When the Bulova watch factory in Providence, R.I., closed in the 1980s, my father faced an abrupt end to his 30-year career. Like many American manufacturers, Bulova moved its production overseas, chasing the cheaper labor that new free-trade agreements made so hard to resist. At 56, my father was a casualty of a new economic rulebook stapled to an old work force model. There were no effective public or private initiatives to help him or millions of other Americans transition to new jobs in the new economy, leaving many American cities hollowed out and helping produce the politics of division that plague us today.
This story isn’t just my memoir; it’s history we’re about to repeat. Artificial intelligence is transforming work faster than our work force is adapting. Millions of Americans — from white collar to blue collar, entry level to executive — may soon find themselves jobless and without prospects. Leaders across the political spectrum and the private sector tell me this crisis is coming and there’s no obvious solution.
