U.S. labor markets are being roiled by a number of unstoppable forces, including globalization, the sudden rise and fall of major corporations and even industries, and demographic changes. In addition, a wave of new Internet platforms such as Airbnb, Lyft, and TaskRabbit have lowered the cost of matching buyers and sellers, and in the process have redefined how workers can thrive in the economy. Yet despite all these changes, U.S. labor law has remained frozen for decades. The result is an increasing mismatch between the market realities facing workers and the legal requirements that govern them, writes Joe Kennedy in Computerworld.
