SI - Labor Market Transformation

Job Description

Job Description

PPIC’s Summer Intern Program provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students interested in a public policy career to work in a policy research environment. Intern projects are proposed by PPIC staff members and designed around a specific set of tasks and deliverables that can be accomplished within the term of the internship. Please complete your application by February 9, 2026. We expect to make final selection decisions by mid-April.

Project title : Labor market transformation

Project Directors : Sean Cremin, Daniel Payares Montoya, Sarah Bohn

Project Description

California’s labor market is in a period of profound transformation amid demographic, technological, and policy changes. What these shifts mean for workers and businesses could reshape economic opportunity across the state’s regions. Prior transformation, especially related to technology and trade, catapulted California to being one of the largest economies in the world but also one of the most unequal in the U.S. In this project, we look backward to trace how the labor market has shifted in and across California, and we look forward to shed light on future labor market needs and opportunity.

The intern will provide research support to a descriptive analysis that examines long-term trends in jobs in California overall, by region, and by key job characteristics such as education, skills, and earnings. The quantitative analysis will rely on county- and / or MSA-level data, job-level data, and individual-level data from publicly available sources. Literature review of key academic and policy papers will inform the analysis, identifying root causes of labor market transformation in the historical data, key factors that may shape current and future trends, and potential policy responses.

The intern will work with the project leads to identify, clean, and merge data sources. They will update data sources throughout the summer with real-time labor market official reports. They will assist the project team in analyzing panel data including preparing summary statistics on multiple dimensions, drafting visual displays, and setting up econometric analyses. In addition, they will assist in gathering literature, abstracting key papers, and identifying potential policy levers.

Responsibilities

The intern will work with project leaders to :

• Review relevant academic literature and policy research reports
• Collect and clean publicly-available data sources
• Assist analyzing panel data
• Create written summaries and visual displays of findings

The intern may also contribute to a related blog post. The intern will be a member of the Economic Policy Center.

Qualifications

The ideal applicant will bring undergraduate or graduate training in economics, public policy, statistics, or a related field.

The intern for this project should have :

The Research Environment

Interns are offered the opportunity to participate in the collegial atmosphere of PPIC through daily interaction with all aspects of the institute. They are invited to join the staff in their regular meetings and to attend PPIC’s outside events, including the institute’s public affairs programs and research briefings. PPIC offers access to the Institute of Governmental Sciences library at the University of California, Berkeley, allowing interns to work with many important databases, journals, and statistical datasets. The intern program also includes a discussion of California state policy by PPIC’s government affairs staff.

Each intern’s project will include an initial meeting with research staff, and towards the end of the project, a briefing by the intern on the goals, findings, and significance of the project. In 2026, the following days are expected to be in-person for all interns :

Interns are encouraged to discuss their work throughout the course of the project, to meet with research staff to discuss careers in research, and to meet with communications staff to learn about outreach and building an audience of policymakers.

Location, Compensation, and Time on Project

The 2026 intern program will be conducted via hybrid or remote setup; the details of the setup will be arranged with the intern’s supervisor. Interns will need to be based in California while working on a PPIC project.

Compensation is $23 per hour. This full-time internship will last up to ten weeks, ideally beginning June 15, 2026.

To Apply

As part of completing this application, submit your cover letter highlighting the particular skills you bring to the project and describing how this internship would contribute to your career development, and attach your resume as PDF or Word file .

Equal Employer Opportunity (EEO) statement :

PPIC celebrates diversity and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a team that represents the backgrounds, perspectives, identities, and skills of California. No matter who you are, we invite you to apply for this role.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. AA / EEO / Veterans / Disabled employer.