1. An Equity Imperative: How the Workforce System Can Advance Workplace Health and Safety During and After the Pandemic
- Author:
- Amanda Newman
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- Every worker deserves a job with healthy and safe working conditions. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, however, has demonstrated that for far too many people this is not the reality. The pandemic has created a new set of workplace hazards, forcing many people looking for work to make difficult choices between providing for their families and protecting their health and the health of their loved ones. As businesses reopen, more people are reentering jobs that pose risks. And these risks are not distributed equally. Due to factors rooted in structural racism, Black, Indigenous, and workers of color performing critical services during the pandemic are both more likely to experience the health consequences of the virus and to be concentrated in jobs with greater exposure. Serving as intermediaries between workers and employers, workforce development professionals have a crucial role to play in strengthening workplace health and safety during and after the pandemic. In the early months of the crisis, Economic Opportunities Program staff spoke with workforce development leaders across the country as they strengthened existing strategies and considered new approaches to help workers protect themselves on the job. Professionals on the front lines of connecting people to work – from caseworkers to job developers to program directors – can learn from their approaches to inform their own strategies. In this brief, we highlight key ideas for how the workforce development system can promote workplace health and safety during the pandemic. It is important to note that workforce professionals are themselves navigating a crisis, responding to historic unemployment and serving the public as resources rapidly decline. This brief also includes ideas for public and philanthropic funders who seek to support the workforce development field to advance workplace health and safety.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues, Employment, Work Culture, Job Creation, and Labor Market
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America