the healthcare loss of data from the oldest of the young. many frankly are just starting to believe that the system is rigged against them. melanie mills are not asking us to give them a free pass they are just asking us to give them a fair shot, and we have a long way to go. but the good news is even though the government may have helped create this mess it can also help fix it. as ronald reagan said famously a generation ago there are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. we just have to do, have the courage to do what we know is morally right. the first place we can start is by getting the government out of the way of businesses that are getting millennial as a fighting chance three and we are fortunate to have three panelists representing companies today that are rewriting the rulebook by realizing the potential of millennial's. the businesses have taken an uncommon approach to fixing common problems, and by doing so, they have truly changed the world. for instance when was the last time that you opened an encyclopedia or have to walk miles to find a cab lacks the businesses are changing the way the economy works and for the future generation we can no longer allow government to get in the way. congresswoman, the youngest ever elected in congress has been a tireless advocate in the halls of congress for millennial's, and we are pleased to have her leading the task force today. for those of you in the audience or what ching online who may have questions for the witnesses, you can send your question using the hash tag gop future, and we may ask your question time permitting. i recognize the gentle lady from new york the chair of the policy committee millennial task force congresswoman. >> thank you chairman. i would like to take the opportunity to thank the distinguished panel of witnesses for taking the time to testify to share your knowledge and expertise. to lead today's hearing as we continued discussion on how we can help empower the millennial generation. i've greatly appreciated the insights gained over the last several months and i would like to take the opportunity to revisit the previous hearings. as you may notice is the third in an ongoing series where we have explored and discussed the millennial generation. in june june we held our first hearing where experts were representing through politics and research and echelon insights into the manhattan institute and a breakdown of americans between the ages of 18 to 34. we reviewed current trends and polling data that showed this generation is different in many ways from their parents and grandparents. for example: eagles are the most highly educated generation in american history yet they also feel the most politically disengaged. constituents are presenting a diverse set of backgrounds and his constituents shared real-world experiences of the challenges facing a generation that will soon comprise half of the american workforce. challenges such as the regulatory burdens that hold back the generation of farmers and student loan payments to prevent the next small business from opening and a government that is slow to adapt have left to these young americans feeling stifled. as we come together we have the privilege of hearing from industry leaders who represent the cutting edge of fresh thinking and adaptive policies when it comes to the modern workplace and to be an power and in the economy. we will hear how companies are attracting and maintaining millennial's to the workforces and we will also gain a greater understanding of how modern technology is empowering our constituents to support themselves economically and giving people the flexibility they desire. as the chairman mentioned, millennial set now surpassed the generation of the largest in the u.s. labor force. in fact more than one of three american workers today is a millennial and this percentage will rapidly increase in the coming years. to stay competitive the need to harness that talent, experience and energy of a generation that currently includes 80 million americans. with this new generation as with all generation come new ways of doing things and fresh outlooks on the world around us as past generations look for stability and certainty where millennial's look for flexibility and fulfillment. iv the peace shifts will only make the united states stronger and are competitive. i look forward to hearing from the witnesses in what is sure to be an informative and productive dialogue as we discuss how we can grow the end power and economy. other members of the task force will maybe recognized in the future when they come into share statements but i will move on to introducing the witnesses. i will start with mazie clark who is the government affairs analyst at google working on their advocacy efforts on the wide range of issues in technology. she worked at google since 2010 and a variety of roles and the people or nation, of a nation, seals and government affairs division. prior, she worked out the strategic partnership team. she graduated from harvard college in 2009 with a degree in history. but clemens, the next witness is the washington metro managing partner for price waterhouse cooper. she leads a practice comprised of over 4,000 professionals serving public, private and government clients and is responsible for all client services in the washington metro area. she previously served as the u.s. human capital leader in global talent leader and as a member of the u.s. leadership team are in her tenure as the u.s. human capital leader, the talent strategies were consistently recognized as industry-leading. terri was recognized in 2015 is one of the most powerful people in the greater washington, d.c. area. terri was also recently recognized by the national council for research on women as one of their trailblazer is a designation given to those who continue to -- contributed to significant positive change in the lives of women and girls at the last witness is brian wirth who is the federal public policy leader for uber's bundle for advocating the progrowth market driven business model to all federal stakeholders and interested parties. prior to joining uber, worth served as the director of coalition for the house majority whip kevin mccarthy. in this role he was responsible for coordinating outreach to the key organizations that were interested in legislation being considered by the house of representatives. brian began his career in washington working for the congressman abe hudson and also served as a political appointee at the u.s. small business administration and as the vice president of government affairs for the independent electrical contractors. he's a graduate of miami university and lives in arlington virginia with his wife and two children. the chair now recognizes mazie clark for five minutes for an opening statement. >> hello. i'm going to start over. [laughter] hello, everyone. it is an honor and a pleasure to be here with you all today. i do governor affairs analyst and i've worked at google in a variety of roles for the past five and half years. as you know the recession has disproportionately affected millennial's meaning the vehicle leaving many unemployed or underemployed. i graduated from harvard college in 2009 at the height of the recession of one with much of my graduating class i didn't have a job lined up on graduation day. like many of my peers i took a part-time unpaid internship for five months engaging in more important salary positions. i employed to upward of 100 companies and was fortunate to receive a call back from google work in the recruiting department. recruiting wasn't the three are path i imagined i was in college but i needed to make some money and move out of my parents house. five and half years later i worked at recruiting, sales and government affairs and i could have and have asked for a more rigorous experience in my career. this is because of the way that google focuses on the culture and people. .. to improve the strategies to attract this incredibly talented generation of technologists. thanks