Corporations are not afraid to pick up and move.
Many states are offering incentives to companies such as lower taxes if they relocate, but a better business climate doesn’t always equate to a better working environment.
“In terms of economic expansion, what benefits employers’ bottom lines or margins can be in direct conflict with what benefits real workers and residents and workers,” said Nyani Tolbert, founder and CEO of Hire Black Now. An organization that integrates recruiting and talent development to improve the upward mobility of black women in the US workforce.
Many of the states with the most attractive business incentives are passing controversial social policies that some businesses and the general public have pushed back against. These issues include LGBTQ restrictions, voting restrictions, abortion restrictions, and banning schools and employers from holding diversity and inclusion training.
Anti-poverty organization Oxfam America’s annual Work-to-Work survey analyzes which states have the best policies to protect workers.
Oxfam America ranks North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina as the worst states for workers in 2021.
“Every year, the worst regions to work in are the South, almost always. In the year 2021 was no different,” said Caitlin Henderson, senior researcher at Oxfam America.
Party divisions have emerged over labor policies. Democrats are more likely to adopt policies that Oxfam America pursues in its best states, such as higher minimum wages, workplace pregnancy accommodations, and policies that protect the right to organize.
But states with better policies for workers also tend to be states with higher costs of living, according to Oxfam America’s analysis.
Oxfam America ranks Oregon, New York, Massachusetts and California as some of the best states for worker rights, but CNBC’s 2022 Top States for Business Index says those states have the highest cost of living in the country.
Rachel Lipson, director of the Workforce Project at Harvard University, said, “Employees have many factors to consider when considering different job opportunities and companies need to consider when recruiting talent for a job.” We are still in a very tight labor market where workers have a lot of power and the ability to be selective.
Watch the video above to learn which states are the worst for workers and how companies in those states attract top talent.
