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  • 2022
  • Working Paper

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Satisfaction of Workers in Low-Wage Jobs

By: Elizabeth R. Johnson and Ashley V. Whillans
How did job satisfaction change during the pandemic for workers in low-wage jobs, and how did workers’ experiences compare to those in professional jobs? Using nationally representative survey data, we show that the pandemic increased the dissatisfaction of workers in... View Details
Keywords: Low-Wage Jobs; COVID-19 Pandemic; Pay; Job Satisfaction; Income Inequality; Stereotypes; Satisfaction; Compensation and Benefits; Working Conditions
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  • 01 Dec 2020
  • What Do You Think?

How Can We Get Companies to Invest More in Low-Wage Workers?

inequality in job training. And yet the latter may account for much of the former. The MIT study forecasts a continuing mismatch between skills needed on the job and training opportunities for those who... View Details
Keywords: by James Heskett
  • 28 Jan 2022
  • News

Helping Trapped Low-Wage Workers, Employers Struggling to Fill Spots

  • 03 Jul 2021
  • News

‘The Great Resignation’: June’s US jobs report hides unusual trend

  • 2022
  • White Paper

Building from the Bottom Up: What Business Can Do to Strengthen the Bottom Line by Investing in Front-line Workers

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Manjari Raman
A significant number of American workers—44%—are employed in low wage jobs at the front line of industries. Despite undertaking some of the most tedious, dirtiest, and most dangerous jobs, low-wage workers are—and have long been—the most likely to be overlooked by... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19; Labor Market; Low-wage Workers; Worker Welfare; Churn/retention; Morale; Jobs and Positions; Employees; Wages; Retention; Well-being; Human Resources
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  • 07 Mar 2013
  • Working Paper Summaries

Prominent Job Advertisements, Group Learning, and Wage Dispersion

Keywords: by Julio J. Rotemberg
  • 28 Mar 2012
  • What Do You Think?

Are Factory Jobs Important to the Economy?

area, some of them from other countries, including China. However, most of the jobs, in assembling and packing the components, are of necessity low-wage in nature. Regardless of the number of jobs it can... View Details
Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing
  • 2022
  • Article

Values and Inequality: Prosocial Jobs and the College Wage Premium

By: Nathan Wilmers and Letian Zhang
Employers often recruit workers by invoking corporate social responsibility, organizational purpose, or other claims to a prosocial mission. In an era of substantial labor market inequality, commentators typically dismiss these claims as hypocritical: prosocial... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Equality and Inequality; Wages; Recruitment
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  • 16 Feb 2024
  • Research & Ideas

As AI Upends Recruiting, Job Seekers Need a Waze App for Careers

low-wage jobs, the authors note. Those workers, along with younger first-time job seekers and adults reentering the workforce, are an untapped resource in the labor market. Many have the “soft skills” to... View Details
Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology
  • 29 Jan 2022
  • News

How Companies’ Business Models Put Workers in a ‘Low-Wage Trap’—and How to Break the Cycle

  • 26 Jan 2022
  • News

Fed Plays Wait and See with Monetary Policy

  • 2023
  • Working Paper

Too Many Managers: The Strategic Use of Titles to Avoid Overtime Payments

By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun and N. Bugra Ozel
We find widespread evidence of firms appearing to avoid paying overtime wages by exploiting a federal law that allows them to do so for employees termed as “managers” and paid a salary above a pre-defined dollar threshold. We show that listings for salaried positions... View Details
Keywords: Wages; Organizational Design; Job Design and Levels; Compensation and Benefits
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  • 22 Jan 2013
  • First Look

First Look: Jan. 22

competition and stability in the long-term, outside the period that may be observed empirically. We employ both conceptions in this paper. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2199055 Prominent Job Advertisements, Group Learning... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
  • 24 Oct 2024
  • Research & Ideas

With Millions of Workers Juggling Caregiving, Employers Need to Rethink Support

workers”—those who want a job or more hours but are thwarted by employer policies. Who is in this group and why do they leave the workforce? Joseph B. Fuller: They are people who have some significant care obligations within their... View Details
Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette
  • Web

Managing the Future of Work

organization and create the workforce of the future? Spotlight How Gen AI Could Change the Value of Expertise By: Joseph B. Fuller, Matt Sigelman & Michael Fenlon MAR 2025 In the near future, gen AI is likely to affect some 50 million jobs, automating away elements of... View Details
  • 11 Aug 2022
  • Research & Ideas

When Parents Tell Kids to ‘Work Hard,’ Do They Send the Wrong Message?

success could also influence people’s perceptions of workers in various jobs, particularly low-wage positions, the researchers say. “This overemphasis on effort could lead people to believe that workers in View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education
  • 03 May 2022
  • Research & Ideas

Desperate for Talent? Consider Advancing Your Own Employees First

Job openings in the United States continue to hover at record high levels, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and a sputtering emergence from the pandemic. Competition remains fierce among companies struggling to find qualified workers. Yet many employers,... View Details
Keywords: by Rachel Layne
  • Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

a decrease in direct US sourcing from China, with low-wage locations (e.g., Vietnam) and nearshoring/friendshoring alternatives (e.g., Mexico) gaining in import share. In this session, we will discuss several cautionary notes on policies... View Details
  • 17 Jan 2018
  • Research & Ideas

If the CEO’s High Salary Isn't Justified to Employees, Firm Performance May Suffer

studies support an economic idea known as Tournament Theory, which says that as pay differences between job levels increase, the value of receiving a promotion also rises—spurring employees to put in more effort. “People make work... View Details
Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman
  • Web

Media Coverage - Managing the Future of Work

Feb 2025 USA Today Musk’s DOGE Email Ripped from Private Sector Playbook, Says Harvard Expert Re: Joseph Fuller 19 Feb 2025 The Project on Workforce Data and Technology in Action: Community Colleges Advancing Economic Mobility By: Joseph Fuller 19 Feb 2025 Workshift To... View Details