Work and Jobs

Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s ILR School, said workers are feeling more empowered, both in the workplace and in the political arena.

According to the latest BLS data, 4.2 million Americans are long-term unemployed, meaning they’ve been jobless for 27 weeks or more. Professor Francine Blau says that in addition to the personal hardships, long-term unemployment is bad for the economy as a whole.

Lawmakers, labor unions and tech companies are nearing a deal on a bill to allow workers for app-based outfits to unionize. María Figueroa, who heads the Worker Institute, says the bill could be “a step in the right direction.”

Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research, says that the early end of unemployment benefits in 20 states is “going to hurt a lot of people a great deal. We’re going to see children go hungry and we’re going to see people be evicted.”

In this extended Q&A, BRINK spoke to professor Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research, and asked if she thinks a shift is occurring in the U.S. in the relationship between capital and labor.

Small-business owners are reporting labor shortages and the need for hiring bonuses to fill open positions. According to Linda Barrington executive director at the Institute for Compensation Studies, bonuses are not typically seen in lower-wage jobs, but could be effective.

ILR School Dean Alex Colvin discusses the future of work and how the term "flexibility" can be interpreted in different ways by employers and employees.

Louis Hyman, professor of industrial and labor relations, is noted to have said that throughout history, Black women were often viewed more as laborers than mothers.

Wendy Strobel Gower, program director at the Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability, says, “It comes down to: Does your company have an obligation to follow the guidance of federal and also state and local authorities?”

Maria Figueroa, senior extension associate at the Worker Institute, explains the grievances that led to protests against working conditions at DoorDash, GrubHub, and Postmates by more than 1,000 New York City e-bike delivery workers, known as Los Deliveristas Unidos.

In this episode of ‘Hit the Ground Running,’ hosts Christina Royster and Yasmin Gagne speak with Dr. Courtney McCluney, assistant professor of Organizational Behavior, about how remote work has affected people of color.

Eli Friedman, associate professor in the ILR School, explains China’s motives behind the arrest of Chen Guojiang – or Mengzhu, as he is more widely known — one of China's few remaining labor organizers.

As more companies plan to continue allowing remote work on a regular basis, Nellie Brown, director of workplace health and safety programs, explains some of the trade-offs that will be faced by both the employers and employees in these new work arrangements.

ILR faculty members Verónica Martínez-Matsuda and Kate Griffith are among Cornellians engaged with partners to improve the lives of farmworkers, a hidden community of more than 50,000 laborers essential to the state’s agricultural industry.

In ILR’s TΔ@W course, students learn how technologies can benefit many. It’s knowledge they can deploy as they become managers, policymakers, professionals, parents, teachers and workers, Litwin writes in an Aspen Institute blog post.