for your time. >> thank you. the chair recognizes this as but mcclements for an opening statement. thank you congressman and other distinguished members of the congress for inviting us today to talk to the millennial task force hearing. we are delighted to share some of the innovative strategies we've implemented around the approach to attract attraction for development and retention of a group of people often misunderstood the millennial's. our workforce is strikingly young. by next year millennial's will account for approximately 80% of our people. so the issue of how we attract, engage and develop the youngest members of the organization is some end we spent a lot of time in about a. of millennial's are often stereotyped as "absorbed or lazy or quick to shift their loyalties. we found that those stereotypes simply are largely unfounded, and when we started paying attention to the millennial workforce motivations and interests, we ended up with a fresh perspective on the work experience for the entire firm. in 2012, we collaborated with researchers from the adversity of southern california and one in business school to look at millennial's in the workplace. what motivates them to keep them engaged. what we found were some generational differences among the newest and youngest hires difference differences that forced us to reimagine the effect of people strategies from our wide. one of the takeaways with understanding how much millennial's and even our experienced people valued flexibility and careers. in many cases millennial's are willing to give up the opportunity to make more money or work line the corporate ladder to find abe role that offers them the flexibility to work from home were timed to follow their passions. we use this information to rethink what kind of flexibility we are offering all of our people. in january, 2013, we launched a contest which we called plan to flex where we asked the managers to work with teams to find a way to achieve flexibility by supporting each other during one of the busiest times in the business cycle january through march. the goal was to deliver the commencement and have time. on the half of 20,000 people participating in early 2014 we took it one step further and rolled out your route flexibility for the entire organization. we are also finding more ways to offer flexibility and balance. we recently launched the flexibility talent network that allows people to work during the busiest time of the year and then pursue other interests. we've had flexible talent network professionals enrolled in medical schools during most of the year and come back to us during a break between classes for our busy season. another professional flute percussion and start to the bakery using the reliable capital earned working group of small business. on the most are also reminding us to think about how we engage in communications. it is a myth that younger people only we want to communicate through electronics. they actually crave face-to-face interaction particularly when it comes to feedback and career development. this insight pushed us to take a fresh look at our performance management practices which at the time was largely paper driven process driven, backend and often focused on assignment of ratings and compensation as opposed to actual career development. in 2014 we replaced the old process of a new leadership development experience grounded by the professional career development framework which emphasizes the competencies necessary to solve important problems in an ever increasingly complex world. we are creating a culture emphasizing frequent, informal come in the moment feedback to help our people grow and develop each and every day. we developed an app that urges progress against the professional to facilitate more robust career conversations. millennial's also want to know that they are valued and appreciated for the conditions we are making. it can come in the form of real-time rewards for something like a great effort and a meeting or for finishing a project. it can also be expressed more subtly in the ways that we express appreciation. there are 86,400 seconds in a day. we like to ask have you used one of them to say thank you that's appreciation. it takes about a second that the value of getting that feedback can be impactful and longer lasting. it used to be that the promise of one day becoming a partner was a before justification. but today, the millennial's are focused not just on their own career goals of purpose, the reason for being. our millennial stick that purpose to heart. they are willing to lead if what we are doing as an organization doesn't align their values. since the study we invested the time teaching people about the purpose can help you build trust in society and sold important problems. we spend time looking at the commitment to social issues, taking cues from our people in broad societal trends to make an impact. we've taken an active role to promote financial literacy and support the needs of our veterans. and we are giving our employees the flexibility to be involved in our own communities to take time away to engage in something that is meaningful to them. this issue of purpose in meeting has led to the implementation of one of the programs. we booked at the rising debt to current students and recent college graduates are burdened with. there are currently 1.3 trillion outstanding loan debt in this country. much of that debt is owned by millennial's. we saw this as a societal issue that we could have impacts on by helping employees. starting next july in about 45% of the firm will become eligible to receive as much as $7,200 over six years towards repaying their student loans. in closing i would say one of the biggest lessons learned is to embrace the opportunity to learn from anyone offering a fresh perspective. our research into millennial's has breathed new life into a number of programs and policies. we are not afraid of millennial's. quite the contrary. they made us better by forcing us to rethink our entire approach to the experience and to enabling technologies. and we are getting results with higher overall employees of section and retention rates. last i added that the job is never done. we need to constantly think about iterating the talent practices. thank you for having me here today. i would be happy to answer any questions you may have. >> thank you. the chair recognizes mr. worse for an opening statement. >> thank you. i appreciate holding this hearing and giving me an opportunity to be here today. i want to talk about this a little differently if i can. i don't want to talk about what it does to the employees like me just as great as you heard about here and to make sure you don't get fired its better than you heard from the other two companies. [laughter] [laughter] that i do want but i do want to talk about the outward facing nature of what we do and we've heard a lot about flexibility from the first two witnesses and that the millennial studies and frankly we all do and what uber is to provide the flexibility and what that means that for people as consumers and for people that are drivers on the platform as well. i would like to start its somewhat ubiquitous in and we kind of take it for granted. a lot of us get around that we now fight years ago the company just got started. the technology didn't exist. they could be charged the technology exists and we take this for granted a short five years later so who knows what the next year the technology is and the next application on the phone will be sitting here saying we can't remember but it was like not to have that on the phone or not to be able to do that so that's where technology is moving in is changing the way people interact commercially. it's empowering individuals whether it is a big chain store to buy something or do something faceless we are now dealing with a person more directly having a transaction. when you are in a uber right whether you are the right or the driver you're dealing directly with the person who is paying for the services you rate them afterwards. that is an empowering thing for consumers not something only you uber does but they cut out the middleman and a sense of the employer. in a snapshot of what we are talking about and how this impacts both of the larger sense what it means economically on the platform were in 300 cities around the world and one in 70 countries the united states we are in more than 200 cities and the 400,000 plus active uber drivers in the united states. people of the platform do more than four trips a month on the platform. go over that number and its excess of 1 million. from the millennial standpoint, we pulled the numbers on that, 23% of the drivers on the uber platform in the united states over 29 or younger. 