DISCUSSIONS

Based on your input on your interests, we’ve curated small groups to discuss selected topics. Your personal agenda includes your pre-assigned small-group discussions, which will all happen on Wednesday. On Thursday, you'll be able to suggest and select your own discussion groups, to add, expand upon, or fill in blanks

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2023

See your personal agenda to see your custom list of discussions

Discussion 1
9:15 AM - 10:30 AM

  • Description: In the context of an increasingly anti-monopoly regulatory climate, Microsoft’s move to establish “principles for employee organizing and engagement with labor organizations” during its quest to acquire Activision draws attention to the complex dynamics between corporate consolidation and worker power – e.g., unions now support that acquisition. What can we learn from this example?

  • Description: Feel like an AI neophyte? Or maybe you’re knowledgeable and want to complete your understanding with that one lingering question. Bring all that – and a willingness to try new things, and maybe even your laptop – to this interactive session, which will cover AI fundamentals as well as capabilities and limitations.

  • Description: For the last century, the American Corporation has generally been governed in the interest of shareholders, and listed on public markets once it has achieved scale. While other models have long existed, recently they are gaining more mainstream support. What changes in the current model could benefit workers? Can some of these also benefit shareholders, especially over the long term? Many believe that employee representation in corporate governance could make workers more engaged – both within an individual firm and across society – and hold companies accountable in important ways. Are democratic systems at work the key to stitching a fractured society back together, wildly naive, or just too impractical to implement?

  • Description: People are working longer into their older age – both because they are living longer, and out of economic necessity. These workers have different needs and perspectives than younger generations of workers, and a workforce that spans more generations may have a different way of working. How might work need to change to both accommodate and capitalize on this reality?

  • Description: How to care for dependents – children, the elderly, and folks unable to work – in our modern society continues to be a hot button issue. Policymakers and advocates in the current administration have made the case that the systems for providing adequate care are, in fact, “infrastructure” for making the economy work – just like bridges and utility grids – and therefore should be funded (at least partially) by tax dollars. Others disagree, of course, and see this as expanding the scope of the state unnecessarily. How might we find a common understanding about how much ‘domestic’ work should pay, who should perform it, and what protections those individuals should enjoy?

  • Description: Are unions a relic of the 20th century or the key to repairing the American social fabric in the 21st? Better understanding how labor fits into our American past may hold critical lessons about power. In this session, we will hear a short presentation on the history of the labor movement from Damon Silvers and then have an open Q&A discussion.

  • Description: There are many mismatches between the current American education, professional training, and workforce development systems and the needs of employers and our workforce. These gaps raise fundamental questions about the purpose of education and professional development, what role work should play in Americans’ lives, and how to approach both.

  • Description: The reconsideration of the traditional office may prove to be one of the most stark and longest-lasting consequences of the COVID pandemic. With return to work still a major flashpoint for organizations across industries and sectors, how should designs and purposes of the office evolve?

Discussion 2
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

  • Description: We know more hours worked doesn’t necessarily mean more productivity, and yet many workers, across sectors and industries, still report regularly working more than 8 hours a day and/or 40 hours a week – due to their workplace’s culture or out of economic necessity. The creation of the standard 40-hour, 5-day week was a victory for organized labor in the first half of the 20th century. How do we find the balance that’s right for workers, companies, and the economy today?

  • Description: Experts differ, as they always have, on the degree to which technology – and, at this moment, AI – will harm workers. Will AI change the total level of employment or wages in the economy? Given that the effects will be unpredictable, how should we prepare?

  • Description: As the skills our workforce needs to perform new or well-paying jobs continue to change, how do non-traditional training models that sit outside of compulsory education best equip workers?

  • Description: Let’s hear a candid discussion about the experiences of people who steer massive, complex enterprises to see what advice and insights they share (and how they differ) on approaching strategy, culture, productivity, management, and change – across traditionally different sectors.

  • Description: Major federal investments aim to strengthen manufacturing and technology competitiveness at a scale we last saw in the U.S. decades ago. How will the resurgence of industrial policy play out in a globalized economy and a polarized, post-pandemic society?

  • Description: Entrepreneurship, a hallmark of what makes America unique, has steadily declined for decades. Some laud the ability for an individual to start their own business venture as the shining example of meritocracy, while others critique it as inaccessible to most working people, and therefore (despite the occasional success story) another way to deepen inequality and blame individuals for lack of effort. Do we need to reignite entrepreneurship as a society, and, if so, how?

  • Description: There seem to be two camps on how to think about our jobs and what work means: 1) we should not love our jobs, and we should see work solely as an economic means of survival, and 2) having “passion” for your job – where you spend the vast majority of your time – is the only way to lead a full life in contemporary society. Should we consider work a virtue, a calling, or an economic transaction – and why does it matter?

  • Description: Policymakers and advocates aim to transition the economy to address climate impacts that threaten our existence and to grow new industries, while protecting jobs and the needs of workers today. How can we implement a “win-win” approach – balancing workers’ needs with climate impact mitigation?

