Joint Center Hosts Future of Work Members Roundtable on Capitol Hill

On May 8, the Joint Center partnered with U.S. House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Congressman Bobby Scott (VA) to host a Member Roundtable exploring the impact of automation on workers of color in retail. The event followed a Joint Center report released in December 2017 that showed over 5% of both Latino and Black workers in the U.S. are concentrated in just two jobs at high risk to automation—retail salespersons and cashiers.Experts from private industry, labor, and the think tank community discussed which jobs are at-risk, how soon new technologies will be adopted, the types of new jobs that will be created, and potential solutions. Rep. Bobby Scott, Ranking Member of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee. Other Members of Congress Participating Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE).Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ).Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA) Rep. Al Green (TX)
Moderator
Spencer Overton, President, Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies
Jana Barresi, Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs, Walmart (click here for additional reading material)
Dr. Michael Mandel, Chief Economic Strategist, Progressive Policy Institute (click here for written statement)
Ademola Oyefeso, International Vice President, Legislative and Political Action Director,
United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (click here for written statement)
This was the second event in our series on the future of work in communities of color. Click for the full video and a description of the members and experts who participated in our April roundtable on transportation.