49% of them are writers on the uber platform are under 49 and younger. so this is what i want to talk about more here is the way to change into the way the millennial set around and and the baby move around cities or move into cities now as opposed to the suburbs changing the way cities are shaping the way transportation works and the way people move but a couple more if i can give you a couple more numbers to speak to the flexibility of the platform and the flexibility of the technology more than half of the drivers on the platform drive fewer than ten hours a week and more than 40% are below eight hours a week so these are people really picking up whether it is the weekend elect i like to see anecdotally the first ride in san francisco when we had headquarters going to the giants game to get in the car and start talking to my driver and she's on her child during the day and when he comes home at five, five times for 30 she goes out and does the rush-hour hit and then she comes home. the best thing about this is if my kid is sick i don't have to come i'm not getting fired because i can't go out. if i don't feel like going out or my husband has to work late i don't have to but if i can go out and make extra money that is the ten hours a week and for a lot of people but is a big deal. that is a make or break kind of thing and that's the difference between going on vacation or paying down your student at periods of providing the flexibility without locking them into what we can consider full-time jobs are part-time jobs to have that fixed schedule is an empowering thing for individuals into something that these technological developments are allowing. now this wasn't possible ten years ago. this wasn't possible when i was in the millennial coworker chimed a longer on anymore and it wasn't possible than it is now. it's an opportunity to technology provided to people. the other number i want to throw out at you but i think this is a fantastic and are so far in 2015 drivers on the platform in the united states have brought home $3.5 billion in earnings and that is exciting as well because of the product starts to expand or starts to grow and expand into new areas into cities it isn't just new york or boston or san francisco this is now moving to north carolina to suspend the upstate new york. it is exciting stuff as it goes out to more people with more potential. for people to take advantage of the flexibility to fit into their own schedules. so the next thing i want to talk about if i could is the latest changes how people move and that is the other thing about when we talk about the 49% of the writers on the platform to people that take )-right-paren is millennial cohort 29 and younger and this is changing the way they move around the cities. it is exciting stuff here. this talks about how i think it's a really good story about urban revitalization and also economic opportunity. we did a survey we compared yelp data with san francisco which is 31% of turks and san turks in san francisco begin or end of independent business. so it wouldn't be a chain store chain restaurant. you go down here to chinatown all the suffering of the chinatown metro are big bucks chains because it is the guy five blocks away from the six blocks away that has his own shot in his own restaurant in his own bar, their own boutique, whatever it is. uber is getting people come and making it easier to get there and get to those businesses. we presume and hope to get to those businesses they spend money. we ought others independent businesses in the economy, such an exciting thing coming and exciting data that we like to throw out there as we are in the city longer and have more data we will be all to show you more data like that for our economic impact on cities. one of the other things i think that comes along with us as i'm talking about bars and restaurants and is it's almost like -- weevils as insignificant reductions in the related incidents in the reductions in cities that have uber as well and this is common sense we all all be weeded anecdotally and we've also got got the data to back this up and we work with local law enforcement in a lot of places with breathalyzers set up outside to come up and do free breathalyzer tests. it's probably a better idea. .. >> what does it mean if you're not going to have a car you have to have a means get yourself around. i take uber there in the morning to get there. a lot of that -- some of it is just getting just straight from a to b. that's where we get on one of the newer products. we launched in dc. we've had in a california for a while. this is uber pool. the app now, the technology can determine whether multiple people are going along the same route, generally the same direction, we both volunteer and ask for a ride on uber pool, it picks me up, picks the next person up and drops me off and drops the next person off. it's no more convenience for us. instead of having two cars take two of us somewhere you had the car do the same thing. when you look at whether it's a large city or small area, you know, sitting in rush hour traffic, congestion downtown, traffic, which obviously has infrastructure benefits. but you also talk about again you are making it easier for people to get around. they're more apt to spend their money, it's okay to work from home. so maybe that is something to work from home and a benefit that more companies are seeing from employees. it's just another way we are changing the way people move around the city and i think that's -- with that -- the thing i would like to caution folks, this is a 5-year-old company. who knows what we will be talking about. older folks like me, a positive impact that congress should look at and not something that they should hug so hard that they strangle it. i appreciate the committee for having me here. >> i now recognize myself to ask questions and my first question i will ask of ms. clark, so you mentioned google 20% plan that allows employees and members of the workforce to focus on idea to help the company internally or helpful fill the company's mission, and the example you gave was gmail, can you offer insight of how we can make an idea work like in a traditional setting, how might the federal government be able to implement a system to bring ininnovation to a system that seems out of date? >> thanks for that question. >> i would say just being flexible enough to have people come up with the ideas and having an internal system. people could vote on whether or not they think the idea is something that a group of people could pursue and then it's really just about impowerment at the end of the day, if technologies allow to to happen. having staffers come up with great ideas and support allowing them to spend time on these ideas to innovate and update, i think would be wonderful. it's been amazing at google, i myself got a wonderful trip to london out of the 20%. we trained to use google tool to expose money laundrying around the world. that was a cool experience. having people get together and work on them and allowing them to do so would be wonderful. >> great, thank you. you referenced how pwc is reaching out to workforce to get feedback. can you talk about how the feedback impacted culture and does this level of involvement create sense of ownership where you notice the