ILR Research Studies and Reports
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Item Generative AI and the National Academy of ArbitratorsKatz, Harry C.; Gough, Mark D. (2025)[Excerpt] This report examines the current state of generative AI adoption and perceptions through a survey of 219 members of the National Academy of Arbitrators conducted in the Fall and Winter of 2024. Results reveal a profession that remains largely hesitant to integrate AI into neutral work. Across multiple survey questions, the data consistently shows low adoption rates, ethical concerns, and a general lack of familiarity and engagement with AI tools. However, there are signs of emerging interest, particularly for specific use cases like summarization and research, indicating a cautious path forward.Item Enforcement of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement ("USMCA") Rapid Response Mechanism: Views from Mexican Auto Sector WorkersLeClerq, Desiree; Covarrubias-V, Alex; Quintero Ramirez, Cirila (Cornell University, ILR School, Center for Applied Research on Work, 2024)[Excerpt] Our findings suggest that workers at facilities that have undergone RRM (Rapid Response Mechanism) enforcement activities are more aware of their labor rights and procedures than workers at facilities that have not undergone RRM enforcement activities. There are various reasons for that disparate awareness, including but not limited to the worker-level training that workers received within the framework of RRM enforcement versus the union-level training that the U.S. Department of Labor conducted throughout Mexico. Nevertheless, neither workers at RRM facilities nor facilities that had not participated in RRM enforcement tended to be as knowledgeable about the labor law reforms, the process to approve their collective bargaining agreements, and union election procedures as commonly presupposed in the current trade and labor discourse. [Also available as in a Spanish language version]Item A Living wage for Tompkins County? Tompkins County Living Wage Working Group Feasibility StudyEaglesham, Reed; Greer, Ian; Klingel, Sally; O'Brady, Sean; Osterreich, Shaianne; Rodriguez, Maria Eugenia; Vidal, Matt; Weaver, Russell (Cornell University, ILR School, Ithaca Co-Lab, 2023-03)This report presents research carried out since 2018 by the Tompkins County Living Wage Working Group. The working group considered the feasibility of a county-level minimum wage set at the level of Alternatives Federal Credit Union’s living wage calculation. (The living wage thresholds were: $15.11 starting in 2017, $15.37 in 2019, $15.32 in 2021 and $16.61 in 2022). Research included (i) initial canvassing of employer and worker opinion, (ii) analysis of labor market data, (iii) two waves of in-depth interviews with employers, and (iv) computer simulations of benefits cliffs.Item The Use of Human Capital Metrics in Executive CompensationInstitute for Compensation Studies (Cornell University, ILR School, Institute for Compensation Studies, 2024)Our inaugural symposium topic is the use of human capital metrics in executive compensation. A working group of representatives from academia, consulting, and publicly traded U.S. companies, convened in November 2023 to tackle three interrelated questions:
Is there evidence that human capital investments provide a positive return to corporations?
How is the impact of those investments most effectively measured?
Should such metrics be factored in the executive performance and incentive determination processes? If so, how?
This report presents findings on human capital metrics of different types and their prevalence in public disclosures as well as trends in the use of human capital metrics in executive compensation. We outline recommendations and guidance for developing and monitoring human capital metrics. We provide a framework for deciding whether these metrics should be embedded in executive incentive plans. We offer a new approach to incentive design that is grounded in behavioral economics theory and research with the caveat that our recommendations were not unanimously endorsed by the working group and it was agreed that they are not universally applicable.
Item Exploring the Conditions of the New York Solar WorkforceHoek Spaans, Avalon; Morley, Jillian (Cornell University, ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute, 2024)[Excerpt] To address the impending climate crisis, reduce global emissions, and meet the demands of decarbonization, solar energy must rapidly grow in the next two decades. The United States is projected to need 1,118 gigawatts (GW) of solar energy by 2050 under a high-electricity demand scenario (Gagnon et al., 2024; National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2024), with over 60 GW to be installed in NYS alone (New York State Climate Action Council, 2022). In the past decade, NYS has increased its solar installations by over 2,000%; yet by the end of 2023, only 5.56 GW of solar capacity had been installed in the state (New York Independent System Operator, 2014; New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, 2024a; Solar Energy Industries Association, 2024) which may be due to the infancy of the industry. With solar installations critical growth in New York, and the United States as a whole, comes the question: will these construction projects create the high-quality jobs with family-sustaining wages American communities need?Item Building the Clean Energy Commonwealth: A Climate Jobs Roadmap for MassachusettsHoek Spaans, Avalon; Skinner, Lara; Raman, Anita; Moskowitz, Hunter; Packman, Iris; Shetler, Melissa; Harper, Ben; Lamm, Nathan; Morley, Jillian (Cornell University, ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute, 2024)[Excerpt] As the climate crisis worsens and the federal government adds approximately $500 billion to clean energy investments in the United States, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is facing historic opportunities: to address climate change; protect and create high-quality jobs; confront race and gender inequality; and build a robust, equitable clean energy economy that benefits all.Item Domestic Workers Rising: An Evaluation of the We Rise Peer Training ProgramWest, Zoë; Carey, Ketchel; Brady, Anne Marie (Cornell University, ILR School, Worker Institute, 2024)This report is based on an in-depth evaluation of the impact of the We Rise Nanny Training, a peer education program in New York that integrates workers’ rights education with professional development, using popular education pedagogy. The We Rise Nanny Training aims to lift standards in the domestic work industry by training nannies in workers’ rights and negotiation skills; providing professional development that increases their employability; and building their confidence and leadership within the workplace and within the movement for domestic workers’ rights. The