NLC report highlights workforce challenges, opportunities in next decade

Written by Andy Castillo

Twenty years ago, it would have been difficult to envision today’s remote-centric workforce. Driven by the pandemic, office space moved from city towers to living rooms. If there’s one thing that’s clear in today’s constantly evolving labor landscape, it’s that the workforce will never be the same.

A new report from the National League of Cities examines key drivers pushing this workforce evolution forward—like shifting patterns of urbanization and the rise of robots—and strategies administrators will take to shape workplace changes over the next 10 years.

“The future of work will be defined by entrepreneurial city leaders. The challenges are real, but if the last two years have shown us anything, it’s that today’s local leaders are up for the challenge,” said Clarence Anthony, executive director and CEO of the cities organization. “As this report shows, city leaders are ready to take the steps necessary to successfully navigate the changing nature of work and build inclusive centers of opportunity and community for years to come.”

Among the findings highlighted by the report, America Works: How Entrepreneurial City Leaders Can Shape the Future of Work Now, analysts note that annual U.S. growth “is currently at an all-time low due to a record low birth rate of 1.6 and a sharp decrease in net immigration, which declined from 1 million new Americans per year in 2016 to less than 250,000 every year since.”

Meanwhile, automation is evolving quickly. And while it’s creating more jobs than it’s destroying, it’s increasing pressure in the process on an already strained labor force. Employers will continue to face an uphill battle solving an ongoing labor shortage.

This evolution into a more digitized work environment isn’t just straining resources, it’s also disconnecting workers from physical office spaces. With the ability to log in from anywhere, more people are choosing remote options, “leading to decentralization of the economy and economic life moving into neighborhoods,” the report says. “Fifty-three percent of all workers say their jobs can be done remotely if they were allowed and 64 percent of remote workers would consider looking for a new job if they were forced back to the office every day.”

This migration has exacerbated a housing crisis that never fully recovered from the Great Recession. And, as it continues through the next decade, it’ll particularly be felt by minorities and those with unequal social standing. The report notes that 30 percent of American families spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. This will change labor norms, because housing has a direct impact on the workforce.

“If you have no home, you have no work. If you have no childcare, you cannot work.” said Brit Fontenot, director of economic development for Bozeman, Mt., in the report. “Housing and childcare are workforce infrastructure.”

A final takeaway from the report is the impact of climate change on work. A changing climate is described in the report as “the defining challenge and economic opportunity for cities. A growing movement to electrify, decarbonize and transition cities to 24/7 carbon-free energy is projected to create 25 million new jobs.”

But on the other hand, it’s up to city officials to lead the way in curbing emissions—or potentially face a future no one wants to see become a reality.

“As the IPCC (United Nations he Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has repeatedly warned, the 2020s are the last decade to take action to avert the worst consequences of climate change,” the report says, noting, “Cities are responsible for 75 percent of all CO2 emissions, primarily from transportation and buildings.”