Next America: Workforce

American Marriage in the Time of the Recession

Women who lived in areas that suffered the brunt of the downturn, new research suggests, were more likely to be abused by their partners.

• Alexia Fernández Campbell
• Nov 21, 2016

What Trump’s Secretary of Labor Could Do

His rumored choices have very different backgrounds but all seem to share a belief that the government has put too many restrictions on business.

• Alexia Fernández Campbell
• Nov 15, 2016

Minimum-Wage Increases: Another Big Winner on Election Night

At least 2 million Americans will get raises after ballot measures passed in a handful of states.

• Adam Chandler
• Nov 9, 2016

Barack Obama’s Criminally Underrated Jobs Record

Since Donald Trump said “there are no jobs” in 2015, the U.S. has created 3 million of them.

• Derek Thompson
• Nov 4, 2016

Companies in Gay-Friendly States Are More Innovative

Firms in places with more tolerant laws, new research indicates, attract more talented workers and file more patents.

• Richard Florida and CityLab
• Nov 4, 2016

No Dreadlocks Allowed

An outdated, hazy understanding of race led a federal court to approve of workplace bans on the hairstyle.

• A.B. Wilkinson
• Nov 3, 2016

One Way to Ensure Equal Pay for Men and Women

The private sector doesn’t compensate women fairly. Can it learn anything from the federal hiring process?

• Alexia Fernández Campbell
• Nov 1, 2016

Living in an Extreme Meritocracy Is Exhausting

A society that glorifies metrics leaves little room for human imperfections.

• Victor Tan Chen
• Oct 26, 2016

When Women Have Power, They Can Do Something About Sexual Harassment

The best way to excise it from corporate culture is to promote women to the highest levels of authority.

• Joann S. Lublin
• Oct 25, 2016

Trump’s Exaggeration of NAFTA’s Lousiness

Far from “one of the worst deals ever made,” the 1994 trade agreement has nonetheless become a target of the Republican nominee.

• Adam Chandler
• Oct 20, 2016

Privilege Helps Men—but Not Women—Get Fancy Jobs

A researcher who sent hundreds of fake résumés to law firms found that hiring managers were most impressed by male applicants who indicated a passion for polo and sailing.

• Alexia Fernández Campbell
• Oct 18, 2016

About Those 79 Cents

The most frequently cited pay-gap statistic obscures the even wider gaps faced by people of color.

• Adia Harvey Wingfield
• Oct 17, 2016

The Forgotten Providers

Home-care workers are increasingly vital to the future of our health-care system, but the problems they face are rooted in a racist and sexist history.

• Vann R. Newkirk II
• Sep 29, 2016

Minor Leagues, Minimal Wages

Legal technicalities dating back to 1922 have kept many players’ pay below poverty level.

• Jeremy Venook
• Sep 21, 2016

Fear of a College-Educated Barista

Is there really a Millennial underemployment crisis? Yes, but only among liberal-arts majors.

• Derek Thompson
• Sep 20, 2016

Ford's Mexico Move

The automaker will transfer its U.S.-based small-car production south of the border “over the next two to three years,” its CEO says.

• Matt Ford
• Sep 14, 2016

The Free-Time Paradox in America

The rich were meant to have the most leisure time. The working poor were meant to have the least. The opposite is happening. Why?

• Derek Thompson
• Sep 13, 2016

Ask an Economist: How Can Today’s College Students Future-Proof Their Careers?

A panel of experts gives some (pretty dispiriting) advice to a generation that will come of age as automation does.

• Joe Pinsker
• Sep 12, 2016

Why New Vocational Education Isn't Reaching Classrooms

Why is it taking so long for progressive career-and-technical models to get to students?

• Monica Disare
• Sep 8, 2016

What Programming's Past Reveals About Today's Gender-Pay Gap

When men enter a female-heavy field, perceptions of women don’t improve—perceptions of the job do.

• Rhaina Cohen
• Sep 7, 2016