51社区黑料

Workplaces of the future will have to be 鈥渁nti-stupid,鈥� a near-full audience heard Wednesday evening in Vancouver. And they need to stop wasting massive amounts of talent.

American commentators Van Jones and Anne-Marie Slaughter came together for a keynote talk at this week's Brave New Work Summit, where they offered their takes on the crucial (but often foreboding) question: what needs to change so we can have quality careers in the future?

And both thinkers turned their their attention to the ongoing housing crisis in Vancouver, addressing what cities like Vancouver and San Francisco 鈥� both struggling with housing affordability 鈥� should do to make sure they remain viable places to live for future generations.

Slaughter referred to Vancouver鈥檚 history of strong union-led labour movements, and suggested something different but of a similar scale was needed for the modern world in order to achieve employment stability, given the prominence of temporary and 鈥済ig鈥� jobs today.

Beyond that, Jones said bright minds should be able to come together in the city to make housing options available to the workforce, including those who give cities character.

鈥淵ou gotta have artists and weirdos to be able to stay in the city,鈥� he said.

Jones, well-known for his left-wing political commentary in the U.S. and his social justice advocacy, painted a picture of an American economy he said is currently ill-equipped to harness the talent it needs.

Time, he said, is rushing toward us as technology constantly updates and changes the ways we work and interact with one another. The skills needed to tackle the future therefore, rest in people鈥檚 ability to 鈥減ivot,鈥� problem-solve, and 鈥渉ack鈥� society鈥檚 problems.

The trouble, he said, is that the economy only rewards a small portion of the population with those skills. Black and other racialized people, poor people, and prisoners who learn to hack common problems behind bars, haven鈥檛 been able to break into the lucrative Silicon Valley model of success anywhere near the level white people have.

Think about the invention of hip-hop, Jones argued 鈥� it emerged from inner-city youth finding ways to make music without having access to instruments. Or prisoners who fashion lighters out of the meagre materials available to them.

鈥淭hat genius,鈥� Jones said, 鈥渋s not being accessed by the technological elite. We鈥檝e got to stop wasting genius.鈥�

A key component of successful workplaces of the future, Jones argued, will be bringing together people who think differently 鈥� only 鈥渄on鈥檛 call it diversity, call it anti-stupid,鈥� Jones said.

Meanwhile, Slaughter emphasized the need to re-think the kind of work that's seen as valuable to society. For example, employment such as childcare and elder care, has long gone under-valued and unpaid, something she argued needs to change.

When Jenna van Draanen first became involved with the Basic Income Canada Network seven years ago, she found herself constantly having to explain the group鈥檚 purpose to people she met.

Now basic income 鈥� a policy idea that encompasses a range of policy options aimed at giving people cash entitlements from the government 鈥� is creeping into the mainstream, and the BC government has committed $4 million to explore its feasibility here.

鈥淣ow people on the bus behind me will be talking about it,鈥� the University of British Columbia postdoctoral fellow said Tuesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been incredible to see the change in the basic income movement in that time.鈥�

Michal Rozworski, a union researcher and economist, cautioned that not all forms of basic income are equal. In what Rozworski calls its 鈥渞ight wing鈥� iteration basic income could mean a negative income tax to redistribute funds to those making less money.

鈥淎t the very other end there鈥檚 an actual universal basic income: you give everyone X amount of money per year, as a transfer, period,鈥� he explained.

Basic Income Canada Network advocates for the latter, van Draanen explained, citing research showing such systems result in better mental and physical health outcomes, as well as social cohesion.

But as B.C. sets up a basic income expert committee, details of which the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction will release in the spring, some activists warn it could be no more than a tactic for the government to shelve the issue of poverty.

John Clarke, an activist with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty who鈥檚 visiting Vancouver to speak on a 51社区黑料 panel about basic income, said the form of basic income being piloted in Ontario right now doesn鈥檛 go far enough to help poor people.

鈥淭he Ontario pilot provides a sub-poverty payment (75 per cent of the poverty line) that certainly would not reach the objective of a universal basic income that would allow people to live quite well even if robots take their jobs away,鈥� Clarke said.

