Month: November 2015

What’s Going on in the Workforce

“I still make ‘too much’ to receive anything, but it’s not enough.” Why just raising the minimum wage isn’t enough to lift workers out of poverty.

“I use my phone so much it dies at least once a day!” Interesting look, by PS Mag, on how low-paid workers use smartphones to manage the increasingly precarious lives that technology & CEOs are dealing to them.

Dissent within the community of Uber drivers. Good insight into how Uber drivers are starting to fight back against their “employer.”

“For so long, labor was represented by the cost line.” The executive of a scheduling software company talks about why they’re transitioning to an algorithm that prioritizes employee satisfaction over labor cost savings.

From Partners

Good Jobs First has released a new Violation Tracker website, where you can search out the bad behavior of your favorite (?) corporations.

Geeking Out

This might be the geekiest data thing ever. All the taxi trips & Uber rides in NYC from 2009-2015, visualized and analyzed. Thank me later.

Reputation, reputation, reputation

People who sell digital ads are worried that ad-blockers may destroy democracy. No, seriously.

Organizing Theory

Mobilization Lab on 10 ways people power can change the world.

You know what they say: it’s only paranoia if they’re not out to get you.

Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability

Here’s a good write-up of last week’s Platform Coop conference. http://www.shareable.net/blog/platform-cooperativism-conference-disrupts-silicon-valleys-disruptions

How local is your bank? This new tool lets you see if your bank is investing in your community. http://banklocal.info

I really enjoyed meeting so many of you at last weekend’s Platform Coop conference–congrats to Trebor Scholz & Nathan Schneider, in particular, for pulling such a great group together. Look for a post with a content of my talk in the next week or two.

What’s Going on in the Workforce

“…no one chooses to be sick, but Starbucks seems to punish partners for calling out.” A second-generation Starbucks barista, on why he joined the Fight for 15.

A Swiss town is experimenting with self-driving public buses.

Are Mutual Aid Societies the answer to the problems of on-demand economy workers?

Last spring, Seattle businessman Dan Price announced he was cutting his own wages in order to raise his company’s base pay to $70k per year. Here’s what the reaction has been like, since then.

From Partners

A new coalition (including many fine readers of this blog) have formed, to press for changes in worker policies. And the Economic Policy Institute responds, saying gig work isn’t that big a deal.

Geeking Out

Here’s a pretty interesting post from the Math Babe about how scientists can remove bias from their data in experiments.

Organizing Theory

Do we need a new trust-busting movement, in the United States?

Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability

Residents in this North Carolina neighborhood were tired of living in a food desert—so they’re starting a worker-owned grocery store.

From Partners

It’s New Economy Week!

Are you a Computer Science person who wants to talk about how to build platforms as sites of collaboration & trust? Check out this one-day meeting in February (in the Bay Area).

This week’s Next: Economy conference will feature the launch of the Good Work Code.

Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability

Finland could become the first country to experiment with a national basic income.

Merrill Lynch has joined the list of firms warning that increased automation may exacerbate economic inequality, by killing jobs.

Remember last week’s article about how AirBnB might someday book hotel rooms? Looks like Expedia is buying Homejoy.

University of Denver professor Nancy Leong, on how the rating systems of the sharing economy aggregate racial discrimination.

Reputation, reputation, reputation

Are you interested in data & society, and the impact of data on society? Apply for this fellowship.

What’s Going on in the Workforce

Check out this survey from German union IG Metall asking what people like & dislike about working on platforms.

Fast Company takes a look at how the Internet of Things might start to affect more and more workers, through quantification of time and space.

The robots are coming to a financial advisor near you. Natch, the human financial advisors believe they’re irreplaceable.

Here’s a pretty incredible saga about the ups & downs of getting-then losing—then getting back—then losing again—a virtual job.

Geeking Out

Box.com explains why they think it’s important to fund tech for non-profits.

Organizing Theory

Ind.ie just released an Ethical Design Manifesto, for web creators.

Super-interesting look at how the use of media has evolved from the civil rights movement in the 50s & 60s to today’s #blacklivesmatter movement.

FOLD looks at how to present research in a compelling, understandable way.

Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability

Juliet Schor on why the conversation about the future of work really needs to include a conversation about global climate change.

Will AirBNB someday be the place you go to book a hotel room, as well as a room for rent in a house? And speaking of AirBnB—they’re (sort of) on the ballot in SF today. Get out there and vote!

“…relentless focus on building a cheaper and more reliable car does not prepare you for the day when people don’t even aspire to owning a car.” Peter Coffee on how automakers will need to disrupt their own relationships to customers, if they want to stay relevant in the self-driving car era.

Academics answer the question: what will people do if they don’t have to work for a living?

While many co-working spaces focus on recruiting entrepreneurs, Make Shift Boston is set up to meet the needs of activists & organizers.

Reputation, reputation, reputation

Josh Dzieza has a new piece out at the Verge, asking if instant ratings are making us all into horrible bosses. Features quotes from yours truly.

Geeking Out

It was only a matter of time: the “Bullshit Job Rap.”

Which are the companies most likely to be involved in building the hardware for a self-driving car? And will any of them be based in Detroit?

What’s Going on in the Workforce

Are you using a restaurant as a staging ground for business meetings without ever ordering any food? Here’s what one waiter thinks about you.

Uber has pulled out of 3 cities in Germany, after failing to secure regulatory approval to operate.

While most folks agree that the shift to self-driving cars won’t happen overnight, this futurist thinks we’ll see major disruption of the transportation industry in just the next 10 years. Here’s a business park in CA that’s about to transition to robot buses.

“The same people who dislike high wages and full employment also dislike big welfare states.” Why are you still working so many hours in the US, while similar jobs in Europe require less hours? Give it a rest!