We have yet to see widespread job loss due to artificial intelligence (AI), but we should not wait until a crisis hits to act. Bipartisan commissions in the U.S. going back to 1980 have consistently recommended basic improvements to our unemployment insurance (UI) system to bolster this critical safety net.
The goals of UI are to stabilize individual income, provide a lifeline so workers can find a good replacement for their old job, keep people attached to the workforce, and serve as a countercyclical stabilizer during economic downturns. Every dollar spent on UI benefits generates nearly two dollars of economic activity in local communities. But in many states, UI cannot accomplish any of these goals. Worse, since the Great Recession, many states have engaged in a race to the bottom in their UI systems—reducing how much income UI replaces, who gets it, and how long they are eligible. We must fix this problem now.
We have seen what happens when we ignore UI until it’s urgently needed. As I detail in my latest issue brief as Senior Policy Fellow for Economic Security at NELP, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and millions of Americans were suddenly without income, Congress had to create three brand-new programs as record numbers of unemployment claims poured in. Agencies that were operating at a 50-year low in funding thanks to decades of neglect and under-investment had to run the new programs with antiquated technology and a skeleton staff because of new work-from-home protocols. By the time the programs were finally up and running and getting benefits out, organized criminal fraud operations had figured out how to exploit them.
Looking for a new job is never easy. But now, as many as one in three job postings are fake. Jobseekers are sending out dozens, even hundreds of resumes and not hearing anything back. People who have been unemployed for months are becoming discouraged. Long-term unemployment is increasing, and the labor force participation rate is at historic lows. People need help getting back to work. That is exactly what the Employment Service is meant to do, but it has been steadily dismantled over time.
We shouldn’t wait for AI-driven job losses to force our hand. We had solutions that would address AI and mass unemployment 50 years ago, but we ignored them. Congress needs to act. The policy ideas from the 1980 and 1996 bipartisan commissions have been written into major bicameral legislation championed by Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Michael Bennet, and Congressman Don Beyer. It’s also time to restore the federal Employment Service division at the U.S. Department of Labor and reinvigorate local offices to give frazzled jobseekers a lifeline to rejoin the workforce.
It’s time to break the habit of waiting until we are deep in the throes of a crisis before we act.
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