difference as you started the program? >> thank you, wonderful question. so we have a careful whereby we are constantly seeking feedback. those are things that we do. we move to get feedback on environment and surveys on the work environment, but in conjunction with that, i mention new performance management efforts, that is something that we call real-time feedback, so each and every day with every major interaction, we are seeking and asking for feedback both upward and downward so that with every new assignment, new client, conversation, the next time that we have it, we will be better equipped to have a more strategic conversation with our clients and stakeholders in the community. we have this concept of real-time in the moment feedback supported by periodic surveys that help us listen, listening, learning and adapting so that we are constantly getting feedback to adjust our practices. >> thank you, my last question before the next round, you talked about millennials moving towards urban areas and increase ridership in underserved neighborhoods. since i represent a rural district i wanted to ask do you think an increase in types of services like uber could help attract millennials to rural areas across the country? >> sure, as this becomes more common, we've already seen this in mid-size cities and urban areas. it's not just uber, a technology function in general. it's about access for people and it's about flexibility. i definitely think this is something -- as technology expands, this is something that uber will be in more places. but that also is true. i think it will tract other people. if you live here and used to having that convenience, that's about flexibility. you're not going to want to give that up if you go somewhere else. >> thank you, i now recognize chairman mezer. >> thank you, can i have a more direct question about policy. i have to admit when you talk about being an intern at google i couldn't help but to think of the movie of internship, maybe an example of defeating unconscious bias. those of you who don't know the movie, a couple washed up 40-somethings around my age guys that had failed in life and ended up having an internship at google and the end became fairly successful. for bows -- those a little closer to my age, really kind of a fascinating movie. could you talk about this principle of unconscious bias and the way it's utilized within your company? >> i would note that i was an extra. >> wow, really. >> very cool. [laughter] >> and actually we do have an employee research group. they call themselves greglers. [laughter] >> but anyway, unconscious bias, a push specifically about making sure that people, you know, enter every situation at work in a way where they're recognizing the difference of others, in a way that doesn't hinder them to have the best dialogue and also to review employees, you know, per performance and promotion and making sure that everyone is evaluated equally. we have a bunch of trainings. we have in-person training that we have. we sometimes do externally for people. we have trainers who either part time or full-time job for them and aye taken -- i've taken that myself and found that informative. we would like to bring it to the government and make it more assessable and follow up on that later. >> i appreciate it. it's fascinating to hear the number that 80% of the workforce at p wu c is millennials. could you, one, expand on how that happens and maybe talk a little bit about some of the opportunities and some of the challenges that come from that make-up of your workforce? >> part of why we get to the 80% when the workforce is going to be at 50% is our business model in terms of how we promote and develop people with the advent of our leadership developing experience, we literally want to be the employer who is known of the developer of talent. whether people say and decide to stay with the firm long-term or whether they choose to go to pursue a career in another area, we want to be the company where they want to come to -- to grow and develop, and i would love to share the fact that we are second behind google in terms of recognition from campus, in terms of the brand where students see destination to go, which is fantastic. so then as to the second part of the question, looking at the opportunities and the challenges that perhaps that exist is we see it as opportunity. we saw the fact that probably many areas, i'm a boomer and with the influx of a new generation really helping us to see that there were different ways to approach what we were doing, delivering our service externally or internally from a talent perspective. we threw different challenges to get ideas. we see it as upside. >> real quick, it's amazing to hear that uber is only a year, five. when i think of the story of uber i'm reminded that the status quo is a fierce fighter. you've guys been through regular regulatory challenges as those that are vested in this -- in the preexisting structure sort of pushed back against disruptive technology that uber represents. could you tell a little bit of that story, challenges that uber faced in dealing -- >> sure, absolutely. a lot of this comes from, you know, uber being something so new. that's not how normal transportation works in the traditional for-hire business. when i started the company 18 months ago, we were probably going city by city duking it out with the income tax industry. now we've expanded so much. i mentioned more than 200 cities in the united states. we i do we should go and ask to be regulated by the state government. don't let us be crammed into this old box, the way of doing things. you need to treat it as something new. but from a business standpoint makes total sense because you need that stability and standpoint to be able to operate business. it's been fascinating. i have been with this company and watched from the inside despite we are having whether we should even exist, whether we should be allow today operate and now conversation is like uber can operate, but how do we treat it, tax it, regulate, how do we do all these other things to it which is what normal companies face. we are starting to grow up as a company and getting away from the start-up phase a little. it's a very personal thing for most people. whether you're the rider or the driver. it has allowed uber to win regular -- regulatory body. i know what it's like to have it. you as my representative need to figure out how to allow and make it work. it's one of the most traditional products. it just doesn't work that way. it's intn interest to go see how the grassroots worked for this company and this product. >> yield back to the chair. >> why do you think that millennials find having an engaging mission important to their careers? >> that's a really interesting question. i think it actually has to do with being raiseed by the baby boomer generation. i think that was a very idealistic strong-will generation and were instilled what those valued by our parents. it's certainly the case for me and true for a lot of millennials and it was also incorporated in education in a way that wasn't quite as much, maybe, 60 years ago. so i think that that's kind of the reason and i think that's the great thing. >> so just to follow up, in terms of google's mission it's very unique that it can never truly be complete as you mentioned it. many occupations in businesses aim to accomplish a very known and clear task whether is providing a ride from a to point b or what pwc does. how do you think companies can reframe their mission to excite millennials the way google does and i'll ask pwc and uber to follow up on that, but you can start. >> it's just about wording. companies such as pwc and uber are constantly innovating and absolutely can frame their missions and probably do to an extent, frame their missions that are very forward looking and long-term, and i think that that's something about google's mission that is helpful and a big hallmark of the tech industry in general. >> so if i think about our purpose, right, to build in society