WATCH ON DEMAND

On September 8, the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis and Philadelphia hosted a community development research seminar focused on how the labor market can be made more competitive and supportive of low- and moderate-income workers.

The labor market is a complicated place where workers can have very different experiences depending on the rules, institutions, and employer practices they encounter. The pandemic recession and recovery have highlighted the importance of labor market policies and dynamics, especially as they affect workers’ ability to take new jobs and explore new ways of working.

This seminar explores how the design of the labor market matters for low- and moderate-income workers in particular. Experts discuss their research and its implications for how the labor market can be made more competitive and supportive of workers.

Researchers on the first panel of the seminar focus on how occupational licensing and non-compete contracts affect labor market competition and worker outcomes. Researchers on the second panel explore how the fundamental structure of labor markets affects workers, with a focus on alternative work arrangements such as independent contracting.