The Worker Voice Gap: How Much Say Do Workers Want—and How Much Do They Actually Experience?

Authors

• Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Columbia UniversityFollow
• Thomas A. Kochan, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFollow

Issue Date

May 2026

Abstract

•The worker voice gap—the difference between the influence that workers want and what they experience—is very large. Nearly three-quarters of American workers want more voice at work than they currently have in three key areas: 1) compensation, 2) working conditions, and3) use of new technologies at work.

• The voice deficit is largest for compensation, but majorities of workers also express voice gaps over working conditions and the use of new technologies in their workplaces.

•Although voice gaps are relatively widespread, women tend to report larger voice gaps than men, and younger and middle-aged workers tend to report larger gaps than older workers, while differences across education and race and ethnicity are modest. Across industries, the largest voice gaps are found in government, education, health care, and social services. Those who work for large employers tend to report greater voice gaps than those working for smaller employers.

•Unionized workers and non-union workers both generally experience large voice gaps—but with important variation across areas of voice and sectors of the economy. Compared to non-union workers, those represented by a union perceive more influence over compensation, but they report larger voice gaps over working conditions and new technologies. Some of the voice gap among unionized workers stems from these workers’ greater desire for input, potentially reflecting higher expectations for voice that come from union experience.

•Even after controlling for industry, occupation, and a rich set of worker and job characteristics, greater voice gaps are strongly correlated with a range of negative job quality outcomes including lower job satisfaction, and with a range of negative health and safety outcomes, including feeling physically unsafe and experiencing high anxiety. These results suggest that the ability to influence conditions at work and to shape decisions that affect one’s job is an important part of job quality for American workers.

Series

Policy Paper No. 2026-041

DOI

10.17848/pol2026-041

Sponsorship

Jobs for the Future

Keywords

worker voice, job quality, voice gap, technology, artificial intelligence

Subject Areas

LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Employment relationships; Wages, health insurance and other benefits; Unions and collective bargaining; Occupational health and safety