Meeting the expectations of a changing workforce, improving opportunities, and upward mobility for workers

A recent webinar brought together leaders of academia, business, and policy groups to discuss the future of the workplace in a time of change and uncertainty. The conference, led by WorkRise, a research network hosted by the Urban Institute, explored a wide range of topics affecting workers today, especially low-wage workers.

Todd green, executive director for WorkRise, opened the conference by saying the event would explore the complexities of current labor market as well recent trends.  Those trends include, “Rising inequality, wages that have not kept up with the cost of living and the proliferation of low-wage, low quality jobs with minimal benefits and protections,” Green notes. “And yet I want to emphasize that this conference is not simply about just defining a problem, naming and understanding our challenge, [but finding] key steps on our journey towards creating greater economic opportunity for everyone, particularly for black and brown workers and others facing structural disadvantages.”

The conference featured a wide range of participants, including Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Ramiro Cavazos, president and chief executive officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Julie Coffman, chief diversity officer of Bain & Company; Dane Linn, senior vice president of Corporate Initiatives at the Business Roundtable; and Marc Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League.

Addressing stereotypes, exploring new opportunities

The topics explored by the conference covered many of the top issues that draw headlines today: diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, the Great Resignation, and meeting the expectations of a changing workforce.

In their discussion Morial and Bostic note some of the corrosive political attitudes and stereotypes around race in the U.S., such as the idea that minorities don’t want to work. Morial says the Great Resignation has, in part, shown that people do want to work, and they are seeking better jobs. “They want to pivot to new opportunities,” he says. “The idea [has been] that if we provide full economic opportunity to everyone in this nation that the overall benefit will inure to everyone in this nation. And that’s the spirit and the theory behind the work we’re all trying to do when it comes to upskilling. But we shouldn’t believe that it’s a simple skills problem, it’s still about workplace attitudes.”

Bostick notes that the pandemic has been followed by a spike in entrepreneurship. “This is seen across the board at our bank,” he says, noting a surge in small business creation among minorities in particular. “We have economists who have done some research to suggest that the pandemic has triggered a tsunami of new businesses into the marketplace, and I think in part that is because there was this feeling that maybe there are other ways to make a living that leads to higher quality of life.”

Improving the quality of the work experience

The second day of the conference saw discussions on policies that could help improve the work experience for American workers. Panelists explored topics such as increasing opportunities, improving job stability, and supporting economic mobility for workers.

Erin L. Kelly, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management, says that the current tight labor market was focusing the attention of employers on the cost of not addressing the needs of workers. “Offering the low-paying jobs, and the lack of paid leave, and the poor schedules, and the limited voice, and lack of respect — those always hurt businesses, but we’re seeing it and feeling it more directly than we have in the past,” she says.

Shayne Spaulding, senior fellow at the Urban Institute says that the idea of stability continues to appeal to employees. “When you ask workers, something that is very important is stability. Not just in general, but for [things like] predictability of pay — that has such a high value for workers.”

Spaulding also mentions that workers are increasingly seeking purpose in their work. “The other thing you find missing from some job quality frameworks… is that workers want jobs that are meaningful to them and that give them a sense of purpose,” she says. “As we think about the talent pipeline and how workers get to good jobs, thinking about the kind of information workers can find on the pathway to those jobs, on finding the jobs that align with their interests and skills, I think that’s really important.”

The groundwork — policy and social barriers

The third day of the conference discusses future workplace issues and the policies that will be needed to address them. In a roundtable talk entitled, “Public and private investment for a resilient future,” panel members talked about the role of local government in creating quality jobs and an equitable workplace.

Andre Dickins, Mayor of Atlanta, says the central business of his administration is upward mobility and equity for all citizens. He notes that the neighborhood he grew up in, a lower income working class neighborhood, has a very poor record when it comes to upward mobility. “You’re given a 4% chance of making it from that neighborhood to an upper middle-class neighborhood,” he says. “So, there’s a 96% chance of you staying in your birth environment. My goal is to provide upward mobility, to provide opportunities for everyone.”

Michael McAfee, president and CEO of PolicyLink, notes that there are public policies that keep people in poverty and hamper upward mobility. “We’ve not actually thought about the design of our cities, of our democracy, and of our economy,” he says. “The best example is what you saw happen in the pandemic… We said — once again — that there is a hierarchy of human value. For those who are poor, [we said,] you’re going to be pretty much left to your own devices. And that has been the posture of this country since its founding. And we have not really dealt with it.

“Think about how many cities try to increase their minimum wage floors and they can’t, because of state pre-emption laws,” he says. “Think about how many mayors try to increase hiring ratios, and can’t, because of state pre-emption laws. That is a design challenge.”

Related: An adaptive workforce needs change-ready leaders

The webinar ended with comments from Greene, who notes that the participants had shown commitment to change and improvement in the workplace. “We’ve heard some promising ideas about, regardless of your job title… how we can think creatively and expansively and collectively to create stronger more durable pathways for workers who need and deserve economic mobility.”