Collectivity Salon Series: the Minnesota Workforce Challenge

We are thrilled and grateful to the community leaders who attended our first Quarterly Salon Event, to discuss The Minnesota Workforce Challenge last week. It was wonderful to hear the perspectives of nonprofit & social business leaders from a variety of sectors. Please enjoy a summary of the first Salon Session,

The Minnesota Workforce Challenge

Empowering Workers

A consistent theme throughout the discussion lifted up worker agency. Historically, the needs of business owners have been most accommodated; but the pandemic brought many changes to how work was done as well as the relationship between business owner and employee. Options for remote work, salary transparency, increased benefits, and general flexibility have become requisite for employers. Both for-profits and nonprofits will need to adjust & adapt to these changes in order to stay competitive in today's work environment. 

Team Retention is More than Just a Salary…

While financial compensation is essential to worker retention, it is not the only consideration workers are assessing when deciding future employment. There were 4-6 other factors discussed amongst the group including; childcare, company culture, healthcare, work flexibility, and benefits. For nonprofits, investing in a strong company culture and creating a competitive compensation strategy (monetary or not) will be essential. 

 The rising cost of childcare was of particular interest during the group discussion. Offering more support for parents seeking to open Childcare Coops and offering more part-time remote positions for working parents were both discussed as potential solutions. 

We need to Reframe the Issues…

There are 71,000 unemployed Minnesota workers and 210,000 open positions, which is currently being labeled as a "Worker Shortage". This concept was questioned by the group. People asked whether those 210,000 "jobs" accurately represented the changes in how work is being done post-pandemic. Today, treating employees as people, as humans, is the most important thing. Framing the issue as a "worker shortage" subtly blames workers - a more apt characterization of conditions would be a "Job Surplus" placing the burden on businesses to adapt their practices for the new employment conditions. 

 Race remains an very important factor when assessing future economic growth in Minnesota. BIPOC Minnesotans now comprise ALL of the projected employee growth in the state. Without this increase, we would currently be experiencing negative employee growth. While BIPOC Minnesotans remain the most disenfranchised, they are a big part of the solution to Minnesota's Workforce Challenge. 

Thank you again for all of those who attended the first Collectivity Quarterly Salon Session. With diverse backgrounds and experiences, together we can build each other up, collaborate, and drive system-level change only possible by working together.