State of the Artist: Challenges to the New York State Arts & Entertainment Industry and its Workforce

[Excerpt] In 2009, with support from Empire State Development (ESD), the Cornell University ILR School published its first report on the state of the New York arts and entertainment (A&E) workforce, Empire State’s Cultural Capital at Risk? Assessing Challenges to the Workforce and the Educational Infrastructure for New York State’s Arts and Entertainment Industry. The report analyzed a number of key characteristics of the A&E workforce across electronic media, live performing, and visual arts, identifying the most pressing issues for New York A&E workers and the support structures in place to protect their interests. The report concluded by proposing a number of questions to policymakers to be considered in future legislation. State of the Artist both updates this analysis of the State A&E workforce and analyzes trends in recent years based on comparable data presented in the 2009 report. The current report draws from government surveys, industry reports, and interviews with key stakeholders to assess the condition of the NYS A&E industry and its workforce, identifying key issues faced by workers in each sector of the industry. In addition to an extensive review of current literature, data from primary and secondary sources was analyzed to assess the state of the industry and major trends by sector. Survey data from the US Census Bureau and Department of Labor, notably from the American Community Survey (ACS), were retrieved to isolate trends in A&E workforce employment patterns, demographics, and income by occupational group. This analysis, including a conference attended by industry leaders and representatives to assess reactions to preliminary findings, served to identify current challenges facing this vital workforce to the state economy. Often left out of discussions about precarious workers, many working within the A&E industry continue to face high rates of contingent and project-based employment, low average income, and inadequate employment protections—all of which are explored here. State of the Artist concludes with a summary of public policies currently in place as well as those under consideration, providing an updated set of questions for New York policymakers

Cohen and Milstein Strategic Analysis

Cohen Milstein is a medium-sized law firm operating out of six U.S. cities. It is a boutique-style firm specializing in niche areas of law and litigates higher-profile cases other firms avoid. This paper will examine Cohen and Milstein to understand its market position and competitiveness within the legal industry. The legal industry provides a unique set of challenges to firms as technology advances, new laws are imposed, and customer relationships evolve. To explore Cohen and Milstein, I will employ various tools, including Porter’s Five Forces, PESTEL, and SWOT analyses. Following the firm\u27s evaluation through these metrics, strategic recommendations will be provided for Cohen and Milstein

Talking points: Texas and Africa

Comparison on multiple fronts between Texas and South Afric

Diversity As A Trade Secret

When we think of trade secrets, we often think of famous examples such as the Coca-Cola formula, Google’s algorithm, or McDonald’s special sauce used on the Big Mac. However, companies have increasingly made the novel argument that diversity data and strategies are protected trade secrets. This may sound like an unusual, even suspicious, legal argument. Many of the industries that dominate the economy in wealth, status, and power continue to struggle with a lack of diversity. Various stakeholders have mobilized to improve access and equity, but there is an information asymmetry that makes this pursuit daunting. When potential plaintiffs and other diversity advocates request workforce statistics and related employment information, many companies have responded with virulent attempts to maintain secrecy, including the use of trade secret protection. In this Article, I use the technology industry as an example to examine the trending legal argument of treating diversity as a trade secret. I discuss how companies can use this tactic to hide gender and race disparities and interfere with the advancement of civil rights law and workplace equity. I argue that instead of permitting companies to hide information, we should treat diversity data and strategies as public resources. This type of open model will advance the goals of equal opportunity law by raising awareness of inequalities and opportunities, motivating employers to invest in effective practices, facilitating collaboration on diversity goals, fostering innovation, and increasing accountability for action and progress

Disability management: Key concepts and techniques for an aging workforce

The aging workforce is likely to result in increasing numbers of workers with disabilities. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the 45-54 and 55-64 year-old population in the United States will grow by nearly 44.2 million (17%) and 35 million (39%) in the next ten years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). By the year 2010, this group will account for nearly half (44%) of the working age population (20-64), and the number of people with disabilities between the ages of 50 and 65 will almost double (Weathers, 2006). Disability management and accommodation policies and practices readily lend themselves to addressing the challenges employers will face with an aging workforce, and the increasing prevalence of disability which these demographics bring. Proactive education about ways to maximize the productivity of an aging workforce, effective case management, and workplace accommodation can significantly contribute to maximizing aging worker retention

A Path to Good-paying Careers for all Michiganders

This report by Michigan Future, Inc., offers detailed ideas on how state policymakers can implement the placemaking recommendations in its previous state policy report: A Path to Good-paying Careers for all Michiganders: A 21st Century State Policy Agenda. As with that report, Michigan Future's goal is to offer ideas that will engage readers in a conversation about how Michigan can meet the economic challenges of the future.This report was published by Michigan Future, Inc. with support, in part, by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation

Can Democracies Cooperate with China on AI Research? Rebalancing AI Research Networks

China looms large in the global landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) research, development, and policymaking. Its talent, growing technological skill and innovation, and national investment in science and technology have made it a leader in AI.This working paper considers whether and to what extent international collaboration with China on AI can endure. In Part I, it presents the history of China's AI development and extraordinarily successful engagement with international research and development (R&D) and explains how this history has helped China become a global leader in the field. Part II shows how China has become embedded in international AI R&D networks, with China and the United States becoming each other's largest collaborator and China also a major collaborator with each of the other six countries participating in FCAI. Part III then provides an overview of the economic, ethical, and strategic issues that call into question whether such levels of collaboration on AI can continue, as well as the challenges and disadvantages of disconnecting the channels of collaboration. The analysis then looks at how engagement with China on AI R&D might evolve

Macro talent management in Finland : contributing to a rapidly evolving knowledge economy

This chapter analyzes Finland’s rapid transition to a knowledge economy and the challenges that the country is facing today from a macro talent management (TM) perspective. The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (Lanvin & Evans, 2017) is used to analyze Finland’s ability to attract, develop and retain human capital. Positive features that differentiate TM in Finland from other countries are discussed-the emphasis on social mobility and egalitarian development as well as the close collaboration around TM between key stakeholders. The country’s drawbacks at a time when technology (digitalization, automation, robotics and artificial intelligence) is changing the talent scene are explored, notably the constraints of Finland’s relatively rigid labor market and its challenges in external talent attraction.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The Future of Work In Cities

The latest report in our City of the Future series examines societal shifts and advancements in technology that are impacting the rapidly changing American workforce. The report outlines solutions to help city leaders plan for the fast-approaching future, while forecasting the economic viability of two distinct sectors – retail and office administration – in which a quarter of Americans are currently employed