A New Approach To Organized Labor, A Strategy For Good Jobs And More Rights For Pregnant Workers

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As the economy remains uncertain and layoffs mount, employers may have the upper hand again when it comes to jobs. But that doesn’t mean the resurgent labor movement is quieting down. Unionized Starbucks workers plan strikes at 150 locations nationwide starting Friday over questions, which the company has denied, about Pride decor in stores.. The strike by Hollywood writers and their supporters is ongoing. And the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represent UPS workers, could call a strike as soon as Aug. 1.

This summer of strikes could be a harbinger of the growing role of organized labor in the future of work, and at least one investor believes the ability to work with labor could be the most critical CEO leadership skill of the next 20 years. Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg Beta venture capitalist Roy Bahat, together with MIT professor Thomas Kochran and Aspen Institute fellow Liba Wenig Rubenstein, suggest that “if companies continue to assume that organized labor destroys value and to reflexively fight all collective-action efforts … they run an enormous—even existential—risk”—potentially disenchanting their workforces, damaging their brands and hurting how they’re viewed by some investors.

I chatted earlier this week with Bahat, whose fund focuses on investments in companies shaping the future of work. He also chairs a new Aspen Institute roundtable that acts as a private network of CEOs, founders, investors, and other business leaders trying to rethink corporate America’s relationship with organized labor. Bahat says it acts as “kind of a private mutual support group to figure out how to support each other and be more effective as collaborators with organized labor.”

Why does he think taking this more collaborative approach is important now? Because, Bahat told me, business leaders “are going to have to. Their workers are asking for it. … The relationship between companies and their people has become very transactional.” More labor organizing, he says, is also “inevitable. It’s coming, and if you want the relationship with your workforce that you say you want, you’re going to need to do more than survey them and give them bagels.”

Only time will tell if he’s right, but with even some Republicans calling out inequality, it could be coming. “I'm not suggesting [business leaders] need to roll over. I don't want passivity. I actually want forceful, active business self-interest,” while also doing more for workers. “This is really just me and our firm trying to figure out, from first principles, how do we make work function for people, period.”

Making work function better, of course, is what this newsletter is all about. For more on what makes a good job for workers, check out my Q&A with MIT professor Zeynep Ton, below. We also share reports about what makes a good internship today, why you should watch the music you play in the workplace, and some actual good news about board diversity.

Hope it’s a great weekend.

Jena McGregor, Senior Editor, Leadership Strategy & Careers | @jenamcgregor

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HUMAN CAPITAL

It’s internship season, but getting one is more competitive than ever, and the experience has eroded amid hybrid work and a distracting economy for interns’ supervisors, writes Forbes’ Emmy Lucas. Some good news, meanwhile, is that more employers are paying interns, and for those considering an externship, here’s what they need to know.

With so many companies mandating returns to onsite offices, contributor Ann Kowal Smith writes that the focus on where people work is killing worker engagement. Plus, tips for managing mentorship, meetings and employee trust in the hybrid work era.

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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

It’s Pride month. The treatment of LGBTQ+ workers—and the kind of inclusive language that’s used at work—can impact who sticks around. Research from Deloitte that surveyed almost 5,500 workers across 13 countries found that over a quarter of employees who identify as LGBTQ+ are considering quitting their job and moving to a more inclusive company.

Finally: Other research from Deloitte finds that women and people from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups hold historically high levels of board seats, making up 44.7% of directors among the 500 largest companies by revenue. They project that boards could begin mirroring the U.S. population’s diversity by 2060. Unfortunately, other data from LinkedIn shows that women’s leadership hires are falling, with the percentage of women hired into senior leadership roles receding to just 32% in the first quarter of 2023.

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POLICY AND PRACTICE

Watch your tunes: The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that playing music in the workplace that is degrading toward women may constitute sexual harassment, writes senior contributor Kim Elsesser. Plaintiffs complained that “sexually graphic, violently misogynistic” music was played in an apparel maker’s warehouse, mentioning Eminem’s “Stan,” which details violence against a pregnant woman. And speaking of pregnancy: 30 years after FMLA, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act goes into effect next week, giving pregnant workers rights to accommodations that let moms keep their jobs and protect their health, writes contributor Allison Robinson.

