Labor Day and The Changing Landscape of the American Workplace

For 140 years, the United States of America has been celebrating a holiday we call Labor Day. Today many people know little more about Labor Day than that it marks the end of summer and determines the point at which you can no longer wear white. But the holiday has a long, important history.

In September of 1882, Labor Day was founded in New York City as a celebration of the American worker and the contributions they made to America’s prosperity. It took more than a decade, and participation from 23 other states for the holiday to go national. It wasn’t until 1894 that President Grover Cleveland signed a law making it a national holiday. To this day, New York City still holds an annual Labor Day Parade to mark the important day in American history.

It’s safe to say that most people know little about the holiday other than that they get a day off work. Labor Day is a punctuation mark at the end of a hard fought battle to ensure better working conditions for workers in the United States including beter wages and health benefits. Plus, the movement helped out an end to child labor and provided aid to injured or retired workers. Its hard to imagine the conditions that people were working under before the labor unions fought for their dignity.

The workers of that day wouldn’t recognize today’s workplace, the ease with which most workers can advocate for their personal safety, and the amount of professional opportunity available to those who seek it

Even members of the baby boomer generation look around and see a completely difference professional landscape than they and their parents worked in. It seems like a faraway time when men and women would land a good job and stick with it for decades until they retired. To be honored for 20 or 30 years of professional service was at one time commonplace, but now is much rarer and may one day become obsolete. It’s easy to point at the younger generations as the cause of this change, but the workforce around them is also changing.

One of the factors that many think led to workers in the baby boomer and older generations sticking in their careers for so long was the promise of a pension that would keep them financially safe long after their retirement. These days, only 10% of American workers are covered by traditional pension plans as opposed to the 60% in years past. This change has forced workers to leave their jobs in order to climb the corporate ladder and earn as much as possible during their working years.

As of January 2020 most employees were staying in a job for around four years before moving on. This trend called job hopping would have been unheard of at the beginning of the labor movement, or even over the last 30 years. Things changed even further during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with a phenomenon many are calling The Great Resignation. Data released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 4.5 Million workers quit their jobs each year in 2021 and 2022. The reasons for their departure might surprise you. It seems that all of that time spent quarantining at home gave workers plenty of time to think about their careers. Sixty-three percent of workers stated low pay or not enough opportunity for advancement were among their reasons for leaving their jobs. Isn’t it interesting to look back and see how the early labor movement, founded 140 years ago set the stage for professionals today to seek better opportunities for themselves and their families.

Another fascinating change we saw to the workplace during the pandemic is the rise of remote working. While there are still a lot of questions about whether remote working is as productive as in person working, theeres no denying how technology created opportunities for people to remain safe and productive while facing a global pandemic, the likes of which we hadnt experienced in generations.

Technology also enables workers to communicate and collaborate with partners all over the world, bringing new ideas and opportunities that would never have been possible without the tools we have now. But there are downsides to the new, high tech world we find ourselves in. For all the connectedness we experience, many workers also feel the pressure to produce more than ever to keep up with the huge demands placed on them by the corporations they work for. As we try to keep pace with technology, we see that professionals are more stressed than ever. When will the drive to produce at a such a high rate slow down? Who’s to know? It will be interesting to see how the next generations flow with or push against the current trends.

While there is alot of fear that technology will continue to take over jobs leaving Americna workers in the lurch, research shows that tech will create millions more jobs than it takes away. Companies like Amazon may rely on fewer people to pack boxes or make deliveries in the coming years, but any automation that’s added creates more opportunity for jobs like fleet maintenance, customer service, and more.

What can we expect from the next 140 years in the American work force? There’s no way we can anticipate whats to come considering the speed with which things have changed over the last few decades and and continue to change for the foreseeable future. It can be difficult to look around and not understand the world you’re peering into. Zoom meetings, autonomous vehicles, entire companies where employees work from their homes - its a brand new landscape. But, the good news is, the people who will take the mantle from the workers of the last few decades are natives to this high tech, high speed world. For better or worse, they’ve been molded by the technology they’re using to make a better world.

For the last 140 years we’ve celebrated Labor Day as a nation. Paying tribute to the men and women who have fought for the rights of all people, regardless of sex or race, to earn a safe and fair living. Today’s landscape, as different as itlooks, is still being led by warriors who fight the good fight to ensure their tomorrow looks better than the world they find themselves in today.

Whether you’re retired, dreaming of it, or still thriving in the world place, may you enjoy rest this Labor Day. And, may be all bear witness to an ever evolving and ever improving American workplace that priortizes safety, fairness, and wellbeing for all who dare to put in a hard days work.

Adrienne Freeland is a freelance writer who specializes in helping business owners communicate more clearly. Using skills developed in her former career as a professional fundraiser, Adrienne collaborates with her clients to craft engaging, targeted content.