Project on Managing the Future of Work

New HBS Managing the Future of Work report: What employers can do to benefit from the skills and experience of caregivers ? Hidden Workers: The Case for Caregivers, by Joseph Fuller, Manjari Raman, and Francis Hintermann, is the latest in a series of reports on workers on the margins of the labor market who are seeking fuller employment. ? Research by the Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work shows that individuals with caregiving responsibilities and their own health issues make up the largest segment of the workforce who are currently sidelined and striving to find work or increase their hours. ? By the numbers: ? -From the report's survey, 86 percent of the 4,470 previously unemployed workers now employed confirmed they are primary caregivers for children, elders, or both. ? -Only 23 percent of employers prioritize hiring caregivers, missing out on a vast pool of untapped talent. ? -75 percent of hidden workers who are caregivers have been applying for jobs over the past five years without success. ? -Caregiving responsibilities span all age groups: caregivers of children are typically aged 30–40, while those caring for adults are either young adults aged 18–29 or adults aged 41 and over. Notably, more men are taking on caregiving roles, especially in households requiring both childcare and eldercare. ? Takeaways for employers: ? ?? Recognize the Impact of Caregiving: Ignoring the caregiving crisis negatively affects both employees and businesses, leading to workforce dropouts, reduced productivity, and economic decline. Employers should acknowledge that caregiving responsibilities can cause valuable employees to leave if not supported. ? ?? Lead by Example to Build a Caring Culture: Leadership should model supportive behaviors by sharing their own caregiving challenges and openly discussing the issue. This helps to legitimize caregiving concerns within the organization and encourages a culture where employees feel comfortable seeking support. ? ?? Build the Business Case for Support: Companies should calculate the hidden costs associated with not supporting caregivers, such as absenteeism, turnover, and decreased productivity. Recognizing these costs can highlight the tangible benefits of investing in caregiving support, including higher retention rates and improved employee performance. ? ?? Understand and Address Care Demographics: Employers should map out the caregiving responsibilities within their workforce to tailor benefits and accommodations effectively. By segmenting employees based on their specific caregiving needs, companies can offer customized support rather than generic benefits that may go unused. ? Read the report: https://hbs.me/9ettkteb ? #HiddenWorkers #Caregivers #CareCrisis #CareEconomy #Workforce #SkillsBasedHiring

Britain, like the U.S., faces rising inequality, an affordability crisis, and growing concerns about the availability of good jobs, especially for workers without college degrees or more than a few years' experience. Reliable labor market data has been hard to come by. ? The Burning Glass Institute, along with The Economist, has rolled out the British Opportunity Index, an independent ranking of over 150 major firms, which collectively employ almost 1-in-10 British workers. https://lnkd.in/gHmqrnuW ? The Index provides a tool for job seekers to make informed choices and help businesses raise their standards. ? Like its U.S. precursor, the American Opportunity Index, the British Index rates employers on how well they support workers' advancement and career development. The Index presents data on job access, pay, chance of promotion and upward mobility, and retention. ? The independent analysis draws on 20 million worker profiles and resumes, job postings, and anonymously reported salary data. ? Key findings: ? Top-fifth-ranked firms, relative to bottom-fifth: ? ?1.9x more likely to hire workers without degrees. ?2.7x higher pay for the same roles. ?2.3x more likely to promote workers internally. ?1.6x more likely to retain workers. ? The Economist presents the British Index, with an interactive feature, at: https://lnkd.in/gVHZDvYb . ? The British Opportunity Index was developed by the Burning Glass Institute, in collaboration with Harvard Business School professor Joseph Fuller. The British Index builds on the work of the American Opportunity Index, which was produced by the Burning Glass Institute, the?Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work, and the Schultz Family Foundation. ? #GoodJobs #CareerOpportunities #LivingWage #JobSecurity #BritainWorkforce

How do you reverse-engineer from a bad job match to improve career choices? By asking what employees want from their jobs and understanding common 'breakup' scenarios, workers and employers can forge a more productive partnership. Harvard Business School professor Ethan Bernstein and Clayton Christensen Institute cofounder Michael Horn join Project on Managing the Future of Work cochair William Kerr to discuss how the jobs-to-be-done lens can help job seekers, their advisors, and HR organizations reframe the process. Also, what it means for training and education. ? Bernstein and Horn, along with co-author Bob Moesta, detail the approach in their book Job Moves: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career. [https://lnkd.in/eu7xvNdy] ? Listen to the conversation at https://hbs.me/4dyr5vy9 . ? #JobsToBeDone #Skills #LaborMarket #WorkforceDevelopment #CareerDevelopment #EmployeeEngagement #HRStrategies #TalentAcquisition

Look for the Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work podcast on Amazon Music's Business Podcasts page. Explore recent shows on #SkillsBasedHiring, the #CareEconomy, the Good Business Lab, the #LegalWorkforce, from among our more than 200 episodes. https://lnkd.in/eUTQcZkN #FutureOfWork #WorkforceDevelopment #LaborMarket #HR #CareerDevelopment #TalentAcquisition #CareEconomy