and solve important problems and you can think about that and say, what is that, what does that mean and all millennials care about that, if i think about whether it's building trust and society and solving important products from the work that we do from financial statement audits, are the report that is we produce sound so investors are making good decisions on the companies in which they invest, then i turn to other issues where people are working on helping to develop ways to analyze data, analysis that might help reduce suicide rates, for example. those are the real kind of processes that we are working on for society, for businesses, for our government, and so our people look at that and say that's real impact. i've been pleased to have opportunity to spend time visiting our private sector practice and the kind of work that they are doing supporting our united states and our people who know the missions. they know the mission they are working on and they are excited about delivering against the mission. that's how we bring our purpose to life. and we've engaged our people in understanding and giving us feedback on that purpose as well. >> sure, and uber -- our mission is pretty clear, it says it on our website. the exciting thing that keeps my colleagues at uber that are doing great stuff with the technology, uber pool, we have uber eats which is food delivery that's the exciting part and that's the mission that what we are doing now is scratching the surface, being a better option than a cab is the easy part of this. now what's next? that's what keeps thriving. you know, i think this isn't just a big city-thing anymore that keeps going. i think that's the exciting thing that keeps -- that's the mission that uber is to continue to build on this great thing we've got, great foundation and keep building it up. >> well, this -- i have to admit i am a dead-square genxer. what other products have been developed by googlers during their 20% time? >> you put me on the hot seat. [laughter] >> i know they are wide ranging. off of the top of my head, that's one of our exciting products. it's a big-moneymaker for revenue. big revenue for us. that was something that was 20% project very early in the company's history. >> and then our next one here is from gerard which says to our -- to bryan, can you talk about pricing and how incentivize drivers to drive during peak hours. >> we are sticking with surge pricing. [laughter] >> search pricing is flexible pricing to the rate of uber ride. if there's only five cars t rate of our trip about cost of our trip will go up until five more cars come into the area to pick all those up. the goal would be that all ten of us walk out of here and get a ride within three minutes or five minutes. you never feel like you have to wait longer because you're in a certain type of neighborhood or time of night. it does work. drivers get notified. concert coming out of the verizon area. it's going to surge where there's enough drivers and we all get to drive at the same time. it certainly works. and the best indicator is bar base, when the bar is midnight to 2:00 a.m. there are people who don't have problem picking up folks that come out of a bar midnight to 2:00 a.m. if you're willing to do it, you don't have to go out and do it either. that's the beauty. >> i would like to kind of open the question up to all of you. we are in the u.s. congress, the place where we make federal policy and been very intrigued by the comments of workplace flexibility, even though i'm a genexer. i'm a lawyer, the time of my career i had my own small business, law practice, more or less operated out of my home. my wife is a lawyer too, imagine that. both spouses are lawyers. she's for ten years operated her legal practice from -- from home and it strikes me that a whole lot of our federal policy surrounding employment and labor and taxation is based on a model that doesn't really apply anymore. it's sort of the old -- or at least it doesn't apply in a lot of circumstances anymore. the old 40-hour week where they commute back and forth. we just ask the panel if any of you could describe challenges that your businesses face through federal policies that impact your ability to be flexible in the workplace, and if you don't have a specific challenge then cautions that you might want us to be careful of as we look at where we go to public policy in this brave new world. >> okay, i'll be the sucker. i think you hit on it. it's the nature of whether it's tax policy or workplace policy, we are dealing with something new. we talked about uber. i'm just uber witness but there are technologies out there, there's apps that we have on our phone that someone else does them that does the same thing, connecting the seller and the buyer to some capacity and cutting what we think of the middleman. i'm not an employee in a traditional sense. you're doing less than ten hours a week, you're probably doing something else to make a living. you have a pension, multiple jobs or doing for fun. you're not an employee for the traditional sense. our workplace laws are set up to treat you in that manner or only look at you in that manner. they haven't done a new one. it shifted radically since 2005. that shift is taking place. i think it's something where i caution congress in doing anything, just to do something. they get this a great thing, great development, you want to encourage it. since we know little about it and it's so new, again, i go back to our company being five year's old. this is so knew. lawmakers should perceive with caution until there's a clear problem that needs to be fixed. i do think we are going to start to run into more problems as the modern economy runs of 40-hour workweek in a facility that we think of the workplace. as that start to shift, congress is going to have to make changes at some point. but right now, i really think that it's at a point where you don't want to step in too soon and squeeze too hard on something. >> i have not looked at it from the viewpoint of the policy that existed from a federal perspective. we more looked at it from a commercial perspective in looking at how do we drive a workplace environment where people find it attractive to want to be. so in part of that is the flexibility and i would say huge enabling technology for us, it's only been out five or so years is the ipad, right, so tablet devices. so when that got introduced, that really was a catalyst but we embraced technology to say there's a different way to approach things and we no longer expect somebody to be at their desk 9:00 to 5:00, eliminate specially in this area as you can all attest to the traffic that exist in this area, if we can have people be more productive, that's really what we are looking at. it's able enabling that possibility. >> i agree very much with that. i think google as well. i think a focus on trust, i think it goes back to trust. allowing of framework where companies are able to trust their employees, hire people they can trust and then trust and execute on the work that they are tackled with doing very well. and when companies trust their employees, they become much more loyal and they want to do their best and i feel like i'm hearing that from the other panel as well. >> yield back to the chair. >> so one of the things that i noticed when i visited college campuses in my district, when i ask students what they want to do after they graduate, the most frequent profession is they want to become an entrepreneur, sometimes they are sure of the idea, they know what their version of the american dream is. and your testimony today is representative from large companies at this point. as you think back to the story of each of your company's development, what were some of those road blocks to growing companies? so from an entrepreneur perspective, what are the challenges today to pursuing this empowerment economy that millennials are looking for? >> i'll go first again. you know, i think uber -- the story is kind of easy with us. when you look at when the company started in