Marking Labor Day in an era of tumult

As many prepare for a long weekend of family, friends and fun, it's worth remembering that the rationale for Labor Day begins and ends with a celebration of workers.

The holiday's origins lie in early battles for better pay, hours and working conditions. Today's challenges are in many ways more complex and intractable, and are enveloped by an uncertainty about how the very nature of work is evolving.

Artificial intelligence and other technological advances are redefining or replacing many jobs. Planning for new workflows and training workers for new skills will be daunting, whether the employees sit in offices or load trucks.

Technology moves far faster than people, and it hasn't been easy to keep up. In its annual Future of Jobs report, the World Economic Forum analyzed "skill instability" and found that nearly 40% of workers' existing skill sets would be transformed or outdated by 2030. While some skills wane, others grow. The category most in demand according to the analysis: "AI and big data."

How many are ready?

Young workers have been especially hard hit, as internships, apprenticeships and entry-level jobs become more replaceable. Those between 22 and 27 are experiencing a 7.4% unemployment rate, compared with 4% for all workers, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A similar disparity exists for recent college graduates.

Making the economy, and therefore the job market, even more unsettled — is the still unknown impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs. Small businesses and their employees, particularly, have felt aftershocks. Factories, too, are shedding positions. In these early days, we don't know how far any of it will go.

There are, however, stable spots in the shaky terrain. So far, service sectors — where many employees will spend this holiday weekend working — have held up amid rough waters. Health care remains among the strongest areas of job growth, and Long Island has depended upon its hospitals, urgent care facilities and doctors' offices, for continued economic gains. Whether that continues as Medicare and Medicaid cuts take hold remains to be seen.

As we navigate an ever-changing landscape, it will be critical for employers to partner with educational institutions, so that future workers are adequately skilled. Young workers and college graduates must be ready for whatever open positions await them. The existing workforce, too, must be ready. Ongoing training at all levels is key. Skills we thought would keep us competitive will require new knowledge, context and understanding in the years to come.

While savoring the waning season of barbecues, baseball games and beach time, take time to thank the many who will work this Labor Day.