The High Cost of Neglecting Low-Wage Workers

Six mistakes that companies make—and how they can do better

AUTHORS

DESPITE ALL THEIR efforts since the summer of 2021 to bring frontline workers back into the fold, companies are struggling to rehire and return operations to a prepandemic normal. As a result they have failed to deliver products and services, lost revenue, and disappointed their customers. Supply chains remain snarled, with warehouse and delivery operations woefully understaffed. Grocery stores and pharmacies are unable to keep their shelves stocked. Restaurants can’t find enough cooks, cleaners, and waiters. Hotel chains can’t book to their full capacity, because they don’t have enough housekeeping staff. Airlines have been forced to ground hundreds of flights. In 2021 companies convinced themselves that the labor shortages they were experiencing were a passing phenomenon, and in response they trotted out the standard short-term fixes: raising wages by a few…

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Harvard Business Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, May/June 2023

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