san francisco, it literally started when founder and ceo couldn't get a cab in san francisco. you tell people that and they think it's absurd because it is absurd. the story of what we've been through is a company going toe-to-toe and be able to offer people. whatever the next app is, i have a better way to do this, i can sell it better, you're going to run into an incumbent. they're not going to want you in their space. people&2h just don't understandz wherg[ the j understanding imporq+erybodcx(ñ (rñe7(óy ák& communicb v {]zékjp &cjqkqc82b> >> "washington journal" continues."washington journal" host: for the next 40 minutes, we devote the conversation to young voters and campaign 2016. matthew segal is back with us. org.s founder of ourtime. i want to start by getting your reaction to the protest inements at college campuses recent weeks. what should young people see as the lesson learned from miz campuses?other guest: racial sensitivity. and againstom families. we want to see our leaders, our college administrators be cognizant of a lot of the racial tensions occurring in america, and by all means, create a more inclusive campus. host: what do you make of the concerns that in these events free speech is being sacrificed for political correctness? guest: it is about a spirit of inclusiveness. 's speech can create an environment where people feel not included, that is when things can get complicated. we are not a liberal generation, but we are a generation that does not want to be learning in an environment where we feel oppressed. it is not such a black-and-white issue. people who boil it down to millennial's hate political correctness are by all means simplifying the issue. "usa today," in don't know if you saw it, it talks about raising the voting age because of what we have seen over the past couple of weeks on college campuses, raising it to 25. it says to be a voter, one must be able to engage in adult political discussions. host: i want to get your thoughts. , a those who do not know university of tennessee law .rofessor ridiculous is a assertion. ignorance in voting blocs runs the gamut of every generation. i think to suggest that 18-year-olds can assume the responsibility of fighting for our country and wars, and not have a say in the local process, we solved that issue back in 1972 when the voting age was lowered. host: we are asking our viewers to wait in. for about the next half hour, we are talking with matthew segal, cofounder of outime.org, and advocacy organization for millennial's. he also helped start and millennialmpany for spirit democrats can call in, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 745-8002. what theour sense of candidates for president are saying on issues that millennial's care about? are they speaking to mo millennial's? guest: some are trying to. it has been a slow start. , thene, attention.com media organization i work at, b wrote several articles that te candidates did not mention student debt, which for young people, it is the number one concern that they have. oneomy issues bring number for millennial's. we want to hold our candidates accountable on that topic. i was pleased to watch the debate and see at least several minutes debating the merits of college affordability. theseandidates focus on power wematters like ou going to alleviate student debt, and create jobs for young people, and build income and wages that have remained flat. that is what gives young people excited first of foremost. then, of course, social issues. we are the most socially progressive generation which means we support marriage equality, drug reform, and ending mass incarceration. rhetoric around those issues is deathly going to inspire and motivate young people to show up at the polls. host: we have a special line in the segment for young people, those 18-29, if you want to join the conversation. it is (202) 748-8003. matthew, i'm going to show some voting participation rates broken down by age. host: if those older voting blocs are so much more reliable, why should those running for the president feel obligated to speak and spends much time on millennial's, when they can get those other segments to turn out? if you want to government only going after the likely voters, we will not see many changes. today thatung people are the future. if you truly want to represent the future, you have to reach out to a generation that feels both disenfranchised by the current gridlock in washington, and has great ideas and new worldviews that we want to see brought to the table and represented. we need leadership from politicians to reach out to us, thate also make the case young people have to definitely help right the menu, otherwise, they will turn up on the menu. that is the case we are constantly making. look, we also failed young people in schools today. howle are not taught government works. we bus young people for not voting and participating, when they have not been educated to do so. to blame us rather than the cultural and social logical systems that have engendered voter apathy is looking at the issue and a myopic way. host: i want to ask you about the political leanings of millennial's. poll thata pew came out recently that found that 51% of young people 45%tified as democratic and , republican. does that sound about right? guest: i think what is most striking is there was the previous poll that said roughly four out of 10 young people identified as independence. they do not have strong party affiliation. there is liberal ideology, libertarian ideology, some conservative ideology that permeates our generation and worldview, but, by all means, we are not a generation that grows up and has grown up with strong party loyalty. we are much more inspired by issues and particular candidates than we are by just being good democrats or republicans. host: richard is waiting in louisville, kentucky, by for democrats. caller: hello. i've been a democrat for a lot of years. i did not change my party affiliation, but i voted straight-line republican the past couple times. here is my question. do you consider yourself a conservative, moderate, liberal? i have a follow-up. guest: i'm now working at a media company, and cover things journalistically, so i consider myself independent. caller: i appreciate that. civicske earlier about no longer being taught to the young people of today. i agree with you 100%. the only problem is you have to ask yourself, how did we get away from the basic fundamentals of education in this country? . will tell you exactly how it is because of the liberals. , ofou are 18 years of age fighting age, you can go in the military, and yes, you have a right to vote, of course you do. my only problem is, and you see it every day, when peopl young people are interviewed, they are so uninformed. i'm ignorant about a lot of things. i'm not a brain surgeon. i make it a point to try to find out what is going on, at least locally, in this country. people, they need to be better informed about the topics, subjects, and where this country and globe is going. on that point, can i ask you, do you think social media has contributed to helping keep people informed or make people less informed? caller: you are talking to an old pipefitter, an old construction worker. i can barely turn on my computer. this social media, if it is done properly, it can do some good things. a young persons about the deal in iran, they would not know what he is talking about. guest: i definitely think there civic education, like it is stated, that has contributed to an underinformed disposition that many young people possess, but, yet again, this is not an issue unique to millennial's. it runs throughout the entire country. we have a severely underinformed electorate. a lot of it is driven by a culture that focuses on entertainment, much more than it focuses on sober public affairs programs like this one. i think, if more people place emphasis on a culture of being informed and bridges i -- participatory, of course that would change. low voter participation is driven by so many