By Assemblyman Alex Sauickie

Some of you may recall the 1974 movie “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” but most have never heard of the ALICE project. Led by the United Way of Northern New Jersey, it has spread over half the country, providing research on the number of working households who are struggling financially. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

These working households depend on a job, usually a low-paying one, to make ends meet. So why is this important to the residents of Ocean County, and how does job automation impact us?

Well, according to the 2021 ALICE report, Ocean County with its 240,736 households has the third highest percentage of residents in the state in terms of both the working poor and those living below the poverty level. In other words, ALICE lives here in Ocean County with many families living day-to-day off their lower-skilled jobs that provide important services.

Many of these jobs are the very ones that are most at risk of being lost to automation. According to a report by Zippia, a job research company, automation will displace 20 million manufacturing jobs by 2030 and has the potential to eliminate 73 million total American jobs by that year. Job loss due to automation cannot be stopped, but with proper planning the life-changing impact can be lessened and maybe even reversed. 

That’s why I’ve sponsored four legislative proposals in the General Assembly to bring attention to this silent job-killer, and provide some relief to hard working families in Ocean County and in the rest of our state.

One of these bills (A4987) creates a job training and career development program, which focuses on connecting employers with workers whose jobs have been lost or endangered by automation. It provides wrap-around services for these workers so that they can gain the needed skills to find new employment.

Another bill (A5150) requires the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to track and maintain information on job losses due to automation. Effectively addressing a matter such as this requires up-to-date data and a clear picture of the trends.

A third bill (A5224) requires public colleges and universities to enroll students impacted by automation in job-training courses tuition-free, as long as there is room in the class and the student doesn’t qualify for financial aid.

The final bill (A5451) provides a tax credit – against either the corporation business tax or the gross income tax, whichever the company pays – for hiring people who have lost their jobs due to automation.

By introducing these bills and bringing these issues to the public’s attention, it is my hope to gain the support of the Governor and other members of the Legislature. It is our duty to make every effort to ensure that all of our ALICEs can afford to live and stay here.

Alex Sauickie is a life-long Jackson resident who represents his home town and 13 other towns in the State Assembly.

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Note: This opinion piece originally appeared in The Jackson Times by Jersey Shore Online in its publication dated May 27 2023.