Technological unemployment is a looming threat to the U.S. workforce, argues Michael Lotito, a prominent labor law attorney. But with the unemployment rate at a 50-year low, it’s not easy to convince people of it, he admits.
Lotito is president of the Emma Coalition, a newly formed, nonpartisan group that is backed by the National Restaurant Association. The restaurant industry is responsible for about 10% of the national employment. It is an industry that is automating.
Lotito is co-chairman of Littler Mendelson’s Workplace Policy Institute and is a former chairman of the Society for Human Resource Management or SHRM. The Emma Group is working with federal, state and businesses to discuss the impact on technological employment and how it can be mitigated. He says HR managers will have a major role in this effort.
In this Q&A, Lotito discussed automation, technological unemployment, and the goal of Emma, which is named after Lotito’s granddaughter.
Source: TechTarget