How do we value essential work?

We can all remember those early months of #COVID19 how we clapped at night for healthcare workers. Millions around the world were stuck in lockdown so we found a sense of community by showing our appreciation for the women and men on the frontline of the pandemic.

The vital role played by doctors and nurses, paramedics and care workers was more evident than ever. But so too were cleaners and transport workers, or retail and food systems workers, to name but a few. These #keyworkers, also known as #essentialworkers are the people whose jobs are critical to the running of society.

Yet, as we also know, the crisis exposed the poor working conditions they often face. Low pay, long hours, insecurity, and poor occupational safety and health are all too common in those professions.

In short, we undervalue essential work and those who do it.

Instinctively, I think we all understand this even if we don’t have the data to back up this assertion. That’s where a new report from the International Labour Organization comes in. The “World Employment and Social Outlook 2023: The value of essential work” has shown that during the pandemic, key workers suffered higher mortality rates than non-key workers.

Many of us would probably assume that it was healthcare workers that were more likely to die due to their close contact with patients. But the report found that in many countries it was transport workers that that died more often, possibly due to many of them being self-employed, with no formal workplace and little access to occupational safety and health knowledge or equipment.

The report also confirmed the real increase in violence and harassment suffered by key workers. Verbal abuse, threats, and even physical violence against health, retail and transport workers have increased and, in many cases, have become the norm. This means key workers are at greater risk of developing physical and psychological problems because of their work.

You might think that these jobs being high risk would mean they’d be better paid. You’d be wrong.

How key workers are valued is reflected in their pay and other working conditions. Once again, the reality does not look good.

On average, 29% of key employees are low paid regardless of the wealth of the country where they work. They earn 26% less than other employees and nearly one in three key employees is on a temporary contract.

More than 46% of key employees in low-income countries work very long hours, while a substantial share of key workers around the world have irregular schedules. Furthermore, nearly 60% of key workers in low and middle-income countries lack some form of social protection.

One clear example of how little we value key workers can be seen in agricultural work. Despite how critical effective food systems are to our lives, in many countries agricultural work is not regulated by labour law, meaning that they either have a lower minimum wage or no minimum wage at all. Many of these key workers are considered self-employed, face high levels of working poverty and don't have access to safety equipment or training. This is particularly true of migrant agricultural workers.

Digitization has also had a major effect on key workers.

E-commerce has led to a major expansion in warehouse work which is often low paid, filled with temporary contracts and limited benefits, high worker turnover, and few prospects of career progression. Delivery drivers working for digital platforms are often classified as independent contractors which means they don't have the labour protections they need. This was particularly critical during the pandemic because they didn’t have access to the resources to ensure their safety and health. Even now that the pandemic is over in many countries, they still don’t have these protections.

Not only does this have clear moral implications, but we know from experience that poor working conditions leads to labour turnover and labour shortages. We see this today in many countries where we have shortages in supply chains, in truck drivers, in nursing personnel, and in many other critical positions that end up contributing to higher inflation.

Three years since the outbreak of the pandemic, it’s past time we turn applause for key workers into something real.?

We are now living in an age where we're going to have recurring crises, maybe even future pandemics, and that we need to be prepared.

One key finding of the report is that wherever there was social dialogue in a workplace, there tended to be better safety and health protocols to protect workers. Companies where key workers have a voice in workplace negotiations also tend to treat them better, pay them more decently, and enjoy less staff turnover and more productivity. This means that there is a business case for valuing key workers and social dialogue which should not be ignored.

Governments and the private sector need to think about these issues and invest in the working conditions of these workers and in their sectors. Workers need to have access to enough physical and social infrastructure to do their jobs correctly and to want to stay in those jobs. Otherwise, we will find ourselves at the mercy of future shocks.