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• Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2019 (Revised May 2020)

  AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow

  William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller and Carl Kreitzberg

  By the late 2000s, rapid changes in the telecommunications industry forced AT&T’s management team to take on a task that CEO Randall Stephenson called the “biggest logistical challenge” they had ever seen: retraining 100,000 workers by 2020. In 2012, internal company analyses found that AT&T’s workforce would lack the skills it needed to fulfill emerging job requirements. AT&T responded by creating “Workforce 2020,” a company-wide initiative that sought to address potential skill shortfalls. The initiative aimed to transform AT&T’s workforce by implementing multiple changes, such as redesigning job roles, developing new educational curricula with Udacity, and incentivizing employees to retrain themselves for high-demand careers. Some gave high praise to the “Workforce 2020” model, going so far as to call it a new “social contract” between employers and employees. Others worried that the new program was systematically disadvantaging specific groups of workers. In 2018, AT&T rebranded Workforce 2020 to “Future Ready,” signaling the company’s commitment to retraining its workforce beyond 2020.

  Keywords: AT＆T; workforce; skills; future of work; telecommunications; Unions; technological change; layoffs; MOOCS; Strategic Planning; Employees; Training; Competency and Skills; Labor; Learning; Labor Unions; Technology Adoption; Talent and Talent Management; Telecommunications Industry; Communications Industry; United States;

  Citation:

  Kerr, William R., Joseph B. Fuller, and Carl Kreitzberg. "AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow." Harvard Business School Case 820-017, July 2019. (Revised May 2020.)  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  Global Talent and U.S. Immigration Policy

  William R. Kerr

  Talent is a critical resource for today’s knowledge economy. The United States has benefited substantially from high-skilled migration since the 1970s, especially with respect to innovation and entrepreneurship. This chapter reviews data on these immigrant contributions, and it discusses the important roles played by universities and firms under the American system. The chapter concludes with ways that U.S. immigration policy could be enhanced, which will become more important as other nations become more competitive for global talent.

  Keywords: global talent flows; Immigration; Policy; Talent and Talent Management; Global Range; United States;

  Citation:

  Kerr, William R. "Global Talent and U.S. Immigration Policy." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-107, April 2020.  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  Immigration Policy Levers for U.S. Innovation and Startups

  William R. Kerr and Sari Pekkala Kerr

  Immigrants account for about a quarter of U.S. invention and entrepreneurship despite a policy environment that is not well suited for these purposes. This chapter reviews the U.S. immigration policy environment that governs how skilled migrants move to America for employment-based purposes. We discuss points of strain in the current system and potential policy reforms that would likely increase the rate of innovation and the number of startups due to immigrants in the country. Key areas include adjustments to the allocation of permanent residency visas, adjustments to the H-1B visa program, and the creation of an immigrant startup visa.

  Keywords: invention; innovation; Startups; High-tech; Immigration; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Venture Capital; United States;

  Citation:

  Kerr, William R., and Sari Pekkala Kerr. "Immigration Policy Levers for U.S. Innovation and Startups." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-105, April 2020.  View Details

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