Baker-Polito Administration Releases Future of Work Report

Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) tweeted  on Tue, Jul 13, 2021:

To address key findings, our plan proposes support for several critical areas, including:

🏘️ Housing
🛠️ Workforce Training
🏙️ Downtown Development
🏥 Substance Use & Behavioral Health Programming
🚸 Child Care
🚗 Transportation Flexibility & Improvements

Full press release link ->  https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-releases-future-of-work-report-outlines-ongoing-steps-to-address-findings

The report provides eight core insights:

1. Demand for office real estate may fall as workers spend more time in residential areas due to hybrid work.
2. Hybrid work will likely drive demand for flexible childcare options, requiring childcare business models to evolve.
3. Public transit ridership is likely to fall, with the steepest decline likely in commuter rail.
4. Business travel may be structurally reduced from pre-pandemic levels.
5. Workforce training may be required at an unprecedented scale and pace.
6. The Commonwealth population is likely to grow, albeit more slowly than pre-pandemic
7. Existing equity challenges will intensify.
8. Equitable housing opportunities will be key to retaining and attracting people.

Download the full report here to read:

https://www.mass.gov/doc/future-of-work-in-massachusetts-report/download

Shared from Twitter:  https://t.co/wM28MYuav7

Commonwealth Magazine coverage:

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/economy/future-of-work-report-highlights-job-training-housing-needs/

Boston Globe coverage

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/13/business/boston-cambridge-could-see-major-changes-some-workers-never-return-mckinsey-report-shows/

Future of Work Report

“Massachusetts is going to be ground zero for the next wave of this fight”

"A fight that became the most expensive ballot measure in California’s history has arrived in full force in Massachusetts, setting the stage for a potentially costly campaign that could reshape the state’s labor law and how hundreds of thousands of workers operate under it.

The question of whether Uber drivers, DoorDash delivery people, and other so-called gig economy workers should be classified as independent contractors or employees has already reared its head in litigation and at the State House, where a bill backed by the major ride-hailing companies is working through Beacon Hill’s legislative gears.

But the emergence of two similarly named but opposing coalitions — each claiming the backing of app-based workers — is seeding a potential ballot question fight next fall, when voters could be asked to decide how the workers should be treated."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/22/metro/mass-poised-be-ground-zero-high-stakes-gig-economy-battle-potential-ballot-question-looms/

New York Times: "workplaces in apartment buildings"

"Before the pandemic, Tony Dopazo leased an office in Boston and used co-working spaces in Brooklyn for his company, Metro Tech Services, an IT provider for start-ups and biotech companies. Then the pandemic lockdown forced him, like countless others, to work remotely. That meant he was on the phone with clients from his apartment building, Level, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

At first, with the common areas in his rental building closed by Covid restrictions, Mr. Dopazo, 47, hunkered down in his one-bedroom, which was “brutal,” he said, “everything mish-mashing into one big blob of time.” But after the common spaces opened in September, he started going down to a co-working area in a ninth-floor lounge every day.

The arrangement affords some “mental separation” from his home, he said, and, with other tenants working in the same space, he has companionship. When he needs to print or scan something, he heads to the ground-level business center. If he’s hungry, he returns to his apartment to make a sandwich, and for a break, he can take a dip in the building’s pool."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/realestate/coworking-rentals-condos.html

A co-working area on the ninth floor is where Mr. Dopazo often sets up shop for the day.Credit...Tom Sibley for The New York Times

CommonWealth Magazine: State considering remote telework as standard practice; Spilka advocates for teachers to get vaccinated

 

"CLOSE TO HALF of the state’s executive branch employees could continue some form of telework even once the pandemic ends, Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan said Tuesday.

Speaking to the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees at a hearing on Baker’s $45.6 billion fiscal 2022 budget proposal, Heffernan laid out the broad contours of a proposed state employee remote work plan. Of 44,000 full-time employees working for state government, Heffernan said, more than 20,000 could telework in the future in some sort of “hybrid” plan. He said employees would come into the office some days and work remotely on other days.

The state’s stance on telework could be a precursor of what happens in the rest of the economy, and a permanent shift to telework could have major implications for downtowns, commercial real estate, and transportation. The MBTA, for example, is struggling to chart its future service plans amid great uncertainty about commuting and work patterns."

Continue reading the article online  https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/state-eyeing-hybrid-telework-model-for-half-of-workforce/

 

"WITH THE STATE expecting to see its supply of COVID-19 vaccine increase over the coming weeks, Senate President Karen Spilka on Tuesday said Gov. Charlie Baker must let teachers get vaccinated this month and should set aside a percentage of doses for teachers and school staff.

Spilka’s call on the Baker administration to prioritize teacher vaccination comes a week after the Republican governor and Education Commissioner Jeff Riley detailed their intent to have all school districts bring elementary school students back to the classroom full-time by April.

The Senate’s top Democrat said if that is the goal then the administration must provide cities and towns with the resources and support they need, including vaccines."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/spilka-to-baker-get-teachers-vaccinated/