Future of America

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Future of America

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Future of America

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Explore insights, resources, and stories to inspire sustainable and inclusive growth in America

Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce
– Our work with the Rework America Alliance highlights how a skills-based approach can help US employers expand talent pools and retain great workers—even through economic uncertainty.

The overlooked contributions and hidden challenges of Asian Americans
– Asian Americans play a key role in creating a more sustainable and inclusive economy. A new report explores the challenges this group faces and how companies can better support them.

Empowering economic growth in the Latino community
– Domenika Lynch, head of the Aspen Institute’s Latinos and Society Program, and McKinsey’s Bernardo Sichel discuss the economic state of Latinos in America and ways to remove barriers to participation.

How Americans are feeling about economic opportunities and the future
– The American Opportunity Survey spotlights Americans’ views on the state of the economy and other trends. What did researchers find about how people think things are going and what the future holds?

Growing and sustaining prosperity for small-town Americans
– The divide between rural and urban communities has widened as the COVID-19 pandemic pushes rural communities’ economic recovery further behind. How can leaders put rural regions on track to thrive?

Building Black-owned brands to accelerate prosperity
– Black-owned businesses are crucial to America’s long-term prosperity, but they face long-time challenges. How can McKinsey’s Next 1B accelerator help create a more inclusive environment for Black entrepreneurs?

A CFO’s perspective on sustainable, inclusive growth
– In the current challenging environment, how can CFOs and other business leaders continue to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth?

Addressing unequal opportunity in an American city
– Spatial inequality limits opportunities for millions of Americans. How can companies leverage their unique positions to promote sustainable, inclusive growth in the communities they call home?

Financial inclusion and sustainable, inclusive growth in action
– Access to financial services remains a significant barrier to prosperity for millions of Americans. How can businesses promote financial inclusion and support sustainable, inclusive growth more broadly?

Solving the net-zero equation in the United States
– Achieving net-zero carbon emissions will require investment and action on a massive scale. How can the United States meet the challenge of this moment?

Meeting the challenge of moms’ ‘double double shift’ at home and work
– As the United States emerges from the pandemic, how can businesses build a more inclusive working environment to improve outcomes for women in the workforce?

Rise of the inclusive, sustainable consumers
– How can businesses attract and retain customers when sustainability and inclusion are no longer “nice to have” but critical to business? And how can they do so successfully in this challenging economic environment?

New from McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey

Article

For many Americans, economic opportunity seems increasingly out of reach

– Low unemployment doesn’t seem to dispel the gloom about inflation, the McKinsey American Opportunity Survey shows.
Learn more about the American Opportunity Survey

A sustainable inclusive and growing future for the United States

While the challenges the United States faces are significant, it can build on core strengths to grow, broaden, and sustain prosperity.
Read the article

Future of Sustainability

Impact Story

An AI power play: Fueling the next wave of innovation in the energy sector
– How Vistra Corp. is partnering with McKinsey to improve efficiency and reduce emissions by using AI
Article

Building the electric-vehicle charging infrastructure America needs
– The United States needs many more EV-charging stations—and federal funds for them are coming. Seven principles could help... US states and companies accelerate this buildout effectively.
Report

Closing the loop: Increasing fashion circularity in California
– The fashion value chain is predominantly linear and global. It has put the apparel industry on an unsustainable path.
Article

Innovating to net zero: An executive’s guide to climate technology
– Advanced technologies are critical to stopping climate change—and the drive to develop and scale them is accelerating. Here... are five themes that could attract $2 trillion of annual investment by 2025.
Article

Solving the net-zero equation: Nine requirements for a more orderly transition
– Net-zero commitments are rising, but the net-zero equation is not yet solved. This can only change if nine interdependent requirements... are met with singular resolve, unity, and ingenuity.
Article

Organizing for sustainability success: Where, and how, leaders can start
– As sustainability becomes more of a strategic and operational imperative, executives must lead the way to set up a sustainability... organization that’s right for their companies.
Report

How cities can adapt to climate change
– Research identifies 15 proven ways that urban areas around the world can adapt to climate risk.
Article

COVID-19 crisis pushes US students into an uncertain job market
– More than half-a-million US students are dropping out of college, leaving their economic futures in the balance.
Article

Net zero or bust: Beating the abatement cost curve for growth
– Companies can both decarbonize and boost long-term growth. But it means pushing beyond abatement curves’ focus on cost and... instead empowering people—while making a few big, strategic bets.
Report - McKinsey Global Institute

The future of work after COVID-19
– The pandemic accelerated existing trends in remote work, e-commerce, and automation, with up to 25 percent more workers than previously... estimated potentially needing to switch occupations.
Article

America 2021: Renewing the nation’s commitment to climate action
– To America’s leaders, innovators, and changemakers: here’s how you can help build a low-carbon economy that is resilient,... competitive, prosperous, and fair.
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Future of inclusion

