TL;DR: What the heck is Labor Day?
Labor Day honors the contributions workers have made to America's strength, prosperity, and well-being. In the late nineteenth century, workers had few rights and protections. Many companies operated 7 days/week and offered poor working conditions. The labor movement of that time brought us WEEKENDS, the 40hr work week, and maternity leave– all shifts towards creating a more human-centric workforce. Labor Day is a celebration of the historical and ongoing contributions of you - the American worker. Isn’t it nice to have your own holiday?
Labor Day 2023 arrives at an interesting time in the job market. Across all industries, companies are figuring out how to re-emerge post COVID, often with new business models & talent strategies. We’re seeing unions forming in new industries, after organized labor activity declined over the previous decade. At the same time, the Writers Guild of America is on strike. I can’t be the only person who’s life now has a black hole where I once watched the Colbert monologue on Youtube every day over lunch.
Don’t get me wrong, we’ve come a long way since the early celebrations of Labor Day. We’ve developed a minimum wage, workers are entitled to a safe workplace, and many companies offer benefits designed to take care of their employees’ lives outside of work. Many leaders now view their employees as multifaceted humans with lives, families, bills & dreams.
We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go. In America, women earn .77 cents on every dollar paid to men. The delta widens if you’re non-white. Minority representation on corporate leadership teams is on the rise, but at a snail’s pace. Acknowledging the intersectionality of humans is not only the right thing to do; it will make your business stronger. If you’re interested in donating to organizations doing the important human-centric work of making work work for all of us, here are a few we recommend:
If you’re a human-centric leader interested in learning more about investing in the people who make your company work during a shifting economy, we recently held a round-table discussion you’ll want to check out. Sarah Young, David Hanrahan, Jessica Moon, and Niko Skievaski joined me to share ideas & best practices for creating alignment that intertwines employee experience and profit. “Aligning People & Profit: Investing in talent during a shifting market” aired Wednesday, September 13th @ 12:00pm MT. View the recording on-demand here.