Clarke called that approach a 鈥渟ubsidy for low wage employers,鈥� that turns people with low purchasing power into 鈥渟hoppers in the neoliberal market鈥� while providing an excuse for governments to claw back other forms of social assistance like disability supports.

Meanwhile a universal, unconditional, and adequate basic income that, according to Rozworski, would cost 30 per cent of the country鈥檚 GDP, is a politically fraught concept.

鈥淚f you really gave everyone a universal basic income it would be like the state providing workers with an unlimited strike fund,鈥� Clarke said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a complete impossibility.鈥�

Universal public resources like child care and pharmacare do a better job of alleviating the effects of poverty than doling out cash, Clarke argued. He also said there鈥檚 a need to reform the welfare system so that it鈥檚 more humanizing.

Van Draanen agrees that more humanity is needed in Canada鈥檚 welfare system and is hopeful that an unconditional basic income existing alongside social programming will accomplish that.

鈥淚 see a lot of harmony on the left, a lot of allyship in terms of we want the same outcomes,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ost changes I鈥檝e seen to fundamental human rights throughout history have been met with fears of impossibility.鈥�

People entering the workforce today will face a complete overhaul of the definition of 鈥榳ork鈥� over the course of their careers, leaders from the public, private, not-for-profit, and academic sectors heard Monday at 51社区黑料.

Workplaces will change so much due to job automation and growing inequality that the university is moving to form a three-year innovation lab dedicated to the addressing these problems.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of reports written. There鈥檚 been a lot of research done. And there鈥檚 a lot of inaction,鈥� 51社区黑料Public Square Executive Director Janet Webber said in an interview with Metro. 鈥淭he time for action is now and we really create the future.鈥�

Monday鈥檚 event was the first mini-conference in a summit called Brave New Work. 51社区黑料 50 summit participants invited from around the world will work together Tuesday and Wednesday to identify problems in Canada鈥檚 workplace that could be addressed by a potential three-year 鈥淔uture of Canada鈥� lab backed by  and the .

The lab is in the 鈥減roblem identification鈥� stage for now, Webber said, but will be launched quickly if all goes well at the summit. The focus of the lab will be to prototype and pilot scalable business solutions to impending challenges within work.

The research that concerns Webber most surrounds automation. One 2017 report by McKinsey showed half of the tasks currently done globally by employed humans could be completed instead by technology that already exists. Examples include driverless cars, advertising technology like Facebook鈥檚 platform and automated delivery services. 

That鈥檚 something experts in the artificial intelligence field told conference attendees is unavoidable.

鈥淓verything is going to be profoundly changed,鈥� said James Maynard, Wavefront Innovation Society President. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 opt out.鈥�

For the first time in history, Maynard said, technology鈥檚 role in workplaces is moving beyond making tasks more efficient. The new frontier is employing technology in strategic ways.

It may also mean there will be an increasing emphasis on labour requiring a human touch. As futurist Nikolas Badminton put it, 鈥淲e used to work with our hands, now we work with our heads, and going forward we鈥檙e going to work with our hearts.鈥�

How that shift will manifest remains to be seen, and is raises uncertainties 鈥� especially for those already on the margins of the workforce like racialized people and women. That鈥檚 a hot button issue for members of the millennial generation, 80 per cent of whom would prefer a more inclusive workplace, said 鈥檚 Tara van Zuiden.

Iglika Ivanova from the  said many of those who face significant barriers to entering the workforce, like immigrants, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities, end up in precarious situations like part-time employment and contract work, which may not include health benefits and security.

鈥淪ocial protection models for workers need to change,鈥� Ivanova said.

One possible solution explored Monday was 鈥榓lternative business models鈥�, like cooperatives, some of which offer benefits and supports to freelancers and contractors. Steve Rio, who founded the consultancy Briteweb, went so far as to suggest a future path where people are considered 鈥渢eam members鈥� instead of being divided into 鈥渆mployees鈥� and 鈥渇reelancers.鈥�

Briteweb鈥檚 team members, Rio said, work from wherever they want, and at various levels of commitment. It鈥檚 a new model for work Rio believes will be more inclusive of lifestyles.

鈥淲e鈥檙e just hoping that regulation doesn鈥檛 stomp out what we鈥檙e doing,鈥� he said.

Events of the Brave New Work summit continue until March 7.