evaluation was designed as an 18-month, mixed-methods, longitudinal study that was shaped by the principles of community-based participatory research. The research included a longitudinal survey comprised of a baseline, midline, and endline survey; qualitative interviews with training participants; focus groups with peer trainers; and qualitative interviews with training coordinators and organization staff. Research was conducted in English, Spanish, and Nepali. Our analysis suggests that the We Rise Nanny Training strengthens participants’ ability and drive to negotiate with their employers for increased wages and better working conditions, and to secure measures such as written contracts and overtime pay. Participants drew confidence and motivation to negotiate from learning about their rights and fair standards, recognizing the value of their labor as domestic workers, and receiving a certificate from the Worker Institute at Cornell University. Our research also found that the peer and popular education design of the We Rise training appears to instill in participants the sense that they are part of a greater movement of domestic workers pushing for industry-wide change, thus bolstering their confidence and drive to make change in their own workplaces and across the industry. Findings suggest that organizations use the We Rise Nanny Training to support their broader strategies to lift standards across the industry: as a base-building channel; a vehicle for leadership development; and as a “leadership ladder” where nannies can become peer trainers and We Rise “captains.” Our analysis also suggests that the training influences participants to become more involved in activities that are central to lifting standards in the industry and expanding the movement for domestic workers’ rights—sharing information with other nannies, doing outreach and recruitment with other nannies, and engaging in organizing and advocacy activities.Item Building an Equitable, Diverse, & Unionized Clean Energy Economy: What We Can Learn from Apprenticeship ReadinessCunningham, Zach; Shetler, Melissa (Cornell University, ILR School, Climate Jobs Institute, 2023)[Excerpt] With this report, the CJI addresses another core aspect of tackling the dual crises of climate change and inequality: ensuring that frontline, historically underserved communities have expansive, effective pathways into high-quality union clean energy careers. The Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act have brought increased attention to two important clean energy workforce questions. First, does the U.S. have enough trained workers to meet the demands of the clean energy economy? And second, how do we ensure that the clean energy workforce is diverse and inclusive? This report responds to both of these questions by showing that there are model programs across the U.S. that create pathways for underserved communities into apprenticeship readiness, union apprenticeship programs, and ultimately, good union careers. This study, as well as our many years of experience in the field, have taught us that there is no simple or easy solution to creating or scaling successful pathways. These pathways exist in an ecosystem of essential and interdependent actors that must be focused on the common goal of building a diverse, equitable and unionized clean energy workforce. Key actors and components include: union-led climate coalitions advocating for bold, equitable climate action; policymakers implementing ambitious, jobs-led climate policy; strong labor and equity standards that ensure clean energy jobs are good union jobs; high-quality union apprenticeship programs that pay apprentices well and make sure that the clean energy workforce is highly-skilled and well-trained; trusting partnerships between labor unions, environmental justice organizations, community groups, employers, MWBE contractors, government, and academic institutions; and the focus of this report, high-quality apprenticeship readiness programs that provide participants with the support they need to successfully enter union apprenticeship.Item AI in Contact Centers: Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Management in Frontline Service WorkplacesDoellgast, Virginia; O'Brady, Sean; Kim, Jeonghun; Walters, Della (Cornell University, ILR School, 2023)Contact centers have long been lead innovators in adopting new technologies to restructure jobs and manage workers. Between the 1990s and 2000s, the first wave of digitalization transformed what were then called ‘call centers’ through innovations in call volume tracking, automatic call distribution, and electronic monitoring and performance management. The growth of the internet and fiber-optic digital networks enabled the relocation of jobs far from customers through outsourcing and offshoring. Since the mid-2010s – and accelerating in the early 2020s – a new set of technologies have been transforming contact center jobs. This second digital transformation is based on advances in artificial intelligence (AI), enabled by faster network speeds and cloud computing. A range of new AI-based tools are being used to automate customer service and sales via chatbots and voicebots, to perform a growing range of back-office tasks, and to enable more intensive and tailored forms of remote monitoring, coaching, training, and scheduling. In this report, we summarize initial findings from research on how these AI-based tools are being used in contact centers, and their impacts on work and workers. The study focused on contact centers in the US, Canada, Germany, and Norway. We carried out matched case studies in all four countries, including interviews with managers, worker representatives, and employees. We also conducted matched contact center worker surveys in the US (N=2891) and Canada (N=385) between December 2022 and January 2023. In the US, we conducted a survey in 2017 on a similar sample of contact center workers, with some identical questions – allowing us to also describe changes in average responses between these two time periods.Item Higher Ground? Report 2: Climate Resilience and Fashion’s Costs of AdaptationBauer, Angus; Williams, Stephanie; Judd, Jason; Kuruvilla, Sarosh (Cornell University, ILR School, Global Labor Institute, 2023-09-13)[Excerpt] In this second report we dig deeper into what these scenarios mean for the largest fashion brands and retailers. How are brands likely to fare in the face of climate breakdown without any adaptation response? How large are the costs of climate-related disruption and who is likely to bear their burden? Are the major brands—whose scale and influence upstream make for commensurately large real-world impacts—pivoting to incorporate adaptation in their strategic planning? And finally, for those brands that do embrace more than just mitigation, what are the potential returns on adaptation investment?