The Importance of Upskilling Workers

We need good jobs and we can have them!

My dear friend and @MIT Professor Zeynep Ton joined me in a #FridayFiresideChat, to talk about the Good Jobs Strategy.  Her pathbreaking book presented her research that showed that successful operations, combined with good jobs, can allow firms to outperform, even in historically low-margin sectors such as retail.  She shared the results of a Brookings Institute study that showed we have a horrible bad jobs problem in the United States - 53 million U.S. employees work at jobs that pay $17,950 a year.  In contrast, a firm such as Costco can offer a $23 hourly wage and still out-compete its rivals.  The steps to creating a good jobs strategy? 1) simplify and focus; 2) standardize and empower; 3) cross-training and 4) provide for more hours of labor than the expected demand to cover peaks and dips.  Zeynep has started the Good Jobs Institute to give these ideas a home - see goodjobsinstitute.org.  We both fervently hope that as we rebuild after COVID-19 that we will do so based on good jobs.