A worker-empowered labour market has emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic. Amid high labour demand and low unemployment, attitudes are shifting towards work with alternative careers being sought by furloughed employees and those enriched by stimulus cheques.

Real wages across North America and Europe had stagnated since 2008, with most new jobs created since being less secure. The sharp rise in global inflation, further exacerbated by the crisis in Ukraine, is now eating into real wages. This is clearly a major concern for workers and central to a wave of strike action in the final quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2022. Ardagh workers this week, for example, have pledged to strike if wages are not increased to meet inflation while 2021 profits at the Glassmaker were up 18%.