When Covid-19 struck the United States, it reordered the U.S. workforce virtually overnight. In a matter of days, workers were divided into two groups: Those who could work from home, and those who couldn’t. Soon there would be a third — those whose jobs had evaporated and might not come back.
These were tectonic shifts in the American workforce, arguably the largest disruption since the Great Depression or World War II. More than a year later, the changes are so profound that it’s clear there’s no going back to the pre-pandemic status quo.
We’ve had some revelations. Office workers have learned that they can do their jobs outside the office. Many workers have found themselves dubbed “essential” and wondered why their pay doesn’t match. Others in industries like retail and hospitality are finding that their old jobs aren’t coming back and are considering next steps. And all across the country, employers and employees are finding that this new world of work disorienting — the relationship between bosses and workers has been altered in ways we’re still struggling to understand.
In this issue of Recovery Lab, POLITICO’s project on how to speed recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, we grapple with these challenges: the shift to working from home, the pandemic-related acceleration of automation, the needs of so-called essential workers and the struggle to help displaced workers find a place in the post-pandemic economy. Our economic recovery depends on addressing them.
The impact of remote work may be the most far-reaching. In our centerpiece feature, POLITICO chief economics correspondent Ben White and POLITICO labor reporter Eleanor Mueller report on how the pandemic hit fast-forward on the evolution of office work. In essence, the pandemic gave employees back some of the autonomy they had lost in recent decades because of technologies like email, and retaining that autonomy has become a bargaining point as more and more offices try to establish a new, post-pandemic normal.
For our signature “policy hackathon,” we gathered 10 top state officials and workforce experts to identify challenges and policy solutions to solve the greatest workforce disruption since the Great Depression. In an hourlong Zoom session moderated by White and POLITICO New Jersey bureau chief Katherine Landergan, our policy hackers identified eight strategies to help reconnect workers to jobs. And to see just how large and complicated the problem is, check out these four charts, compiled by POLITICO graphics reporter Annette Choi.
In coming weeks, POLITICO economy reporter Megan Cassella reports on how the pandemic has shifted the jobs landscape for women, who have left the workforce in droves and may not be coming back; POLITICO California reporter Alex Nieves takes a deep dive into how pandemic hazard pay has shifted the job market for essential workers like grocery store employees in ways that are unlikely to be reversed; and POLITICO labor reporter Rebecca Rainey takes a look at how the pandemic has accelerated the move to automation.
Welcome to Recovery Lab: Work.
"work" - Google News
July 15, 2021 at 03:30PM
https://ift.tt/2Uel2B1
Welcome to Recovery Lab: Work - Politico
"work" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bUEaYA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Welcome to Recovery Lab: Work - Politico"
Post a Comment