This report discusses how digitalization is vastly expanding
the potential of the American economy, and generating opportunities for many.
However, it is stated that the construction of an inclusive labor market as
digitalization proceeds won’t happen by itself. Instead, it will require
significant improvements in digital education and training, both to broaden the
high-skill talent pipeline and ensure that underrepresented groups can connect
to an increasingly digital economy. In addition, it is going to be important
for workers to get better at being “what we are that computers aren’t.”
Key findings include:
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Though digitalization is an ongoing
trend, the U.S. economy has digitalized rapidly over the last decade.
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The degree and pace of
digitalization vary widely across occupations and industries.
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Digitalization is associated with
increased pay for many workers and reduced risk of automation, but it is also
helping to “hollow out” job creation and wages by favoring occupations at the
high and low ends of the pay scale while disfavoring those in the middle.
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The extent of digitalization also
varies widely across places and is strongly associated with variations in
regional economic performance.
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Digitalization is changing the
skills needed to access economic opportunity while creating new race- and gender-based
access challenges.
Muro, M., Liu,
S., Whiton, J., & Kulkarni, S. (2017). Digitalization and the American
workforce. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/mpp_2017nov15_digitalization_full_report.pdf
