Posts tagged workforce
Crisis team: Los Angeles schools face risk of insolvency
October 22, 2026 // Izumi, senior director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute, characterized the board’s decision on the raise as "governance malpractice." "This fiscal train wreck - you could see it coming from a mile off," Izumi told The Center Square. "One of the big reasons why L.A. is in such bad shape right now is because they agreed to a massive union contract with the teachers that they simply couldn't afford. The board did not look at its funding sources and its potential spending cuts that it would have to do in order to afford the teacher union contract that it was about to sign." Prior to those collective bargaining agreements, the Los Angeles County Office of Education had warned district leaders of escalating county supervision actions if deficit spending continued unchecked.
Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin strike deal to ban NYC horse carriage industry
October 14, 2026 // Ultimately, Mamdani — a democratic socialist who has positioned himself as a friend of organized labor — came around to backing the bill because the latest version includes several new labor safeguards, according to the speaker’s office. Under the updated bill, which was shared with POLITICO, the city must create a workforce transition program under which carriage drivers would receive career counseling as well as referrals to employment opportunities in both public and private sectors, including with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, local sight-seeing bus companies and pedicab operators.
RESEARCH: AI and Independent Work in 7 Charts
July 28, 2026 // Most debates about AI and work still focus on whether jobs will disappear. But these charts point to another possibility: AI may also be making it easier for more people to work outside traditional firms. This is still early, descriptive evidence—not proof of causation. Even so, both datasets point in the same direction: solo-type business applications and solo self-employment are growing faster in sectors and occupations with greater AI exposure.
Skilled freelancing jumps as AI redefines work
July 27, 2026 // The Upwork (upwork.com) Research Institute surveyed 2,400 U.S.-based skilled workers between March and April 2026 to produce the report. Freelancers performing AI-augmented work on the Upwork Marketplace earned 34% more per hour than those not incorporating AI. AI-augmented professional services grew 72% in volume with earnings rising 22%, while generative AI and creative production work saw 90% growth in contract starts — yet per-contract earnings in that category declined by 13%.
Federal employees face reality of Schedule Policy/Career
July 8, 2026 // Trump administration officials have said the creation of Schedule Policy/Career aims to improve employee accountability and ensure the federal workforce is carrying out the president’s policy agenda. A senior administration official last month told reporters, “As long as employees are performing their job duties in a competent, professional manner,” then reclassified federal employees “have nothing to be afraid of.”
Freelance Busting: The Lady Problem
June 15, 2026 // The Legislature should support this concurrent resolution, not just because of testimony in recent months that revealed employee misclassification isn’t a big problem in the first place, but also to make clear that the state supports all of us women who own and operate New Jersey’s smallest of small businesses. We are the translators, the financial advisers, the graphic designers, the traveling nurses, the dog walkers, the wedding planners, the writers, the photographers and so many, many more types of professionals who are worthy of real protection against this relentless, remorseless freelance busting.
Companies are abandoning ‘peanut butter’ raises as pay-for-performance takes over the workplace in the AI era
May 11, 2026 // This disparity between employees challenges the idea behind “peanut butter raises,” which aim to address some of the criticisms with merit raises, namely, that they are subjective and bias-prone, according to Payscale’s report. While across-the-board raises may seem equal on the surface, high performers or AI super users may not see it that way, said Hannah Yardley, the chief people and culture officer at Achievers, a software company that tracks employee recognition and offers rewards.
Testimony by Rachel Greszler on the Positive Impact of Seniors in Today’s Economy
December 11, 2025 // Demographic Shifts Mean That Older Americans Are Increasingly Vital Contributors to the American Economy The combination of declining fertility rates, the aging of the baby boomer population, and increased life expectancies means that older Americans are a rapidly growing share of the population. Beginning in 2034, there will be more seniors than children in America for the first time in U.S. history
AI Needs Data Centers—and People to Build Them
October 6, 2025 // That brings us to the second tool for expanding the skilled workforce: convincing more people to pursue a career in the trades. Here, policymakers should tap into the vast potential workforce among young men released from prison for nonviolent offenses by expanding inmates’ access to vocational education. Only a small fraction of this group currently receives such training. And to train more would-be tradesmen in general, we need to make training more effective—and more interesting. Technology can help here, too. Leading construction-equipment makers already use virtual reality and augmented-reality systems for their training simulators. Tests show VR training significantly improves users’ training-completion and employment outcomes.
Commentary: Cutting red tape for 64 million American workers
June 1, 2025 // Americans and freedom are a perfect match. We don’t want the government dictating every aspect of our lives. Unelected bureaucrats have no role in deciding how everyday Americans should do their work. That’s why at Americans for Prosperity, we’ve always supported the right of workers to choose what type of work best suits them, and bills like the Modern Worker Empowerment Act and the Modern Worker Security Act do just that.