Jamie Merisotis

Unbound: Retraining the American Workforce

Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, Arthur Bilger, Allen Blue, Shernaz Daver, Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Jamie Merisotis, Rick Newman, Nan Morrison, Joel Garrison, Bill Gates

A panel of experts analyzed the failure of traditional supply-driven workforce models to address the needs of nearly two million super-underemployed Americans amid rapid industrial automation. They highlighted successful localized interventions, such as LinkedIn's Skillful pilot and Southern New Hampshire University's competency-based partnerships, which align training with immediate employer hiring needs rather than lagging behind economic shifts. The discussion concluded that solving these systemic inequities requires a multi-actor ecosystem of employers, educators, and government officials to replace ineffective policies like Universal Basic Income with targeted, networked support systems.