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The Digital Economy and “Flexwork”: Stop Gaps or Models for the Future?
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2020 was an inflection point for the “gig economy” and the digital fabric of commerce and business. Companies had to adapt to new ways of working in order to stay afloat during the pandemic. Using artificial intelligence, diversifying employment models from full-time jobs to gigworkers and crowdsourcing, and moving to flexwork and hybrid workplaces are all part of the toolbox. But what will happen after the pandemic? Will we see a shift back to traditional work models and the physical economy? Or will we continue on the path toward increased digital demand and supply structures and flexwork models?
The American Council on Germany and 1014 hosted a discussion with Thorben Albrecht, Policy Director of IG Metall and former Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and Jeff Schwartz, Principal and U.S. Leader for the Future of Work at Deloitte Consulting LLP, and author of Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work (2021).
Biography
Thorben Albrecht currently serves as Policy Director of IG Metall, the German metalworkers’ trade union. He is responsible for developing policies and strategies for the union and also represents IG Metall’s more than two million members vis-á-vis political institutions in Berlin and Brussels. He is an internationally recognized expert on the future of work. His fields of expertise include automation and artificial intelligence, new forms of work, and managing transitions, including skills development, flexibility arrangements, and social dialogue.
From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Albrecht was a member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work established by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and chaired by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. He also served as Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (2014-2018). One of his most important legislative projects was the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany. He also launched the “Work 4.0” dialogue - a public dialogue of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on the future of work. As State Secretary he was a member of the German Government’s IT Council and of the “digital agenda” steering group.
From 2008 to 2013 Mr. Albrecht was Head of Office for Andrea Nahles and of the policy department of the Executive Board of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). Prior to that he worked for the National Executive Board of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) as Head of Division responsible for the coordination of European affairs. In 2008, he was a Marshall Memorial Fellow through the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Jeff Schwartz, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is the U.S. leader for the Future of Work and the U.S. leader of Deloitte Catalyst, Tel Aviv, linking the Israeli startup ecosystem with global clients. Mr. Schwartz advises senior business leaders at global companies on workforce transformation, organization, HR, talent, and leadership. He has been the global editor of Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report since its launch in 2011. He is also the author of Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work (2021).
Mr. Schwartz has lived and worked in India, Russia, Kenya, Nepal, Belgium, and the United States. He holds graduate degrees in management from Yale University and public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He was one of the first associate directors of the U.S. Peace Corps in the Russian Federation from 1992-1993 and a Fellow at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation from 1980-1981.
2020 was an inflection point for the “gig economy” and the digital fabric of commerce and business. Companies had to adapt to new ways of working in order to stay afloat during the pandemic. Using artificial intelligence, diversifying employment models from full-time jobs to gigworkers and crowdsourcing, and moving to flexwork and hybrid workplaces are all part of the toolbox. But what will happen after the pandemic? Will we see a shift back to traditional work models and the physical economy? Or will we continue on the path toward increased digital demand and supply structures and flexwork models?
The American Council on Germany and 1014 hosted a discussion with Thorben Albrecht, Policy Director of IG Metall and former Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and Jeff Schwartz, Principal and U.S. Leader for the Future of Work at Deloitte Consulting LLP, and author of Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work (2021).
Biography
Thorben Albrecht currently serves as Policy Director of IG Metall, the German metalworkers’ trade union. He is responsible for developing policies and strategies for the union and also represents IG Metall’s more than two million members vis-á-vis political institutions in Berlin and Brussels. He is an internationally recognized expert on the future of work. His fields of expertise include automation and artificial intelligence, new forms of work, and managing transitions, including skills development, flexibility arrangements, and social dialogue.
From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Albrecht was a member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work established by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and chaired by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. He also served as Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (2014-2018). One of his most important legislative projects was the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany. He also launched the “Work 4.0” dialogue - a public dialogue of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on the future of work. As State Secretary he was a member of the German Government’s IT Council and of the “digital agenda” steering group.
From 2008 to 2013 Mr. Albrecht was Head of Office for Andrea Nahles and of the policy department of the Executive Board of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). Prior to that he worked for the National Executive Board of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) as Head of Division responsible for the coordination of European affairs. In 2008, he was a Marshall Memorial Fellow through the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Jeff Schwartz, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is the U.S. leader for the Future of Work and the U.S. leader of Deloitte Catalyst, Tel Aviv, linking the Israeli startup ecosystem with global clients. Mr. Schwartz advises senior business leaders at global companies on workforce transformation, organization, HR, talent, and leadership. He has been the global editor of Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report since its launch in 2011. He is also the author of Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work (2021).
Mr. Schwartz has lived and worked in India, Russia, Kenya, Nepal, Belgium, and the United States. He holds graduate degrees in management from Yale University and public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He was one of the first associate directors of the U.S. Peace Corps in the Russian Federation from 1992-1993 and a Fellow at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation from 1980-1981.
2020 was an inflection point for the “gig economy” and the digital fabric of commerce and business. Companies had to adapt to new ways of working in order to stay afloat during the pandemic. Using artificial intelligence, diversifying employment models from full-time jobs to gigworkers and crowdsourcing, and moving to flexwork and hybrid workplaces are all part of the toolbox. But what will happen after the pandemic? Will we see a shift back to traditional work models and the physical economy? Or will we continue on the path toward increased digital demand and supply structures and flexwork models?
The American Council on Germany and 1014 hosted a discussion with Thorben Albrecht, Policy Director of IG Metall and former Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and Jeff Schwartz, Principal and U.S. Leader for the Future of Work at Deloitte Consulting LLP, and author of Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work (2021).
Biography
Thorben Albrecht currently serves as Policy Director of IG Metall, the German metalworkers’ trade union. He is responsible for developing policies and strategies for the union and also represents IG Metall’s more than two million members vis-á-vis political institutions in Berlin and Brussels. He is an internationally recognized expert on the future of work. His fields of expertise include automation and artificial intelligence, new forms of work, and managing transitions, including skills development, flexibility arrangements, and social dialogue.
From 2017 to 2019, Mr. Albrecht was a member of the Global Commission on the Future of Work established by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and chaired by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. He also served as Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (2014-2018). One of his most important legislative projects was the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany. He also launched the “Work 4.0” dialogue - a public dialogue of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs on the future of work. As State Secretary he was a member of the German Government’s IT Council and of the “digital agenda” steering group.
From 2008 to 2013 Mr. Albrecht was Head of Office for Andrea Nahles and of the policy department of the Executive Board of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). Prior to that he worked for the National Executive Board of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) as Head of Division responsible for the coordination of European affairs. In 2008, he was a Marshall Memorial Fellow through the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Jeff Schwartz, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, is the U.S. leader for the Future of Work and the U.S. leader of Deloitte Catalyst, Tel Aviv, linking the Israeli startup ecosystem with global clients. Mr. Schwartz advises senior business leaders at global companies on workforce transformation, organization, HR, talent, and leadership. He has been the global editor of Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report since its launch in 2011. He is also the author of Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work (2021).
Mr. Schwartz has lived and worked in India, Russia, Kenya, Nepal, Belgium, and the United States. He holds graduate degrees in management from Yale University and public policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. He was one of the first associate directors of the U.S. Peace Corps in the Russian Federation from 1992-1993 and a Fellow at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation from 1980-1981.