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Workers and the Workplace

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Demand for educated, versatile workers who can interpret complex information and adapt to innovation is higher than ever. RAND pursues research that helps people, organizations, and governments understand how workers can remain engaged and productive in a changing global economy. Studies address workforce development, gender equity in the workplace, working conditions, and workplace wellness programs.

Report
Which Working Conditions Could Restore Teacher Well-Being?
Teachers' self-reported well-being and access to a variety of working conditions varied across five states. Relational factors—positive relationships with other teachers and administrators—were more strongly linked to well-being than organizational factors. And a schoolwide focus on social and emotional learning was linked to positive well-being.
Jun 1, 2023
Report
Workers in Homeless Services Often Do Not Earn a Living Wage
Workers employed by nonprofit homeless services agencies in Los Angeles County, particularly frontline staff, often do not earn a living wage. Paying them higher wages could improve the quality of their work by boosting morale, easing stress, and reducing turnover.
May 10, 2023

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Explore Workers and the Workplace

Commentary
Long COVID Is a Mass Disability. The Labor Market Is in Denial
Forget the work-from-home revolution or quiet quitting: The COVID-19 pandemic's biggest impact on the U.S. labor market will be as a mass disability event. It's a shock that the economy is not well prepared to handle.
Dec 7, 2022
Report
Americans' Spending Declines Consistently After Age 65
Americans' personal spending drops consistently after age 65, both among the affluent and those with lower levels of financial resources. The findings contradict traditional wisdom that spending will be constant or even increase during older age, and suggests that individuals and couples could spend more early in retirement.
Dec 5, 2022
Journal Article
Associations of Pediatric Nurse Burnout with Involvement in Quality Improvement
We examined the associations of inpatient pediatric nurse burnout with their perspectives on the importance of quality at the hospital, patient experience measurement, quality improvement, unit culture, and staffing.
Dec 2, 2022
Commentary
Keeping Teachers of Color in the Classroom Will Take More Than a Pay Raise
All students—but particularly Black and Latinx students—benefit academically and socially from having teachers who are people of color. Policymakers and education leaders can help these teachers stay in the profession by making teaching more financially sustainable and fostering collegial relationships within school communities.
Dec 1, 2022
Commentary
How COVID-19 Transformed the Jobs Market
The COVID-19 pandemic initially devastated the U.S. economy. It also exposed and exacerbated existing inequities in society. But in as yet unpredictable ways, it may have accelerated profound changes in how labor works today.
Dec 1, 2022
Commentary
Intelligence Work Is Exciting. And Traumatizing
The intelligence community needs to communicate to its workforce about the varied forms of trauma, how it affects individuals, and what resources exist to help. Protecting the intelligence workforce can help protect us all.
Nov 30, 2022
Commentary
Measure ULA Reflects the Wrong Lessons from Proposition HHH
Los Angeles voters approved the so-called “mansion tax,” Measure ULA, which proponents suggested will raise funds for about 26,000 new units of affordable housing over the next decade. But a key labor provision casts doubt on that optimistic projection.
Nov 28, 2022
Report
Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Analyses: Update Through Fiscal Year 2021
RAND researchers present a descriptive overview of the state of the defense acquisition workforce (AW), describe changes to the AW over time, and identify opportunities for the collection of new data that could support decisionmaking.
Nov 28, 2022
Blog
Taiwan, Putin's Holy War, Mining the Moon: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on why China likely won't attack Taiwan anytime soon, Vladimir Putin's “holy war” in Ukraine, why it's time to make rules for space-mining, and more.
Nov 25, 2022
Journal Article
Saving Regret and Procrastination
Saving regret, or the wish in hindsight to have saved more earlier in life, is widespread in older populations. Little of the variation is explained by procrastination and psychological factors. Unemployment, health, and divorce are larger factors.
Nov 23, 2022
Report
The role of evidence in occupational safety and health
This study aimed to explore and identify globally: (i) what types of evidence are produced, shared and used, and by whom, and (ii) how OSH decisions are informed and the role evidence plays in this process.
Nov 23, 2022
$Young Afro-Latina mother taking temperature of her child in bed, photo by Vesnaandjic/Getty Images$

Commentary
Working Moms' Winter Math Is Getting Tougher
Working mothers remain disproportionately responsible for raising children, and no one can work and take care of sick kids at the same time. In the coming months, the tripledemic of COVID, the flu, and RSV will pull a lot of working mothers out of the office for days at a stretch, compounding the obstacles that women already face.
Nov 22, 2022
Journal Article
The Quality of Occupational Healthcare for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Healthcare Expenditures, and Disability Outcomes: A Prospective Observational Study
We sought to examine whether quality of care for work-associated carpal tunnel syndrome is associated with healthcare expenditures or disability. Quality of care was associated with health care expenditures, but not with disability.
Nov 18, 2022
Blog
Supporting America's Veterans: RAND Weekly Recap
This Veterans Day edition of the weekly recap focuses on helping veterans succeed in civilian jobs, a bakery that doubles as a business school for members of the military community, Black Americans’ military service, and more.
Nov 11, 2022
Commentary
Green Jobs and Skills Development for Disadvantaged Groups
Many countries have plans to increase green job opportunities. To make sure that everyone can benefit from this promised green transition, it is important to understand how people with low qualifications, and other marginalised groups, might be able to access green jobs.
Nov 8, 2022
Essay
How Veterans Fare in the Civilian Labor Market
Around 200,000 service members transition to the civilian labor market every year. They often find it's like falling into another dimension, one where employers don't even speak the same language. More than a decade of RAND research has sought to ease that transition.
Nov 4, 2022
Report
Learn Together Surveys: 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results
This report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the 2022 Learn Together Surveys that were administered to K-12 principals and teachers in March 2022 via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels.
Nov 3, 2022
Report
Improving the Technical Requirements Development Process for Weapon Systems: A Systems-Based Approach for Managers
Oversights during development of technical requirements for new weapon systems can result in cost or schedule overruns or unsuitable operational performance. This report describes a systems-based approach to help improve this process.
Nov 3, 2022
Essay
Dog Tag Bakery: A Fresh Start for Veterans
A bakery in Washington, D.C., brings together service-disabled post–9/11 veterans, military spouses, and caregivers. For five months, they are immersed in an intensive entrepreneurial-focused business program. It's become a model for helping veterans and others in the military community reestablish their lives.
Nov 1, 2022
Periodical
RAND Review: November-December 2022
Features explore an innovative fellowship for military veterans, spouses, and caregivers; how veterans fare in the civilian labor market after leaving the military; and the impact of racism on patient safety in health care settings.
Oct 31, 2022

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Mary Keeling

Research Leader

Mary Keeling is a research leader at the RAND Corporation. Focusing on defence and security at RAND Europe, her main role is as the research manager of the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre. Prior to joining RAND, she worked in academia.
Jordan M. Harrison

Policy Researcher

Jordan Harrison is a health policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She works across a range of program and policy areas in health care and social and economic wellbeing. Her research interests center around the health care workforce, aging, and long-term care. She currently leads a study…

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