Big tech’s impact on politics, philanthropy and the economy

The booming success of many tech companies has been one of few bright spots for the Bay Area economy in the 2020 economic recession, amidst a crisis of small businesses closures and unemployed workers desperately waiting for another round of Federal relief

This month we explore perspectives on the impact of thriving big tech corporations and leaders on politics, philanthropy and workers.

First, workers:

• Automation isn’t inherently bad for workers, it depends how you use it. A broad coalition led by Athena calls on Amazon to stop using technology for worker surveillance and start using it to support worker well-being.
• COVID has accelerated remote work adoption in the tech sector, with workers leaving the Bay Area in search of more affordable places to live. Is this an opportunity for greater diversity in tech hiring? Or a chance to wean the Bay Area economy off of its reliance on tech, and strive for a more balanced economy that includes equitable opportunities for all workers?

Second, politics:

• In American democracy, wealth means power. Silicon Valley leaders are exerted growing influence over state and Federal policy, including bankrolling successful passage of the most expensive ballot initiative in US history. That initiative, Prop 22, is illustrative of the ability of corporations to use their wealth to influence policy to benefit their bottom line, at the expense of individuals and families. An upcoming Tech Equity Collaborative panel asks the question: “Should Tech Companies Be Political?”

Third, philanthropy:

• Tech companies and their leaders are sharing some of their rapidly growing wealth, by increasing their philanthropic giving.
• While these additional grant dollars provide important support to hard hit Bay Area communities, the growing role of tech in philanthropy can also come with pitfalls. For example, the Knight Foundation points to the propagation of a techno-solutionist mindset to social problems; rather than funding the long term, complex work necessary to realize an equitable economic future.

Read on for more insights and solutions from the field, and funding and job opportunities.

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We Choose People.

ReWork the Bay seeks a Bay Area where everyone can live full lives with security, dignity, and agency.

And for that to happen, we believe our society needs to center people.

Not profits, not economic growth, not innovation for innovation’s sake.

We Choose People.

What does it mean to Choose People?

It means seeing that the biggest threat posed by the future of work is not technological innovation, but the use of that technology to accelerate power imbalances between workers and companies. (seeColonizing the Futureby Kevin Donovan)

And that strategies exist within a capitalist economy that can counteract that trend. (see The Difference Between Shareholder and Stakeholder Capitalismby John Detrixhe and For Owners Seeking to Sell, an Option That Keeps Your Business Intact by Paul Sullivan)

It means interrogating assumptions about how our economy and labor market work. This includes questioning what (and whose) work we value enough to provide a living wage and safe work conditions; and whether we are actually a country of “self sufficient” individuals, or an interdependent network of people whose health and prosperity are inextricably linked.

Nowhere are these questions so stark as in our broken care economy. (See Building our Care Infrastructure For Equity, Economic Recovery and Beyond by Josephine Kalipeni and Julie Kashen)

It means believing the premise that “if we make the economy better for those who are suffering most, it stands to reason that those efforts would safeguard everyone else, too.” (Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman)

And recognizing that the future we seek will not be realized by clever new ideas from those with the most privilege and power in society. It will come only when the perspectives and ideas of those most marginalized take center stage. (see Black Women Best: The Framework We Need for an Equitable Economy by Kendra Bozarth, Grace Western and Janelle Jones)

And finally, it means doing the work to understand how each one of us has power and agency to be an active contributor toward a region where we all can thrive. This is not just an intellectual exercise; all of us, by virtue of our role at work, in family and community, have the opportunity to speak up, to learn, to grow, to decide, and to vote.

To Choose People.

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…but nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin

Among other things, 2020 has been a year of facing hard truths. Intersecting health, economic and racial justice crises have made clear that:

• Structural racism and sexism are embedded in, and reinforced by, our political and economic systems.
• The American narrative of individualism, and a decades-long disinvestment in the public sector, has crippled our ability to care for each other and the planet when we need it most.
• When everything breaks down, the workers we rely on to meet our basic needs are often afforded the least pay, safety, benefits and agency.

And the list goes on…

But change doesn’t come from awareness alone. It must be followed by bold ideas, and brave action.

Like front-line workers in essential jobs standing up to corporate employers, demanding adequate health protections in spite of the risk of retaliation, and family providers of subsidized child care in California unionizing for the first time ever , increasing their power to advocate for better pay and more funding for subsidies and training;

Women of color leaders in Hawai’i developing a groundbreaking, intersectional feminist economic recovery plan, including advocating that stimulus spending not just focus on cisgender male-dominated infrastructure jobs;

And the Roosevelt Institute releasing its True New Deal policy proposal, rich with transformative policy recommendations for a more equitable future.

Facing hard truths, generating bold ideas and taking brave action are all critical to realizing a diverse and equitable Bay Area. Read on for more examples of local leaders taking action, and for ways you can get involved!

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Since the last recession, the popular narrative on job quality in the Bay Area has centered around creative perks offered by tech companies. But the reality for most people is that work in our region has gotten unsustainably insecure, poorly compensated, and unsafe.

Now in the COVID era, job quality inequities are exacerbated. Many office workers have been able to adjust to the pandemic in a remote work setting, while workers now recognized as “essential” are called on to shoulder even more risk in order to continue earning a living. These low-paid retail, domestic work, healthcare, and hospitality workers are predominately women of color and immigrants.

