wbjournal.com | October 11, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 3
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
Senior Staff Writer,
Monica Benevides,
mbenevides@wbjournal.com
(Manufacturing, higher education,
diversity & inclusion)
Staff Writers
Katherine Hamilton
khamilton@wbjournal.com
(Real estate, health care)
Sloane M. Perron
perron@wbjournal.com
(Banking & finance)
Editorial Interns
Devan Greevy,
dgreevy@wbjournal.com
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon
Photgraphers
Matt Wright, Edd Cote
Lead Researcher, Timothy Doyle,
tdoyle@nebusinessmedia.com
Research Assistant, Heide Martin,
hmartin@nebusinessmedia.com
Production Director, Kira Beaudoin,
kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com
Art Director, Mitchell Hayes,
mhayes@wbjournal.com
Senior Accounts Manager
Christine Juetten,
cjuetten@wbjournal.com
Senior Special Accounts Manager
Mary Lynn Bosiak,
mlbosiak@wbjournal.com
Marketing & Events Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
COO, Mary Rogers,
mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers,
rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com
Account Receivable Specialist,
Patty Harris,
pharris@nebusinessmedia.com
Human Resources, Jill Coran,
jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com
Director of Audience Development,
Valerie Clark,
vclark@nebusinessmedia.com
Operations Assistant,
Leah Allen,
lallen@nebusinessmedia.com
Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton
pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com
Associate Publisher, Mark Murray
mmurray@wbjournal.com
President, Tom Curtin
tcurtin@hartfordbusinessjournal.com
Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weekly,
24x per year, including 4 special issues in May, September, October,
and December by New England Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury
St., Worcester, MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA.
Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address
changes to: Worcester Business Journal,
PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894.
Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $60.00. For more
information, please email wbjournal@cambeywest.com or contact our
circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478
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Worcester Business Journal
WBJ
B
ack in August, "e Daily"
podcast from the New York
Times did a dive into a grow-
ing labor shortage in America,
interviewing employers and
employees in the restaurant industry, in
an attempt to humanize a problem oen
characterized by labor counts, percentag-
es, and dollar amounts.
In the first half of the episode, the em-
ployers laid out the reasons for why they
thought workers weren't coming back.
While their thoughts were comprehensive,
the overall sentiment is people were lazy,
spoiled by the government stimulus, and
uncaring of the consequences laid at the
feet of hard-working business owners.
e second half of the episode, with the
workers, revealed this to be both true and
utterly false. In a particularly poignant
anecdote, a former cook who worked in
high-end restaurants described how he
labored 80 hours a week for about $35,000
a year. When the coronavirus pandemic
caused him to lose his job and stay home,
he spoke of how he and his girlfriend
would go on long walks together; he
found new hobbies; started eating, sleep-
ing, and exercising regularly again; and
re-discovered his love of cooking. Yes, he
didn't want to go back to his old job, but
no reasonable person would argue his old
life fulfilled him the way his new one did.
In her story "Fair wages" on page 8, Se-
nior Staff Writer Monica Benevides writes
about one aspect of this labor shortage
Central Mass. employers are already
dealing with: rising labor costs. To entice
people back to work, employers are taking
a hard look at what quality of life their
wages provide employees, particularly in
industries with high demands like hospi-
tality and health care. is is poignant in
communities like Worcester with a rising
cost of living and high poverty rates.
Employee salaries are always going to
be determined by a company's revenue
and the workers' value to the business
mission. Yet, the employer is the one who
determines that value. As more people are
re-evaluating their lives in the wake of the
pandemic, that value determination can
no longer be a simple function of industry
standards and an employee's experience.
Now more than ever, companies must
consider what quality of life they are
providing their workers. at doesn't mean
entry-level workers will command execu-
tive-level salaries, but maybe a slice of the
wage pie previously slated for the executive
level will be spread out more evenly.
– Brad Kane, editor
What quality of life do you provide?
N E W S & A N A LY S I S
4 Central Mass. In Brief
13
Focus on Outstanding Women
in Business
27 The List: Top woman-owned
businesses
28 Know How
29 Column: Outside the Box
30 Movers & Shakers
31&32 Photo Finish
33 Opinion
6 Crossroads
As the face of Hopedale's downtown
transforms, a tiny town grapples with its
future.
34 UMass Memorial's insurance
plans
Mary Hsieh, CEO of UMass Advantage, sits
down with WBJ for a Q&A on the effort by
UMass Memorial Health to launch its own
health insurance for Medicare-eligible
patients.
D E P A R T M E N T S
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Member FDIC
For more information, contact:
Peter Staiti, First Vice President
Commercial Lending Center Manager
508.957.1108
Peter.Staiti@RocklandTrust.com
RocklandTrust.com/Worcester
A relationship your
business can rely on.
Now with three branches across the greater
Worcester area, and a dedicated commercial lending
center – our team is ready to support your business.
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