factors. it is to buy a system where we see education change, culture, your parents -- if you grew up in a household where your parents taught you the importance of voting and learning about the political system -- it is also driven by our current system of campaign finances, which has so much money poured into the political process, get people feel they cannot affect change because they voices do not count as much as the voices of people that give large campaign contributions. i think, the corroboration of those factors creates a lack of knowledge around the global process, and a lack of concern around the political process because people have become disenchanted. that is something that every day i am working alongside my friends and colleagues to reform. and ourtu attn.com ime.org. we have a line for 18-25-year-olds, nader is on that line. caller: you may have touched on aboutore, but millennial's being spoiled and not really knowing the topics, and they should not be able to vote because they are not informed -- we have really have this issue, and it has come up every generation that the .ounger class is not informed this is not the first time it has ever happened. what is the first time, what is unique to the millennial ,eneration is we are worse off for the first time, then our previous generation. not only is the nation as a , but internally, student that is higher than it has ever been, child well-being -- last i checked, we were other 27th compared to industrialized nations. we have not taken care of our children for years, decades. this generation is now the product of that. we have to deal with many more problems than our parents ever had to deal with, and we will be worse off. it is that reason that i feel like millennial's have the .iggest influence maybe millennial's are not as justmed, but it is not millennial's, everybody is misinformed. at least we are in the age of technology in which information is readily available. i would like to argue that this 18-25-year-olds is probably a little more informed than the previous generation just because information is that readily available. host: i want to let matthew segal jump in. guest: the color is actually right. it is a question if we take social media at our fingertips and turn that into voter present participation. i think one of the reasons you see a distant connect -- disconnect is a disenchantment with gridlock. millennial have grown up in a time and culture in which we have instant results. search forle something and get instant results. we can hit an app on iphone, and have a car waiting for us. when you look at washington, and the political process, change is and takes forever. sometimes it does not even happen for decades. i think there is a disconnect between our culture and legislative system that inpatient, young people -- and impatience is good in certain circumstances -- impatient young people have a disconnect in understanding and reconciling. that is why being informed does not always translate to voter participation. host: mark stone on twitter wants to know, do you support free college and getting rid of all student loan debt? guest: personally, i support debt-free college, in particular, and certainly the majority of our readers support debt-free college. i think the fact that college has risen and cost about 1200% in the last 30 years is unconscionable. it has created a system where people emerge into the workforce and a whole -- in a whole that they have to drag themselves out of. it is counterproductive. obviously, we need a more educated society, but we have to look at the way we finance college and rethink it. we did not always have the system. we had a system before the mid- 1980's in which college students received more grants downloads. we have since replaced the a system grants with of loans. with loans, interest has become progressively higher, and as a result, we have this over $1 trillion debt crisis, which is something that our leaders are finally starting to adjust, but it is not sustainable. fundamentally rethink how we finance, and hold colleges accountable, to , we are not going to solve this problem. host: we are talking about millennial's and campaign 2016. a special light for those who are 18-25 years old. mike is on that line from chicago, illinois. go ahead. caller: good morning, and thank you for discussing such development topic today. i cannot agree more about the worse off situation for millennial's. definitely mentioned some key points. i could not agree with you more. we are worse off economically. parties, democrats and republicans, have not addressed some of the new concerns brought forward, especially as you mentioned student loans, the environment. you mentioned, once again, that economic side of things. if we are not economically stable, political exercising of wants rights are directly linked. i have $120,000 of student loans, attending a top 20 university here in chicago. host: is that just undergraduate loans? caller: undergraduate and graduate. it is very difficult to get ahead. host: what did you get your degree and, if you don't mind me asking? ander: social science international relations. i have been looking to buy a home for a long time, but my wages have never increased in the last 10 years. i'm an economic migrant. i have moved around the country as a result you get a job. how am i to be stable economically or with my family taco my family structure is unstable. it is tough to get home loans, car loans. there is no clinical stability, if there is no economic stability. the second thing you mention is about new sources of informed media. clearly, our society has become more complex. millennial, we wrestle with so many different forms of media. i work in the political field, and can tell you that all of these new technologies are top-down based meaning they enrich the person who wields them, who creates clinical information. for somebody who is a consumer, or using social media as a way to put themselves into the system, there's always that the structure -- thi disjuncture. guest: speaking to the first point. from college or student loans, or lack of employment, and still having to pay for necessities is something that is affecting literally tens of thousands of millennial's and everything will state in the country. i think the biggest risk of it is actually the threat it poses to entre nous or ship -- entrepreneurship. if young people are already in debt, how can they take risks. if there is so much capital that they oh, how can they put up their savings, or they don't have any, to start up businesses and innovate so that the american economy can grow. i think, when we look at the debt issue, we also have to look at it from an economic growth standpoint, and how much we are risking for our free markets and economy by not allowing young their to really unleash creativity and ingenuity. that is also one of the biggest parts that concerns me with all the debt that young people have today. it is something i don't think gets enough coverage as far as how that will impact the nation. host: let's go to mike on the line for republicans. caller: he is really perceptive, by think some of the things he is saying are missing parts of the picture. i will try to keep it short. as to student loan debt -- of course i am an older man, and when i was a kid, we did not have this type of problem. we had debt, but nothing like it is now. the difference between then and with the did not go up idea that it was a guaranteed ticket to failure if you did not get a college education. this is something that the kids have been sold since the time they were little, and their parents too, that if they do not go to college, they are doomed to fail. it creates a huge demand for diplomas. coupled with the government messing around with the financing of student loans, it creates a powerful incentive for colleges to endlessly raised their tuition because they know whereave to feed a system kids are coming to college for two reasons. a, they are afraid to fail. b, they do not consider that