Why Corporate America Needs to Listen to Workers’ Voices

When Companies Raise Pay Without Empowering Employees, Morale and Democracy Both Suffer

Like many frontline workers across the country, Denise Kohr saw her pay at Amazon increase over the past year; as for her say, not so much.

“They don’t want to hear from me,” complained Kohr, who has picked and packed products at a fulfillment center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, since 2018.

Kohr—who after a 25-cent bump last fall, along with a shift change that boosted her wage, now makes $22.95 an hour—still wishes she earned more money. But her bigger frustration is this: Whenever she makes a suggestion about how work should get …

We Can Solve California’s Service Worker Crisis

Ending Tipping Culture, Implementing a Livable Wage, and Training Future Leaders Can Sustain an Essential Industry

Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to descend on Indio, California, this month for the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The festival is a banner event for Riverside …

Work Is Boring—Use It

Let Your Zoom Ennui Inspire You to Change Your Life, or the World

Work is boring.

I expect many of you will disagree. You’ll offer your job as a counterexample. Or, if yours isn’t much to brag about, you’ll come up with hypothetical scenarios …

Where Do Racism and Sexism Intersect at the Office?

Businesses Can Build More Inclusive Workplaces by Recognizing the Nuances of Bias

While the U.S. currently has a black president and a woman just made history by clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, both racial minorities and women still face significant barriers in …

Why Millennials Struggle at Work

Jeffrey J. Selingo, author of There Is Life After College, explains at a Zócalo event why millennials struggle to transition from college to work, with insight from Xerox Head of …

A row of long socks with different patterns and colors, such as a black-and-white striped pair of socks and a rainbow pair.

Who in the World Named My Cashmere Socks?

Behind Every Witty, Punning, Trademarked Name, Somebody Like Me Worked to Make You Smile—and Buy a Product

Zócalo’s editors are highlighting some of our favorite pieces from the archive. This week: Writer Ellen Lutwak describes working as a naming consultant—and what’s …