The State of Work is a Public Health Crisis
By: Jaime-Alexis Fowler, Founder and Executive Director of Empower Work
The last three years have seen a “great disruption” for workers and workplaces. Over 47 million workers quit their jobs in 2021—a staggering 3% of the workforce per month. The labor force participation rate has been dropping for a decade. And the majority of those working are struggling financially and emotionally. The data is clear: Work in the United States is not working.
Yet, there’s an important question: why is it not working? Behind these stats, what’s really happening with workers, especially those most vulnerable?
Empower Work’s first annual “State of Vulnerable Workers Report 2022” explores these questions. We sought to determine the root cause of this great workplace disruption and the best path forward to improve both workplaces and workers’ lives, rooted in workers’ words and experiences.
Our team reviewed anonymized data from more than 11,000 Empower Work conversations with workers, the majority of whom are from less-represented and historically marginalized groups—women, people of color, and lower-income workers in workplaces with fewer than 100 employees. And we did a follow-up survey of individuals who have used the text line to better understand key elements of worker experience not captured in the structure of the conversations
Key Takeaways from our State of Vulnerable Workers Report
There are four striking data points that stood out:
70% of people said directly that they felt unsafe or disrespected in their workplace during Empower Work text conversations.
80% of people who responded to our survey don’t trust their employer’s human resources departments or said that their employer doesn’t have an HR department.
90% of people who responded to our survey said the government does not help them.
When asked to choose from ways to improve their situation, more survey respondents selected “changing workplace culture” than any other answer, including flexible schedules, health benefits, and better pay.
But what paints the picture the best are the words of workers in the full report.
Reflections on the report: a well-being crisis
As I reviewed the report and thought about the data, what struck me: If nearly two thirds of the workers coming to Empower Work’s text line for help feel dehumanized every day, how many more workers feel the same?
This feeling isn’t isolated to time spent at work. And the toll adds up. Financially, physically, emotionally; the impact ripples into all aspects of life.
On Empower Work’s text line, we see this first hand. Anxiety and stress doubled in conversations between workers and our peer counselors between 2019 and 2022 (especially notable because the issues they faced, other than COVID, largely remained the same).
“What’s going on at work for the most vulnerable Americans has gone beyond a work crisis. Our well-being is at stake. The state of work is a public health crisis. ”
What’s going on at work for the most vulnerable Americans has gone beyond a work crisis. Our well-being is at stake. The state of work is a public health crisis.
From day care educators to truck drivers to office managers, people share that they are, “overwhelmed,” “exhausted,” “burned out,” and “depressed” from dealing with the confluence of structural inequities and fundamental disrespect. Imagine bullying colliding with the fear of being unable to pay rent due to lack of a living wage or risk of job loss. It’s remarkable that mental health rates aren’t worse.
At Empower Work, we believe addressing this crisis of well-being at work, and its impact across life is an urgent priority. Culturally and systemically, work is the most significant lever for prosperity, and that has a direct impact on mental and physical health. If work is this broken, so too is our promise of opportunity and the well-being that goes with it.
At Empower Work, we’re focused on elevating two key priority areas drawn from workers’ voices:
More resources for the most vulnerable workers
Checks and balances on power dynamics in workplaces
More resources for the most vulnerable workers
For far too many, work resources internally and externally are not available or don’t meet their needs. People who reach out to Empower Work overwhelmingly come from smaller workplaces, with fewer than 100 people—organizations often without internal resources. We hear regularly what the data reinforced: most people don’t have access to or don’t trust HR. And external resources are limited for this population too.
I started Empower Work because of the lack of resources, especially ones that address both the emotional complexities of what someone is experiencing (e.g., terror of losing a job) and the tactical questions (e.g. “what do I do now?”).
While coaching and mental health platforms have grown over the last few years, the majority are geared towards institutions and individuals who can pay for them—large companies and higher wage, predominantly white collar workers. This leaves a massive gap. We need more accessible resources for lower-wage workers in smaller workplaces.
Checks and balances on culture, practices, and power dynamics in workplaces
Kessie*, a healthcare professional who manages operations and patient services at a clinic in the midwest shared with me recently, “You know, there are these basics in life: wear a seatbelt, don’t kill people. They’re there for a reason to protect people. I don’t know why we don’t have those for work.”
Kessie is one of the 70% of workers who feel disrespected and unsafe. A part of that is not having clear checks and balances. Companies, especially smaller employers, are rarely accountable for harmful behavior. And the responsibility shouldn’t rest on workers. Every day she fears losing her job for raising ethical and legal violations. She tries to put on a positive face for patients and her team, all of whom are underpaid and undervalued. “I try to keep a positive attitude. I care about my team. But, my mental health is more important than this place. There may come a day where I say I’ve had it.” In the meantime, she tries to manage through it.
Ultimately, Kessie decided to take action, despite the risk. “I know what steps I need to take and I know this is important enough because of Empower Work. This is not just [me] overreacting, this is bad. I don’t look at it like ‘oh darn nothing to show for it.’ There’s still more I can do.”
Kessie’s example is a reality for too many workers, especially in small workplaces. How can we establish clearer and more supportive checks and balances not just on what’s illegal, but on the less tangible, like culture and practices?
People have shared with us that they need their employers to “listen”, “care”, “show up for me,” “talk to us and treat us like human beings”. This shouldn’t be too much to ask.
A path forward
If we believe—and I do—in Mahatma Gandhi’s principle, “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members,” then this report should be a wake up call.
People who text us often say, “I don’t want this to happen to someone else.” By sharing our report and highlighting the public health and well-being crisis caused by workplace conditions, my hope is that we spark new dialogue and actions about what we can all do to build workplaces where people are treated with respect and dignity—and held accountable to that. In doing so, we can build workplaces where well-being is a right, not a privilege.
I invite you to explore the report, add your voice to the conversation, and share far and wide.