The latest episode of the Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work podcast presents Joseph Fuller’s recent appearance on the Gartner Talent Angle podcast, where he discusses the benefits of #skillsbasedhiring and the roadblocks to wider adoption. ? Highlights: ? ?? Challenges in Practice: Despite widespread interest, many companies struggle to implement skills-based hiring. Cultural and procedural changes, and data, can help convince hiring managers to move beyond familiar, traditional degree-based criteria. ? ?? Updating Job Requirements: Organizations should reassess and update job descriptions to focus on essential skills rather than wide-of-the-mark degree requirements, expanding access to diverse talent pools. ? ?? Diversity Catalyst: By reducing the reliance on degrees, skills-based hiring can help remove systemic barriers that have historically excluded underrepresented groups from opportunity and advancement. ? ?? Advancement or New Hires: Beginning with skills-based promotions can build internal buy-in, leveraging existing talent while developing broader support for skills-based hiring. ? This approach offers companies a pathway to close skills gaps, enhance inclusivity, and reduce turnover costs by aligning hiring practices with real-world capabilities. ? Listen to the conversation at https://hbs.me/2p82sdeu . #Automation #Education #Inequality #Reskilling #Upskilling #WorkforceDevelopment #WorkforceDiversity #UpwardMobility #TalentManagement #CommunityCollege

What's the connection between good jobs and bottom-line business performance? The American Opportunity Index, launched in 2022, is an independent ranking of how well corporate employers promote economic mobility through their hiring, pay, and promotion practices. The initiative is a collaboration of the Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work, The Burning Glass Institute, and Schultz Family Foundation. The 2024 update is based on an analysis of more than 5 million career histories, job postings, and salary information of workers at roughly 400 of the largest U.S. firms. ? The index provides a benchmark for firms and a resource for workers, highlighting opportunities for first-time job seekers and those without college degrees. According to the latest ranking, the top 100 firms pay roughly a two and a third times more than the bottom firms for the same job; are two and a half times more likely to promote from within; and 2.8 times more likely to hire workers without college degrees. New year-over-year comparisons show that just 80 of 395 firms increased promotion opportunities, while 174 decreased their hiring of people without college degrees. ? “Our research demonstrates that management practices unlock opportunity for workers. The leading companies in the Index come from a wide array of industries– distribution, retail, banking, technology, consumer products, logistics,” notes #ManagingTheFutureOfWork co-chair Joseph Fuller. “Opportunity doesn’t rest in specific industries or locations. It’s a function of companies making choices that advance the interest of their workers and implementing them.” The Index can be found at https://lnkd.in/gZ7XJQ2r. Bloomberg coverage: https://lnkd.in/g7KW3iTK #workforce #upwardmobility #goodjobs #skills

The combined impact of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), CHIPS Act, and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is driving substantial labor demand, offering both challenges and opportunities to build the talent pipeline necessary for sustainable economic growth. ? For a look at the issues involved in coordinating national industrial policy with state-level and local workforce development, see The Project on Workforce at Harvard-National Governors Association report, Workforce Strategies for New Industrial Policies: Governors’ Emerging Solutions. ? The analysis identifies key obstacles confronting governors in assembling the workforce to realize the objectives of these sweeping programs: ? ?? Unclear Role of the Public Workforce System ?? Complex Coordination of Funds Across Stakeholders ?? Limited Public Sector Capacity for Workforce Development ?? Challenges Planning Under Uncertain Timelines ? The report also highlights approaches governors are taking to collaborate with state agencies, industries, and regions. ? https://lnkd.in/geEKr5ga ? Joseph Fuller #industrialpolicy #skillsdevelopment #workforcedevelopment

Workforce economics: ROI vs. TMI The business logic of supporting carers in the workforce, the latest episode of the Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work podcast. Taking stock of the caregiving obligations most workers face can help employers improve their talent strategies, boost productivity, and create opportunity. #ManagingTheFutureOfWork’s William Kerr is joined by his project co-chair and podcast co-host, Joseph Fuller, lead author of the latest MFW report, Hidden Workers: The Case for Caregivers. Highlights: ? ?? The U.S. care crisis reduces productivity by tens of billions of dollars annually, affecting businesses through absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover, while disproportionately affecting women. ?? Covid-19 highlighted caregiving challenges, underlining the role of flexible work arrangements. However, few employers actively target caregivers as a talent pool, despite their desire to participate more fully in the workforce. ?? Nearly half of workers in top pay quartiles have left positions due to caregiving conflicts, demonstrating the broad impact across all levels of employment. ?? Companies underestimating caregiving's role in voluntary turnover incur high replacement costs, often exceeding 100 percent of an employee's annual salary, especially in senior roles. Find the conversation at https://hbs.me/2xwrdk33 . #CareEconomy #HRAI #HiddenWorkers #TalentManagement #WorkforceDevelopment #WorkforceDiversity

Please join me and Kerry McKittrick at the Project on Managing the Future of Work for our webinar on social capital in the era of AI. This Thursday, Oct 24th 9-10am PST. Excited to be having this dialogue as there is so much to explore.

The care crisis may seem intractable but understanding its effects on workers can help employers improve their talent strategies, boost productivity, and create opportunity.?? ? The Harvard Gazette's Christina Pazzanese talks to Harvard Business School Project on Managing the Future of Work co-chair Joseph Fuller about the workforce economics of caregiving, the subject of the project's new report, Hidden Workers: The Case for Caregivers. ? Highlights: ? ?? More than half of workers (50- to 60 million in the U.S.) report caregiving obligations. ? ?? Employers' rigid policies, such as inflexible schedules, force many to leave the workforce, especially women. ? ?? Caregivers make up the largest segment of "hidden workers" – those on the margins of the labor market who seek greater participation but are blocked by employer policies. Flexible policies could unlock a vast pool of untapped talent. ? ?? Caregiver-related departures cost companies 25%-35% of a worker's annual salary in replacement costs. For high-paid roles, this can be over 100%. Employers often underestimate these costs, including lost tacit knowledge. ? ?? Actionable Steps: Companies should rethink hiring practices, offer flexible schedules, and invest in understanding the caregiving challenges their employees face to improve retention, productivity, and loyalty. ? Find the Article Here: https://lnkd.in/gtw6rCMt Find the Report Here: https://lnkd.in/gJygAjuC