Public, philanthropic, community and business leaders are actively engaging in conversations about economic recovery. And there is common agreement that for our region to thrive, we need to improve job quality for Bay Area workers, especially workers of color.

But where intention is strong, the details of how that change will happen are not as clear. Will it come from voluntary employer pledges, new forms of worker organizing, policy change, shifts in how workforce development programs engage employers?

For guidance on this question, we look to partners grappling with this challenge from many different seats at the table. As is our way, we start with workers.

• In the feature story of this month’s edition of The Forge focused on the future of the labor movement, economic justice leader Andrea Dehlendorf of United for Respect casts a compelling vision for a forward-looking labor movement rooted in racial, gender, immigrant and climate justice;
• We also turn to public workforce leaders like the San Diego Workforce Partnership who offers concrete suggestions to build job quality efforts into workforce development programs; and
• Pacific Community Ventures’ Good Jobs, Good Business model used to support small businesses in improving job quality for their workers.

Read on for more thought-provoking content, funding opportunities, job opportunities and more…

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Bay Area Leaders Centering Workers and Racial Justice in Recovery Planning

In this unprecedented political and economic moment, calls for racial justice are coming from the lips and fingertips of not only those in community, but our elected, corporate and philanthropic leaders.

Today, we are all called on to expand our thinking about what a just economic recovery could look like, and do what it will take to make it happen.

In this historic context, Bay Area Leaders are stepping up. They’re coming together in new ways, with new people, to reimagine our approach to economic development, workforce development, and education in a way that centers racial justice, and the needs, voice and leadership of workers. They are seeding and testing new ideas, collaborating across silos, and having hard conversations that are a necessary first step to realizing the diverse, just and inclusive region that so many of us seek.

This month we are excited to share six examples of this groundbreaking work happening in all corners of the Bay Area along with information about funding opportunities, job openings, helpful articles and a call to action for funders.

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This mural is a product of the collaborative efforts of youth artists, practicing artists, and community members in the spirit of the movement for Black and brown life. It is based on the photograph of Louis Michael, taken by SB Maney on May 29th, 2020 in downtown Oakland during the first of many mass protests of the murder of George Floyd.

Artists, Collaborators, and Contributors: L.C. Howard, Louis Michael, Aireon Tauarres Joy Johnson, Sarahbeth Maney, John Christie, Sam Kober, Gina Martinez, Jessica Gallegos, Kylie Jolyn, Anaya Dennis, Malia Johnson, Prota Mayo Rodriguez, Emiliano Zapata, James Miller, Josue Cruz, Suledy Mones-Higuera, Nicole Green, Juan Guillermo Matia Pablo, and Edwin Alonzo Ortiz Meja, Rayshawn the Artist, Destany Michael, JuVinci the Creator, Julius Underwood.

What Could an Anti-Racist Education and Training System Look Like?

In the past five weeks, we have seen unprecedented action in support of the Movement for Black Lives in communities around the country, including many Bay Area cities. In addition to demanding an end to police brutality against Black and brown people, community leaders and policymakers are advancing visionary yet practical solutions that re-imagine the systems that perpetuate structural racism in the United States.

As with all American systems and institutions, we know that the white supremacy and racism that poison our justice system are also active in our education and training systems, contributing to a lack of economic opportunity and mobility for workers of color.

At ReWork the Bay we wonder, “what could an anti-racist education and training system look like?”

To begin to answer that question, we acknowledge that education and training systems respond to, and are reflective of, the broader economic system they operate in. Economic policy determines what jobs are created, the quality of those jobs, and in many ways, who gets hired to fill them. In other words, the economic system sets the rules of the game by which education and training systems must play. And in America, those rules weren’t written to lead to equitable outcomes.

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Small Businesses are Key to an Inclusive Recovery

California small businesses, half of which are owned by people of color, are often more open to hiring people with barriers to employment. Most also support investing in their workers, including expanding job protections.

A thriving small business ecosystem is critical to an inclusive recovery. This week we feature a piece from our Equity at Work Council member Mark Herbert of Small Business Majority about the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses and policy ideas to meet their needs.

Job creators need help to survive and thrive after COVID-19

By Mark Herbert, Small Business Majority

While parts of our region slowly start to reopen, the impacts on our small business community and the workforce continue to be bleak. But we have an opportunity right now to recognize the important role small businesses play in providing critical jobs and enact changes that will bolster them, and our workforce as a whole.

The time to act is now.

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Toward a #WorkerLedFuture

The “future of work” is often framed as the inevitable outcome of factors outside of our control. In reality, we all have agency, and in fact a responsibility, to help decide what the future of work will look like, and who it will benefit. Today we are excited to release a report in partnership with Jobs with Justice San Francisco and Working Partnerships USA that offers a framework to help us all play a part in creating a #WorkerLedFuture.

The Future of Work(ers): New Framework Examines the Changing Nature of Work in the Bay Area

By Working Partnerships USA and Jobs with Justice SF

The shifting dynamics we see today are the culmination of decades’ worth of more fundamental changes to our economy and our democracy: the growing power disparity between workers and firms; institutionalized racism and gender oppression; climate change; and demographic shifts. Technology is not a driver of change, but a tool that facilitates change and permits long-standing inequities to show themselves in stark, new ways.

READ BLOG AND REPORT

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