Trends in Worker Voice and Worker Activism: An IWER Research Compendium

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The past several years have seen an upsurge of worker activism in the United States and with it, an increasing interest in the concept of worker voice—that is, efforts by workers, either individually or collectively, to have a say on workplace issues that matter to them.[1] This collection of links highlights research and analysis on worker voice and worker activism conducted over the past decade by scholars affiliated with the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER) and their colleagues at other universities.

I. Understanding the Worker Voice Gap and Other Worker Voice Issues

In a survey of American workers conducted in 2017, a team of researchers from the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER) found a substantial “voice gap.”  In other words, on a range of workplace issues—from compensation to benefits to job security to promotions to respect accorded employees—a majority of workers reported having less say than they thought they ought to have. This survey also found that almost half (48%) of nonunionized nonmanagerial workers would be interested in joining a union—a substantial increase over findings from two similar surveys conducted in prior decades.

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To learn more about this research, read:

• “Worker Voice in America: Is There a Gap between What Workers Expect and What They Experience?” by Thomas A. Kochan, Duanyi Yang, William T. Kimball, and Erin L. Kelly. ILR Review, 72, no. 1 (January 2019):  3-38.
  This journal article describes the “voice gap” study in detail. (Note: This article is behind a paywall.)
   
• “Working Voice in America’s Working Future,” by Barbara Dyer. 
  In this 2019 digest, Dyer, who is now an IWER research affiliate, synthesized findings from the “voice gap” study and other research related to sources of worker dissatisfaction in the U.S.
   
• “It’s Time to Close the Voice Gap in America’s Workforce,” by Thomas Kochan. 
  Kochan, now the George M. Bunker Professor Emeritus of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, discusses the implications of the worker voice gap findings in this 2019 essay.
   
• “Summary of Recent Surveys on Worker Voice and Interest in Unions and Professional Associations,” by Thomas A. Kochan, William Kimball, and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez. 
  In this 2018 memo, Kochan, Kimball, and Hertel-Fernandez, an associate professor at Columbia University, summarize results of three nationally representative surveys related to worker voice and workers’ opinions of labor organizations and professional associations. 

More recently, additional research has found that a bigger “voice gap” at work is linked to lower job satisfaction and lower employee well-being, as well as with greater interest in quitting and greater burnout.  To read more about this research, see this December 2024 article: 

• “Does Voice Gap Influence Workers’ Job Attitudes and Well-Being? Measuring Voice as a Dimension of Job Quality,” by Yaminette Díaz-Linhart,  Thomas Kochan,  Arrow Minster,  Dongwoo Park, and Duanyi Yang. British Journal of Industrial Relations, December 2024.
   
• “Measuring the Connection Between Worker Voice and Job Quality,” by Martha Mangelsdorf. 
  This short summary highlights some key points from the British Journal of Industrial Relations article on the link between worker voice and employee satisfaction and well-being. 

Another topic that IWER researchers are exploring is the role of worker voice in the development and deployment of generative artificial intelligence:

• “Bringing Worker Voice into Generative AI,” by Thomas A. Kochan, Ben Armstrong, Julie Shah, Emilio J. Castilla, Ben Likis, and Martha E. Mangelsdorf, in An MIT Exploration of Generative AI, March 2024. 
  The authors of this MIT working paper draw on more than fifty interviews about generative AI conducted with experts in business, academia, labor, government, and the AI development community. The working paper summarizes their findings and includes recommendations for incorporating employees’ perspectives into AI development.

II. Recent Trends in U.S. Worker Activism 
 

• “US Workers’ Organizing Efforts and Collective Actions: A Review of the Current Landscape,” by Thomas A. Kochan, Janice R. Fine, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Suresh Naidu, Jacob Barnes, Yaminette Diaz-Linhart, Johnnie Kallas, Jeonghun Kim, Arrow Minster, Di Tong, Phela Townsend, and Danielle Twiss. 
  This June 2022 report, written by researchers from MIT, Cornell, Rutgers, Columbia, and Brandeis documented an upsurge in worker activism of various types in the United States and posed questions for further discussion.
• “Workers and Employers at a  Crossroads: A Summary Report from a Multistakeholder Dialogue on U.S. Worker Voice and Representation,” by Thomas A. Kochan, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Janice R. Fine, Suresh Naidu, John Ahlquist, and Martha E. Mangelsdorf.
  A December 2022 convening in Cambridge, MA brought business executives and worker representatives together with scholars who presented research findings. This March 2023 report summarizes findings and discussions from that event.
• “The Rise of the ‘Union Curious,’” by John S. Ahlquist, Jake Grumbach, and Thomas Kochan. Economic Policy Institute report, July 16, 2024. 
  A key finding from this report: In surveys conducted since 2018, a larger share of nonunionized U.S. workers than in previous decades report they are neither supportive of or opposed to voting for a union in their workplace. Instead, these workers are uncertain. The authors’ analysis also indicates that the percentage of nonunion workers opposed to unionization has declined. Experiencing more types of problems at work (such as unstable schedules or underpayment) was associated with greater support for unionization, as was workers reporting having less say that they wanted on various topics related to working conditions, such as scheduling and safety.

