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Workisn’t working
Work is central to economic security, wellbeing, and mobility. But work isn’t working for everyone. The Shift Project is a leading source of data and analysis to understand the reality of working conditions for the 25 million US workers employed in the service sector.
The Shift Project
We conduct critical research on the impacts of working conditions – from scheduling to paid leave to workplace surveillance – on the nearly 20% of the United States workforce employed in the service sector.
Utilizing one-of-a-kind, in-house survey data collected from more than 200,000 hourly workers since 2016, we drive actionable insights into the causes, contours, and consequences of precarious work. Our work informs labor standards and firm policies that advance the holistic well-being of workers and their families.
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[My schedule] is not really stable. One week you could be working 30 hours, one week you could be working 8. It’s like you never really know what your paycheck’s going to look like and all that stuff. That’s stressful.
Everything that you do at that station is tracked through their computer and their monitoring system, so they know exactly how many units you’ve processed. They know if you make an error… They know how long you were on break for. They know everything.
Nobody can live off minimum wage in this country. $7.45 hour is horrible. You can’t do it… [when I applied to my current job they said] “We’ll pay you $15 an hour,” which is still horrible money, but you do what you have to do, right?
Learn more about inequalities in the service sectors.
We are in trouble if we stay home even if we feel sick. We are guilted into coming to work if we try to call in.
When we first found out about [my husband’s dementia], like hey, this is what’s going to be coming down the pike. I told my manager I’m going to need more stability. For the most part, it’s okay.
We don’t get sick pay; if we don’t work, we don’t get paid. [I am] worried that co-workers who have been in contact with confirmed Covid-19 family members will still come to work. Living paycheck to paycheck; we can’t sit at home without pay.
Learn more about our collaboration with IKEA and other stakeholders.
