John Hickenlooper: What I'd do for America's workers

[brooklynite]

CNN

One of the defining experiences of my life came in the mid-1980s. After working for two years as a geologist in Colorado, I lost my job and my career during that long recession. Struggling to find work, some friends and I decided to start a small business in an undeveloped part of Denver in 1988. Two years later, we built a successful brew pub and eventually opened up over a dozen more around the Midwest. This is the essence of the American Dream -- in the land of opportunity, if you have a good idea, create a solid plan, and work hard, you should be able to reinvent yourself and get ahead.

But today, new jobs are disproportionately low-wage and low-skill. They are less secure and pay less than before. In our "hour glass" economy, we have large swaths stuck at the bottom, a hollowed out middle, and a top growing with sky-high incomes and wealth.

There are more disruptions coming. Advances in automation, artificial intelligence and robotics, while increasing productivity, will also cause major upheavals to the workforce. Some estimate that as much as a third of the workforce will need to change occupations by 2030 and there is no clear national strategy to respond to the disruption. Both federal and corporate investment in employment and training should be ramping up, yet they've dropped dramatically since the 1980s.

I understand the anxiety and fear that comes from disruption. We need to bring people together to develop and invest in a historic effort that addresses the challenges facing the American workforce, to minimize the gap between the skills our people have and the skills a 21st century economy needs. I am calling for a national strategy for the American workforce. America only works when the economy works for everyone, especially for the nearly 70 percent of Americans who will not graduate with a four year college degree.

[rurallib]

1. Just back from a Gillibrand event. One thing that really bothered me was

that there was no discussion of labor, organized or otherwise.
It was a short event, about an hour.

However , I was thinking about it driving home. Since Sherrod Brown dropped out, I hear little about labor.
I guess Elizabeth Warren did address it on CNN IIRC. Labor should be one of the very first thing any Democrat talks about.

[MH1]

2. He needs to include fixing the "skilled" worker visa programs.

Currently any U.S. skills training for those jobs is just fodder for a broken system that exploits our best and brightest as part of a revenue distribution from the U.S. to certain foreign countries.

[WeekiWater]

3. He really fit a lot into that short piece if you look at the programs he references.

Really tells a lot about his thoughts on what he can do for the economy moving forward. He points directly to accomplishments and highlights them as something that can be done at the national level. Very well thought out candidate with a record.

Thanks for sharing this.

"We can do this by reimagining the role of the employer where upskilling and reskilling will become a benefit of employment rather than an inadequate government retraining program after someone loses a job."