2024 PCC EWD Conversations: How We Value Labor – or Not

We are entering the 6th year of publication of The Pulse, a bi-monthly snapshot of the evolutions in global and local industrial sectors as seen through the eyes of Pasadena City College’s division of Economic and Workforce Development (PCC EWD). It’s been a momentous five years. The Pulse newsletter launched just as the COVID pandemic enveloped the world in early 2020, then evolved with its community through the emergence of the remote labor force, the advent of tele-education, and the rise of Artificial Intelligence as a global disruptor to all sectors.

In many ways, the pandemic was disastrous – millions lost their lives, while millions more lost their jobs and businesses. But, at the same time, COVID-19 pushed society through doors it had previously been reluctant to open:

• Workers who had always been deemed ‘menial’ (and consequently ‘unseen’ by many in the community) were reclassified almost overnight as ‘essential’ because the services they provided were critical to maintaining their organization’s health and safety. Those occupations were finally garnering the respect they deserved.
• The simple unfairness of long-entrenched social norms favoring some communities over others became apparent. Access to vaccines, in particular, revealed a ‘have’ and ‘have not’ culture that punished some neighborhoods in favor of others. Subsequently, internal processes across industries were modified in many ways to facilitate a more fair avenue to needed resources.
• The transition from hands-on to digital work performance – from basic labor through all layers of oversight and management – happened almost overnight, too, as workers retreated home to work safely from there. Those businesses that had the capacity to do so transitioned their corporate activities to a technological resource, with many finding the new way of working to be better, more efficient, and more economically viable than the old way. In many, many cases, that transition has become permanent, and many workers continue to perform their labor in the comfort of their homes.

At the Pulse, we’ve tried to cover the issues that are most significant to our readers, those who are as invested in the economic success of our community as we are: educators, business owners, government agencies, and industry leaders. The pandemic and all its consequences have upended how everyone ‘does business,’ leaving many industrial fields open for reflection and reimagining.

What We’ve Learned So Far … About Legacy Laborforce Practices

The revelation of the ‘essential’ worker appears to have been a catalyst for a workforce overhaul and revolution. Seemingly overnight, society recognized the immense economic impact of the nation’s janitors, orderlies, stocking clerks, and all those others responsible for performing the fundamental functions that keep systems moving. While CEOs, corporate leaders, and management stayed safely behind their walls, these workers continued to show up at their worksites to keep those facilities clean, safe, and virus-free, even when the effort put their own lives in danger. That unique circumstance triggered the most extensive conversation on the Pulse: how do – or should – we value our workers?

Our exploration of this query was wide-ranging. We were curious about how today’s labor market evolved and why it remains so stuck in cultural norms that no longer serve its community:

• Too often, labor was valued—and workers were paid accordingly—not in keeping with the ultimate value they produced but instead by the nature of who or what they were. Frequently, women, People of Color (POC), and the differently abled were assigned the lowest value for their effort regardless of the value it conferred simply because of those innate traits.
• Economically, women, in particular, have fared poorly over the long term, not because their inputs have less value than a man’s but because their personhood isn’t recognized as having the same level of quality or reliability. Child-bearing is one reason still too often given for not considering a woman for a job or promotion; companies don’t want to invest in workers who can’t commit fully to the organization because their children may be prioritized over their occupation. While men are not subjected to this type of treatment, they also suffer when their interest in family matters is considered secondary to their obligation to their employer.
• And it isn’t just women who don’t feel valued. As the pandemic rolled on, the country experienced a ‘Great Resignation.’ In 2021, more than 47 million people elected to voluntarily quit their work. While, yes, COVID and its health threat were the impetus in many cases, data indicates that America’s annual ‘quit rate’ had been rising since at least 2009. Some retired – the Boomer generation began hitting the 65-year mark in 2011. Others, however, were making choices to prioritize a better work/life balance, shuffling to new careers better suited to their talents, or simply refusing to return to (what they believed was) an unsafe workplace.

The pandemic appears to have been a catalyst for a labor force evolution, highlighting the exceptional value of previously unseen employees, offering opportunities to make long-desired changes in occupation, and reminding people that a ‘job’ is not also a ‘life.’

What We’re Seeing Now

Companies in all sectors have shifted policies and practices to accommodate the demands of the new, post-COVID workforce. As current and former employees assessed their situations, employers were looking for ways to either hire new people or retain the services of their existing work staff. Several themes emerged as drivers for revising how we value ‘work’ by optimizing worker satisfaction:

• Work flexibility—Technology has given many employees the opportunity to work ‘remotely’ from anywhere, allowing them to make only intermittent appearances at the office. This phenomenon offers flexibility not only about where someone will do their job but also when they’re going to do it. When possible, many employers are content with providing a flexible work schedule that includes remote opportunities and suits their workers better.
• Family matters—The importance of family relationships has also been elevated in workers’ opinions. Many men weren’t happy that workplace requirements caused them to lose precious time with their spouses and children. They began to advocate for equal time off to care for family members, and, in many sectors, the traditional ‘maternity leave’ standard has been revised as ‘family leave.’
• Health security – The coronavirus posed a unique health risk to virtually everyone. Some jobs made it more prominent (see the discussions about ‘essential workers’ above), so employers were quick to do as much as possible to reduce that threat. In most other cases, the danger of illness or worse was sufficient to mandate changes in the physical configuration of the workplace to protect employees from inadvertent contamination. Companies eager to retain their workforce were attuned to these concerns and have made many changes within their facility to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.

The fadeout of the pandemic has ushered in a new normal for today’s workforce, shining a light on long-held injustices while compelling an overhaul on how the world – employers and employees – views the value of work. As the Pulse moves into its 6th year, we will continue to track how society values its labor force and continue to advocate for all workers to receive the highest possible levels of respect and compensation for their efforts.