III. Resources for Managers Interested in Worker Voice
 

• “Three Steps Managers Can Take to Empower Workers,” by Martha E. Mangelsdorf.
  For their doctoral dissertation at IWER, Arrow Minster, now an assistant professor of management at San Francisco State University, studied an empowerment program that aimed to help workers in a hospital system identify and solve problems in the workplace. This brief summary highlights three insights for managers from Minster’s dissertation.
• “The Labor-Savvy Leader,” by Roy E. Bahat, Thomas A. Kochan, and Liba Wenig Rubenstein.
  In this article from the July-August 2023 issue of Harvard Business Review, Kochan, venture capitalist Roy Bahat, and Liba Rubenstein of the Aspen Institute discuss how business leaders can work constructively with organized labor.
• Work Design for Health Toolkit: Work Design Principle #1: Give Employees More Control  over Their Work
  Researchers from MIT IWER and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health have developed an online toolkit for business leaders interested in using a research-based approach to fostering well-being in the workplace. The module on giving employees more control of their work includes a section on worker influence in the workplace and worker voice.
• “The Organizational Ombuds’ Role,”  by Mary Rowe.  
  By listening to employees’ concerns and providing support for resolving those concerns, organizational ombuds can serve as an outlet for employee voice. IWER Adjunct Professor Mary P. Rowe, a pioneer in the organizational ombuds profession, offers a free online library of much of her work, including numerous articles on the role of organizational ombuds and on conflict management system design.
• “The Fulfillment Center Intervention Study: Protocol for a Group-Randomized Control Trial of a Participatory Workplace Intervention,” by Erin L. Kelly, Kirsten F. Siebach, Grace DeHorn, and Megan Lovejoy, PLoS ONE 19, no. 7 (July 2024) : e0305334. 
  MIT Sloan Professor Erin L. Kelly is one of the leaders of a team of researchers studying the effects of introducing a committee structure designed to give workers more say on well-being and safety issues into some of a large U.S. company’s e-commerce fulfillment centers. This article outlines the study design.

IV. Resources for Policymakers and Worker Advocates Interested in Worker Voice
 

• “Unions, Worker Voice, and Management Practices: Implications for a High-Productivity, High-Wage Economy,” by Thomas A. Kochan and William T. Kimball. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 5, no. 5 (Dec. 2019): 88-108.
  In this 2019 article, the authors explore the breakdown over time of the U.S. social contract about work, the current state of worker voice, and implications for public policy.
• “Worker Voice, Representation, and Implications for Public Policies,” by Thomas A. Kochan. MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future research brief (Cambridge, MA: July 2020).
  In this research brief, Kochan argues for the importance of rebuilding worker voice and power as one aspect of shaping the work of the future in a positive direction and building a new and better social contract at work.
• “Worker Voice and Corporate Governance: Putting Words into Actions,” by Thomas Kochan. Vanderbilt Law Review 74 (2021): 1625-1643. 
  In this 2021 article, Kochan discusses the implications of recent findings on worker voice for corporate governance.
• “What Forms of Representation Do American Workers Want? Implications for Theory, Policy, and Practice,” by Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, William Kimball, and Thomas Kochan. ILR Review, 75 no. 2 (March 2022): 267-294. 
  This journal article describes a study that explored the characteristics U.S. workers would prefer in a labor organization. The final article is behind a paywall, but another option is a pre-publication version of the paper.
• “What U.S. Workers Want From a Labor Organization” by Martha E. Mangelsdorf.
  This short 2019 summary highlights a few key points from the working paper version of the aforementioned research on the characteristics workers would prefer in a labor organization.
• “What It Takes to Form a Union — and Where to Begin,” by Thomas Kochan and John S. Ahlquist, Harvard Business Review, October 7, 2024.
  This Harvard Business Review article offers a practical guide to the nuts-and-bolts of forming a union in the United States.

[1] MIT Sloan Professor Emeritus Thomas A. Kochan has defined worker voice as “individual or collective efforts of workers to have a say or influence on workplace issues of interest to them and/or to their employer(s).” See Thomas A. Kochan, “Worker Voice, Representation, and Implications for Public Policies,” MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future research brief (Cambridge, MA: 2020), p. 2.