According to the Department of Labor, our day off this week is
"rooted in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being."
That seems a bit of an undersell. We start our summer each year by recognizing our nation's fallen on Memorial Day. The tragedy of workplace injury has also led to an annual April recognition of Workers' Memorial Day.
See Happy Memorial Day (April 2022). Those fallen are to be revered and our very existence is owed to their heroic service.
But the first Monday in September each year we celebrate Labor Day. It is a fine opportunity for many across the country to mark the end of summer. There will be a great deal of family reunions, picnics, beaches, boats, parks, naps, and more. There is a great tendency or even proclivity for relaxation on Labor Day. In another era, there was a penchant for parades, but that has waned.
Come to think of it, parades seem less prevalent overall in America. There seem to be far thinner crowds on occasions like Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, and similar. Back in the Stone Age, we attended parades in droves. Perhaps the parades were better then? Or, perhaps we simply did not have anything else to do?
How do we celebrate labor on Labor Day?
There will be sales. I thought of supporting that base contention with some links, but then decided it would be untoward. There are so many. It seems that every holiday now is associated with sales and promotions. A day missed from work is a shopping event, or at least the retailers want it to be. The world is increasingly materialistic it seems. Everybody wants more, bigger, better. And the more I want, the more money I need to make.
The exchange of labor for income is nothing new. Labor markets have persisted for eons and with them, there has been friction. Employers wish to minimize the cost of all inputs to production. That includes the materials, the labor, and the effort. The goal is to produce the good or service at the lowest possible cost and then to convey it through another exchange for the highest possible price. The result is profit. In our economic system, profit is king.
The worker is similarly seeking profit. The analysis is not as simple, perhaps, but the analogy holds. The worker wants to make as much income as possible, generally for as little effort or investment as possible. We all strive to preserve our time for other things, whether it be family, hobbies, or other distractions. We may see "profit" as spending less time or making more money. There is a level of jealousy when labor sees the employer profiting, and perceptions of contribution and participation in that income can become fractious and disruptive (she/he is getting rich, I'm doing all the work).
This year it is worth considering where the employee/employer relationship stands and what course is likely in coming days. The Great Panic certainly contributed to recent challenges, and eventually a Great Resignation (December 2021). Labor decided that the post-panic moment was an auspicious time to seek different employment, to leverage tight labor and high demand for greater participation in the employment construct; to seek greater profit.
Alternatively, we saw people abandon work altogether. Some who had resources elected early retirement. Some who lacked resources searched for ways to subsist without them. The government was free with distributions of its (our) borrowed money, and the labor market struggled. It appears that the government will spend $1.6 trillion on welfare programs in 2023, up from about $1.3 trillion in 2022.
Thus, we have seen changes in the employee/employer relationship. See Quiet Quitting (September 2022); Hip to Be Square (August 2023); Quiet Firing (November 2022); Productivity is Down (December 2022); Quitting Remote (May 2023). That is nothing new. This is a relationship of long-standing, and it has persistently and consistently evolved.
And the experience that was the Great Panic is officially over in at least one regard of employment. The Great Resignation is officially over, according to
Investopedia. Days ago, it announced that "The rate of quitting fell back to its pre-pandemic level in July (2023)." Three years on, and the workforce is beginning to stabilize.
Declining job openings have rendered the outlook "bleaker for workers." There is less tendency to seek new challenges and a present alternative of essentially hunkering down to ride this out. Inflation is eating wealth, challenging consumption, and seemingly unstoppable. More on that in a future post.
The Great Panic has also impacted the future worker. Floridians struggle to understand, but in a great many states schools closed and education suffered in recent years. More broadly, schools have been challenged significantly as distractions have been allowed to prevail over the elements long accepted as critical such as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Some of us have long preached returning to the basics, but the distractions remain.
Schoolchildren are struggling with the aftereffects of the Panic. The
AP reports that reading is a major concern. That article likewise mentions challenges with math. There are deficits that need to be overcome, and innovation, energy, and focus are being brought to bear. No, I don't mean Yogi.
Brookings reports that students are suffering from the quarantines, staff shortages, absenteeism, and closures. There is, from any perspective, an element of cause and effect. The
University of Miami in 2021 noted that teachers (1) wanted more money, and (2) largely intended to leave the profession early. Thus the disatisfaction with the economic exchange and the Great Resignation each impacted teaching.
The
Washington Post notes that "The quality of classroom teaching plunged during the" Panic. It notes that test scores since have demonstrated declining performance. The teachers, it concludes, are suffering. The result of "disrupted work conditions, student behavior challenges and high needs." That the student is suffering seems implied. That the nation will suffer, we each will suffer, is largely ignored.
In the end, teaching is a microcosm of the world of work. The students are both input and output. Poor output from Grade One (unsatisfactory completion of learning objectives) means challenging input for Grade Two. A variety of factors are contributing to poor student engagement and focus, but the result is singular - poor outcomes.
We might blame the teachers. They are like all other workers, they want more money for less labor. Can we really blame them for being as selfish as we all are? Employees are not altruistic, we all seek better compensation and less work. Unfortunately for teachers and education. leaders allowed poor science and conjecture to drive a Panic with dire consequences for teachers, students, and outcomes.
Dire? Schools are reopened and virtual engagement largely ceased. But, the impacts lingered here as elsewhere. Employees largely do not want to return to the workplace in person. Teachers are no different. I have instructed both live and virtual. There is no doubt about two facts (1) virtual is easier on the teacher by far, and (2) the in-person experience is of far greater value and impact for the student. Virtual is better than nothing, but is not close to equaling in-person.
At last, I come around to the end of this long discussion of various strands in the employment challenge. Workers want more, as do employers. American workers are competing with each other and with labor inputs across the world. Wage compression at home will be persistently driven by foreign competition.
Much of that foreign competition is not protected by the likes of OSHA, FMLA, ADA, Title VII, Title IX, or workers' compensation. The cost of labor is lower offshore. The wealth of workers is lower offshore. The challenges of production are less offshore. And the labor relationship is less complex for management offshore. The offshore producers will enjoy inherent and significant comparative advantages in economics.
Unfortunately, American labor (all of us who work) will have to compete with those forces. Coming generations must be prepared, educated, and motivated. As the workplace returns to pre-Panic, and the realities of economics impact us all, the truths will be that government cannot provide welfare for all, the workplace will never be minimal work for exceptional pay for all, the real world will need well-educated, disciplined, and productive participants.
As you pause on your Labor Day 2023 and ponder the condition of the employee/employer construct, it may be a prime time to consider how we might reinforce our schools, motivate students and workers, build healthier work/life constructs, and evolve from the Great Panic into stronger employee/employer relationships, motivations, and mutual rewards.
The work relationship is, after all, symbiotic. Employers and employees need each other. Or will technology mean that they don't?