Discussion 3
2:00 PM - 3:15 PM

  • Description: A wider range of voices than ever seems to be questioning globalization and its benefits. At the same time, immigration has always fueled and enriched America’s economy and national identity. What might immigration look like in the future, and how might we best shape it?

  • Description: Many see diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as a critical tool in advancing equality, both inside the workplace and across society. Critics argue either that these programs are toothless and can’t change underlying power structures or that they overextend the role of business and harm workplaces. What purpose do company efforts on DEI serve, and how might we make them successful?

  • Description: Remote and location-flexible work may open up new possibilities for lots of people: parents, people with disabilities, people in rural locations, and others. That said, many employers seem to be moving in the opposite direction – consolidating their workforce into more days in the office, together in person. What new systems and approaches do we need to truly realize the possibilities of distributed work?

  • Description: Integrating AI systems into daily workflows raises both practical concerns (what can AI actually do?) and principled concerns (about transparency, bias, and accountability). These tools behave differently – and are just stranger, in good ways and bad, and more opaque – compared to past technologies. Let’s discuss some examples and best practices that we can use to navigate this new terrain.

  • Description: Our unique American manifestations of democracy, rugged individualism, and capitalism all collectively influence our American “culture.” Can or should we separate capitalism from our contemporary American culture? How would we do that?

  • Description: The modern “gig” economy promises greater autonomy and flexibility, in exchange for possibly less stability and fewer protections. To what extent does gig work call into question outdated conventions around traditional work, or enable companies to circumvent employee protections?

  • Description: Unions and companies both spend vast amounts to influence political outcomes at all levels, whether by supporting candidates or enacting policy reforms. US law upholds these organizations’ rights to put money behind their political interests, but some critics see this as an infringement on individual citizens’ right to democratic representation, and others worry about whether it actually supports the goals of these organizations. How might we think both pragmatically and philosophically about this?

  • Description: From the revival of time-tested techniques like salting, to new technologies for communication and organizing, workers and organizers are changing their tactics and experimenting with new models to counter anti-union headwinds and build worker organizations fit for today.

Discussion 4
3:45 PM - 5:00 PM

  • Description: Hollywood shut down for months in part because screenwriters and actors demanded that their contract anticipate changes AI may bring. Even in its relative nascency, generative AI is raising both fear and uncertainty around rights and compensation for creative work. What should fair attribution and ownership for human-AI collaboration look like across creative industries – and how should we negotiate better solutions?

  • Description: Both private employers and labor leaders must balance the immediate demands of our workforces with the broader and longer-term vision for our respective organizations. What can we learn from this shared experience? Where do our visions for work align, and where do they conflict? Sure, our organizations may have some inevitable antagonism – and the opportunities for alignment could surprise us.

  • Description: Many critiques of corporate “activism” on social issues argue that it’s superficial or opportunistic, or that it alienates critical audiences or customers. Some see corporate engagement as an essential ingredient in social change. When business occupies such a powerful place in American society, how should companies and their leaders think about their role in driving social progress?

  • Description: The workplace is one of the few spaces where many Americans regularly interact across differences. It is also where many Americans experience disparities in education, pay, wealth, and power in tangible ways. At a time of (renewed) awareness of racial tensions across society and politics, how can workplaces most appropriately and meaningfully create safe and fair workplaces for all, and address the broader societal questions around race and equity?

  • Description: Our economic, political, and cultural debates about work might be radically different if America had a higher social floor. During the pandemic, government extended many benefits (e.g., the Child Tax Credit, or more generous unemployment insurance) – but only temporarily. Many argue that raising the social floor is as urgent as strengthening worker protections, while others feel it will lead to fewer people being motivated to work. What specific benefits might be most important, and how can we make those real?

  • Description: This new framing argues that investing in technological progress, more building, and growth is the best way to get the outcomes we want: universal access to meaningful work, nourishment, healthcare, housing, and education. It critiques the “coalitional” approach of modern politics which, it contends, struggles to achieve bold new things because it seeks consensus from too many parties. Is this right, and, if so, what needs to happen to make the abundance agenda a reality?

  • Description: Artificial intelligence promises to boost productivity in the workplace, and also has the potential to disrupt people’s livelihoods. Further, the value created by AI, in the majority of cases, derives from data and content generated by millions of people who enjoy no economic benefit. Who should reap the rewards of this value creation?

  • Description: Companies and workers have long debated whether and how to bring workers—the people most directly impacted by new technologies in the workplace – into the company decision-making process. In Europe, worker organizations have been partners in these decisions for over a century, and claim their involvement allows companies to make better decisions with less disruption to workers. American labor leaders gave up workers’ decision-making powers about “the means of production” when negotiating the labor protections of the 1930s, and the American economy has continued to grow more rapidly than Europe’s. In this current moment of advanced robotics, generative AI, and other fast-moving unpredictable technologies, what could it look like to bring workers to the table for this technological transition?