In Honor of Labor on Labor Day

The Labor Day holiday is meant to recognize the contributions of American workers to the nation's prosperity and competitiveness. It was born of struggle. The struggle for what many working Americans took for granted until the pandemic—things like fire exits and weekends.

After more than two years of COVID-induced remote everything, worker resignations great and quiet, and a labor market that defies simple labels forcing analysts to characterize it as "mixed," we again find ourselves in a period of struggle.

The 2019 challenges remain—automation, economic security, and aligning skills with labor market needs. In the intervening years, worker shortages and poor working conditions have sparked a new wave of labor organizing and a resurgence of support for labor unions.

But a vision for the future of work in 2022 must also prioritize equity, climate, and place-based development while placing people, families, and communities at the center of change. Jobs are no longer enough. Good work leading to better lives and livelihoods, stronger and more innovative companies, and healthier more engaged communities is the new bottom line.

It's a big agenda that calls for new ideas, new ways of working, and new kinds of collaboration.

We're in.

Happy Labor Day.

P.S. Our HQ is in Oakland but we have a team in Oregon. Since that state was the first to recognize Labor Day by law in 1887, we opted to feature the old-timey photo from the Beaver state.