In MIT Sloan professor Zeynep Ton’s game-changing book, The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs & Boost Profits, she proves that it is possible to offer good jobs to workers, low prices and excellent service to customers, and great returns to shareholders all at the same time. What makes good jobs not only possible but very profitable—even in low-cost service businesses—is a set of counterintuitive choices that transforms the company’s investment in workers into high performance. What are these choices? Offer less, combine standardization with empowerment, cross-train, and operate with slack. It’s a combination that lowers operating costs, increases worker productivity, and, as The Good Jobs Strategy shows over and over, puts workers—yes, even cashiers and stockroom workers—at the center of a company’s success.

In this book talk, Ton discusses The Good Jobs Strategy and its implications.

In the United States today, roughly 25 million workers, over 16 percent of all workers, are foreign-born. Immigrant workers contribute skills, knowledge and labor to the U.S. economy through employment in a diversity of sectors, including hospitality, construction, information technology, health care and others.

Foreign-born workers also start businesses at higher rates than native born workers, contributing to economic growth and job creation. While some immigrant workers and business owners achieve great economic success, others operate marginal businesses or are employed in jobs where wages are low, working conditions are poor, and safety standards are disregarded. For foreign-born workers that wish to improve their education and upgrade their skills, other barriers may stand in their way, such as limited English skills or poor access to financial aid. Millions of these workers have toiled in the shadows of the labor market, but soon, the nation may have opportunities to both improve job quality and offer ways for these workers to build their skills. These opportunities can help improve employment for the labor market and economy overall in ways that benefit all Americans.

Panelists discussed the immigrant workforce in the U.S. today, focusing on its past and potential economic contributions, opportunities for gaining skills as well as the implications of immigration and immigration reform for job quality. This is the third conversation in the Aspen Institute’s Working in America series that highlights a variety of job quality issues affecting low and moderate income working Americans.

In May, we celebrate Mother’s Day, a holiday created by Americans to honor our moms and their influence in society. With the presence of women with children in the workforce increasing, mothers are not only the glue that holds our homes together, but they are also the fuel helping to drive our economic recovery. Two-thirds of women with young children now work and nearly half are the primary breadwinner within their family. As more moms enter the workforce and “lean in” to build a successful career and household, however, the affordable, quality early care and education system their families need to lean on is noticeably absent. The women and moms working in the early care and education industry also face significant challenges. Low wages, few benefits and limited training or advancement opportunities are widespread in the early care and education industry, which contributes to high worker turnover, further eroding the quality of care.

In this event, speakers discuss how we can have both an early care and education system that provides good jobs and quality, affordable care.

Today, roughly four million Americans earn wages at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. For a family of four, this wage falls beneath the poverty line. As President Obama recently stated in his State of the Union Address, in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. However, the problem of working people living in poverty continues to grow. Low wage jobs have made up the majority of new jobs coming out of the recession and are projected to comprise a substantial share of the jobs that will be created in the coming decade. Given that the wage floor has far-reaching effects on the economy, meaningful consideration of its impact on workers, consumer spending, income inequality and other issues is vital.

This event features a successful business leader and philanthropist, a leading conservative voice, a workers’ rights advocate, and a prominent researcher discussing how raising the minimum wage could contribute to addressing our jobs challenge. The event is the first discussion in an Aspen Institute series titled Working in America, which focuses on ideas and policies to improve opportunities for American workers.

Domestic workers—those that are employed in our homes to care for children, elderly and the disabled as well as perform a variety of other duties, such as cooking and cleaning—are critical to our economy, our society and our families’ well-being. Yet many domestic workers are paid little, receive no employee benefits, and may work in an environment with other challenges that can affect their health and safety.

At this event, panelists from academia, advocacy, organizing and philanthropy discuss the experiences of domestic workers and ideas and policies for improving their work. This event is the sixth discussion in a series titled, Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program.

This is the fifth conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and AspenWSI is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

This is the fourth conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

On July 25th 2012, the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative hosted a conversation titled, “Taking Inventory of Retail Jobs: A Discussion on Work in the Retail Industry.”

Featuring: Carrie Gleason, Executive Director, Retail Action Project; Kim Owen, Vice-President of Human Resources (retired), QuikTrip Corporation; Zeynep Ton, Adjunct Associate Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management. Moderated by Steven Greenhouse, Labor and Workplace Reporter for The New York Times.

This is the third conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low-Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low-wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and AspenWSI is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low-wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

In 2011, nearly 4 million workers were employed in direct-care positions, including nursing aides, home health aides, and personal care attendants. While direct-care workers play a critical role in supporting the lives of our elderly and disabled populations, direct-care jobs are often characterized by low-wages, few benefits or pathways for career advancement, as well as part-time hours.

On May 3rd 2012, the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative hosted a conversation titled, “Better Care through Better Jobs: Improving Training and Employment for Direct Care Workers.” This is the second conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.” Low wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and AspenWSI is excited to continue this conversation about the nature of low-wage work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges at the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.

On March 7th 2012, the Aspen Institute Workforce Strategies Initiative hosted a conversation on “From Fast Food to Fine Cuisine: A Discussion on Work in the Restaurant Industry.” This is the first conversation in a roundtable series in 2012 titled “Reinventing Low-Wage Work: Ideas That Can Work for Employees, Employers and the Economy.”

Low-wage jobs are a growing part of the U.S. economy, and AspenWSI is excited to bring a conversation about the nature of this work, the challenges it presents to workers, businesses and the economy, and the opportunities we have for addressing these challenges to the Aspen Institute at a time when jobs and the economy are such critical topics for our country.