Worker Power

Omidyar Network believes that workers and their well-being are integral to ensuring that the benefits of capitalism and markets serve the interests of all people and societies.

Despite global economic gains, many working people struggle to achieve a fair share of this economic success. While overall productivity and profits have increased significantly over the past three decades, the majority of workers have not reaped the benefits. Instead, they have experienced stagnant wages and greater insecurity. The decline of unions, rise of corporate power, and threat of automation have left people – particularly low-wage workers – in urgent need of modern mechanisms to organize and rebalance a power structure that is stacked against them.

By empowering workers to advocate for themselves – individually and collectively – we can help guarantee better job quality in the long term. Job quality is not only about wages, it’s about dignified work: control over schedules; stable and predictable pay; access to basic benefits; career advancement opportunities; and worker voice in the workplace.

Our work aims to better understand workers’ needs, amplify their voices, and improve their access to quality jobs. We are supporting and testing a variety of approaches, including innovations in organizing mechanisms; policies that give workers a seat at the table; and experiments with portable benefits to support new forms of worker organization. 

Ensuring the empowerment of every worker will directly impact the rebalancing of our broader economic architecture, so that prosperity can be shared equitably by all.