsey & Co., Caitlin Vega, Union Made Strategies; Evan White, California Policy Lab;

Moderated by Erika Smith, Los Angeles Times

For the third year in a row, California has seen a decline in population. Will this alter the state’s employment outlook? And, some high-profile companies have announced that they are leaving the state this year: is this a minor trickle, or the beginning of a deluge? With the rise of telecommuting, could out-of-state workers take California jobs? And, what happens with the single-biggest employment problem in the state: lack of affordable housing?

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez is at the forefront of much of the Progressive legislation that emerges from Sacramento. A longtime labor leader and organizer prior to holding office, Gonzalez is the author of AB5, the sweeping 2019 labor law that codified the Dynamex court ruling, and expanded worker protections. The tech companies’ backlash against AB5 ultimately sparked the effort to pass Proposition 22.

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