Labor Day In A Pandemic

Labor Day has taken on new meaning in these times. In the early months of the pandemic, we celebrated the labor of our essential workers:

• food production and food service workers who make it possible for the rest of us to eat
• health-care workers who care for the sick
• sanitation workers who keep our communities clean
• public safety workers who keep us safe 
• manufacturers that produce the good we need
• energy workers, and others I am likely leaving off this list

Labor Day historically marks the beginning of the school year. And once again, it is different this time. Different because the definition of school is both unclear and variable. Different because the clear division between parental responsibility and teacher responsibility has become blurred. 

The impact of the lack of clarity is reaching into businesses in unexpected ways. Employees with children struggle to meet their work responsibilities while caring for their children and tackling e-learning.   

The economic impact from this, both short and long term, remains to be seen but certainly, there will be an impact. A text I received from a young executive friend of mine back in July keeps rolling around in my brain “All the northwest suburbs have announced e-learning, the communities near me are doing hybrid. It looks like a lot of parents aren’t going back to work. How is this sustainable? If we had a woman workforce issue before, it’s about to get a whole lot worse.” 

And, the world I live in is full of innovators. Education was already a system under disruption; I am looking forward to seeing what entrepreneurs come up with to address this latest labor challenge.

Perhaps this Labor Day will mark a beginning. 

Let’s work together. If you are looking to grow or get unstuck and cut the time to action to six months or less, there is no better time than now to contact me.