success does not necessarily depend on one. there are people that are very successful in business and do not have college degrees. they came out of high school -- some of them of course were children of entrepreneurs. they are not being taught that entrepreneurship is not something that depends on the college degree. the fact that people are not going to trade schools that much anymore, gun people don't come up with the idea that they want to be plumbers, truckers, or they might want to start a small roofs on putting houses. they come out thinking they should sit in a cubicle in front of a computer at this college education will get them a job that pays a lot of money, when those jobs do not exist in those numbers anymore. head matthew, nodding his to several of your comments. go ahead. guest: i would say, the only point worth acknowledging is part of the reason the demand has increased so considerably is that, typically speaking, your earnings, if you have a college degree, are significantly higher. they are between half $1 million moremillion dollars throughout the course of a lifetime. if you are earning between half $1 million to a million dollars more in your lifetime, every shred of evidence shows that a college education will increase your income in the long term. in the short term, it creates massive debt. in the long term, for the most part, people are pulling themselves out of the debt, and being resilient, and eventually prospering. college is definitely a worthwhile investment for most. doesn't mean that every field person should go to college? i think people should have the free will to choose for themselves. if they have an idea out of high school and want to start a company, or go to a trade, that is their prerogative and right. if you look at the reason why demand for college is so high, it is because of lifelong earnings. jim is up next on the line for republicans. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you listen of your generation is both good and bad. wide sweepingake statements that sound good on appearance, but create serious problems like your decision or thought that every one should get a college education or technical education. guest: i didn't say that. i said that people should have the free will. saidr: if you have not se it, mr. obama says it. what that produces is people who are not prepared for school go to school. what you do is create more buried him some demand -- burden some demand. the caller: when i went to school, i just that it. i didn't think about social issues on campuses. racism onhat there is campus. liberals are also ingrained in allergistnd making -- do more for social things. socialeges do more for things. you turn around and blame candidates. there are other issues i can give you, too. host: let's let matthew segal respond. guest: just there -- just like complex,an industrial and the color has merit to his point. colleges can keep building brick-and-mortar buildings that can increase cost and don't focus on the core competency of learning. they are worried about their rankings. colleges have to be a part of this system of accountability to drive down tuition costs. froman't overcome taxpayers. it all caps come from the federal government. everyone has to play a role. i agree on that point. is that partlate of the reason causes up for college, earnings is better for college graduates. host: older generations are living in the past while the younger generation lives more in the present and future. it sets up inherent conflicts. don is in florida. he is a republican. go ahead. guest: yes, as a recent graduate in health care, i have found what you are saying interesting. deuce to loans a master degree, but not for the other. -- i did student loans for a masters degree, but not for the other. people get it paid for on their own without someone giving it to them for free. not the people who are likely to thrive in college, right after college. they are coming from a -- oround where college provided for by their parents. all we are doing is diluting the value of a college degree because the requirements are going to be decrease along the financial responsibility. you still should have to earn your way through has college on both fronts. host: matthew segal. caller: i take a little bit of issue. guest: if it was not for the pell grant or other scholarships to low income students, we would not see nearly as much as social economic opportunity as we do today. we still have a much longer way to go in achieving that. without the g.i. bill, pell see so manyouldn't low income business leaders and prospering today. calling to support the concept of all young people making it their business to vote. inn i turned 21 years old 1968. assassinatedy was and i didn't vote. event.evastated by that on thaty learned early was a devastating lesson of living with a president who lied and was a disgrace. when i had my son, i taught him always to vote no matter what. both in the primaries and in the general elections. because of voting is the way we can express our preferences for how this country is run. during, you know, with a parent who made huge, huge contributions to the american psychological association because of the g.i. bill and -- g.i. bill. host: we are running out of time. i want to give matthew segal a chance. matthew segal, go ahead. caller: i am all for voting. i think it will reshape this country and will create a more empathetic country, a more socially progressive one, and one that thinks about the future , and not just the present. host: if you want to check out , you can gos work to his website. he also works with our time.orws program to help us. good morning. has this shaken up the schedule for congress this coming week? how will they be dealing with a terrorist attacks? guest: it is good to be with you. so far, we have not seen the kind of scheduling announcements or changes that one might expect in the wake of an event like the terror attacks in paris. that is partly because congress was on recess when the incident happened. i think that what is going to be happening and what your viewers can look forward to, as can lawmakers and their staffs, is that there is going to be a fairly quick succession of scheduling of hearings, both in the house and the senate, both open and closed sessions, as is customary in these matters. the senate intelligence committee, for instance, meets regularly every tuesday and thursday afternoon anyway enclosed session. one would expect that the terror attacks in paris and the response and the actions that have been taking place throughout europe over the weekend are going to be first and foremost on the agenda for the intelligence committee on tuesday. you should expect no shortage of other briefings and hearings related to that. as for the floor schedule, we have not seen some sort of or any sort of immediate reaction, in terms of changing the floor schedule as a result. however, one of the items that had been rumored for consideration in the senate for a test vote at some point this week -- there is a rumor that was advanced by democrats that there is a possibility that there could be legislation esgarding immigration sancy that is a possibility there could be legislation regarding immigration sanctuary cities, which are those communities that don't necessarily endorse all federal immigration laws. ifd the term that is the continuous fñ debate about the question you've been talking about,[y0ç/l#ñ about refugees. >> host: one issue congress is very much being involvedtyi ines wonton mulberry cuba, the prisot there. whitema9$ house efforts to shutt some news that might've gotten lost in the shuffle from over the weekend, the pentagon transferred by detainees have been held for morei=zzty than d -- >> follow the energy at c-span.org. congress is comingq&ñ in. the house on c-span. the senate here onr$ eternal god, our shelter in the time of storm, in an anxious, troubled, and violent world, we turn to you seeking light and life for our

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