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WHAT’S NEXT: AUTHOR AND MIT PROFESSOR ZEYNEP TON

MIT Sloan School of Management professor Zeynep Ton talks about her new book, The Case For Good Jobs, which calls for improving the quality of frontline jobs despite a worsening economy and more disruption in the job market. Excerpts from our conversation have been lightly edited for space and clarity.

What is the biggest mistake you see companies make when they implement this strategy?

You have to recognize that it's not just about pay. It's not just about treating your workers better. … You have to align all the people in the organization who affect frontline work.

For example, one of the complaints of retail workers is that their schedules change all the time at the last minute. If somebody in merchandising decides they’re going to run a promotion, and the promotion is supposed to run on a Friday, but we're not meeting our sales goals so I'm going to move that promotion to Monday, that changes the hours of work at the stores. The person in merchandising who is making that decision is oftentimes not thinking about that shift. They're thinking about how they maximize sales.

Have you seen receptivity to these ideas change?

I am slowly seeing more businesses recognize that to be able to attract and retain their people, what has worked previously is not going to work. … But I think the zeitgeist has not changed that much from ‘people are a cost to be minimized. Market pay is the right pay, lean and mean is what drives efficiency.’

Even after the last few years, with the tight labor market?

I think a lot of leaders are thinking that this too shall pass.

It's not helpful to see this as a fight. Companies should do this because they want to run a good business that wants to win with their customers.

What's the argument for those who say I can't raise wages because of inflation, and margins are too tight right now?

Low pay is an expensive way to run a business. Low pay drives turnover. Turnover itself is expensive, with the cost of hiring, training, onboarding and productivity. There are also operational costs that lead to lost sales because the lines are too long, the service is slow, or new people make mistakes.

We've talked about pay and scheduling. Childcare and transportation are also big factors for this group of workers. What can be done there?

One of the things we do with every company we work with is we do a living wage assessment of their full-time workers. We use MIT's living wage calculator, which calculates the cost of basic needs. Then the company presents what percentage of their frontline full-time employees are not making a living wage. When executives see that, there's often silence in the room. They say, ‘I had no idea.’

There's this huge disconnect between the haves and have nots in our society. I remember one company in the senior care/nursing home setting. Minimum wage jobs. One of the benefits the company considered was discounts on ski passes. That just shows you the disconnect. We don’t live in the same places anymore. We don’t take public transportation. We don’t interact with one another.

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FACTS + COMMENTS

Mental health concerns and burnout fears have become top issues in the world of work as loneliness from the pandemic, blurred lines from remote work and fears of an economic downturn weigh on workers. Contributor Rachel Montañez wrote about research-backed ways to address burnout:

• Eight in 10: The number of respondents in new research from Deloitte who say they struggle to improve their mental, physical and social well-being, with most obstacles related to work.
• 58%: The percentage of the workday knowledge workers say is filled up with duplicated work, unnecessary meetings and juggling too many apps, according to the Anatomy of Work Global Index by Asana.
• “An overlooked solution with a domino effect is to reduce context switching,” Montañez writes. “Excessive switching increases our brain's production of the primary stress hormone, cortisol, making it harder to focus.”

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VIDEO

Paige Hendrix-Buckner, the new CEO of venture capital nonprofit All Raise, talks about the industry and how more women can become angel investors.

Watch

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STRATEGIES + ADVICE

AI could get you fired—if you don’t use it. Here’s how to embrace it.

Help Gen Z feel more connected to management with these tips.

How to cultivate a more human-centric workplace, according to Mercer’s North America transformation leader.

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QUIZ

Even after waves of layoffs have hit the tech industry in recent months, there remains a tech talent shortage in the U.S. By 2025, it's estimated that two-thirds of jobs nationwide will require at least what level of education?

A. High school diploma

B. Associate degree or other certification

C. Bachelor's degree

D. Graduate or professional degree

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ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

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