PublicSource, with Technical.ly, is exploring the landscape of work in Pittsburgh — famed for its industriousness and intense union-management conflict and collaboration — as it is pressure-tested by changes in governmental policy, technology and economics.
It’s 2019, and you’re stuck in rush hour traffic on the way back from your job — maybe from an office, a hospital, a factory, a job site or a classroom. You ate lunch with coworkers or grabbed something between shifts. You made child care arrangements until you or someone else could pick up your littles after work. This — or something similar — was your daily routine.
Five years later, much has changed. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major force in reshaping work, but it wasn’t the only one. Technological advancements, labor movements, shifting workforce demands and economic pressures have all played roles in transforming the way people work across industries.
For some, remote and hybrid work became the norm. Others saw their jobs become even more demanding in person, from health care workers to warehouse employees to service industry staff. Some changed careers entirely. Wages, working conditions and job expectations have been contested, renegotiated and, in some cases, redefined.
As we mark five years since early 2020, we want to hear from you. If you were working then, how has your work changed, if at all? What’s better or worse about work now compared to before?
We also recognize that not everyone is working — some have retired, some are still searching for stable employment and others have left the workforce for different reasons. We still want to hear from you.
Share your story below, let us know who you are for verification, and we may publish yours alongside others.