Article

The economic state of Latinos in the US: Determined to thrive

– US Latinos are a driving force of the US economy and account for the fastest-growing portion of US GDP.
Article

The childcare conundrum: How can companies ease working parents’ return to the office?
– The status quo work culture no longer works for most families—particularly those with very young children. But companies’... support for childcare can turn worker attrition into attraction. Here’s how.
Article

Women in healthcare and life sciences: The ongoing stress of COVID-19
– The healthcare sector is examining how to better hire and promote women to the highest levels.
Interview

Author Talks: Where are the women who are missing from the workforce?
– Amid the pandemic, working mothers have had to downshift their careers to care for their children full time. Reshma Saujani says... now is the time to change this dual burden.
Report - McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility

Black consumers: Where to invest for equity (a preview)
– Effectively pursuing broad racial-equity goals can help consumer-facing companies better serve Black consumers.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Being transgender at work
– Although corporate America has stepped up its public support of LGBTQ+ rights, it still has a long road ahead to foster a truly... inclusive environment for transgender employees.
Article

Toward an equitable economic recovery in Minneapolis–St. Paul
– By closing long-standing racial equity gaps and preparing people of color for the future of work, the region can put itself on... track to recover both equitably and more quickly.
Article

Twelve insights for an inclusive economic recovery for New York City
– A robust recovery for the United States’ largest city is a recovery for all New Yorkers, especially its most vulnerable.
Blog Post

A first step to racial equality? “Fundamentally improve job quality.”
– JP Julien explains why new research on racial inequality is personal and talks about the innovative programs that are showing... results.
Webcast

Black livelihoods and economic recovery in the US
– When businesses focus on dismantling barriers to racial equity, the result could be a more dynamic and resilient economy for all... Americans.
Report - McKinsey Global Institute

The economic state of Black America: What is and what could be
– Closing racial gaps across the economy is not only about righting historic wrongs. It is also about choosing a more dynamic future... and realizing the full potential of a massively underutilized source of talent, to the benefit of all Americans.
Article

Black-owned businesses face an unequal path to recovery
– As the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates systemic inequities, entrepreneurs also face the fallout of America’s racial reckoning.
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What barriers prevent economic inclusion?

Hear from Farida, a former HR executive who exited the workforce when her children switched to remote learning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

Future of Growth

Article

New York Metro Area Workforce: Challenges and opportunities for growth

– Historically a talent magnet, the New York City region faces a shrinking workforce and a growing mismatch between jobs and skillsets. But interventions could help rebuild its labor force and boost inclusiveness.
Report

The Garden State in bloom: Cultivating New Jersey’s workforce of tomorrow
– Total employment in New Jersey has rebounded to prepandemic levels but the state faces a talent shortage in selected occupations.... A comprehensive talent strategy could unlock the full potential of New Jersey’s economy for all of its residents.
Blog Post

Washington Post Live with Katy George: “The future of America depends on sustainable and inclusive growth”
– Our chief people officer and Operations practice leader spoke with the Post’s Jonathan Capehart about manufacturing momentum,... technology, jobs, and more on October 15.
Commentary

The labor market is upside down. Here’s what CEOs can do about it
– Business leaders can play a key role in easing labor market pressure and helping to make sustainable and inclusive growth a reality.
Commentary

Want to drive inclusive economic growth? Start with manufacturing
– The decline of the US manufacturing industry has contributed to rising inequality and hurt the country’s global competitiveness—a... revitalization could contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth.
Survey

2021 global report: The state of new-business building
– Business leaders predict that by 2026, half of their revenues will come from products, services, or businesses that haven’t yet... been created. Here’s how new-business building can help bridge that gap through sustainable, inclusive growth.
Article

The US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Breaking it down
– What’s in it? What does it aim to do?
Article

Lighthouses unlock sustainability through 4IR technologies
– At manufacturing lighthouses, the Fourth Industrial Revolution makes sustainability easier. Environmental sustainability and operational... competitiveness reinforce one another, thanks to digital.
Webcast

Lighthouses Live: Powering productivity and environmental sustainability - North America-Europe
Replay this event from the World Economic Forum studios in Geneva and New York. Event highlights include panel discussions with... CEOs from Lighthouses with a focus on North America and Europe, including details of the newly designated sustainability Lighthouses.
Discussion Paper - McKinsey Global Institute

Building a more competitive US manufacturing sector
– A fresh sense of urgency and new opportunities could give the sector momentum.
Report - McKinsey Global Institute

Will productivity and growth return after the COVID-19 crisis?
– Bold innovation by some firms under pressure of the pandemic could deliver a productivity dividend, but that depends on corporate... action broadening and robust demand.
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Building a more competitive US manufacturing sector

There is both public- and private-sector resolve to shore up a sector that has long been an important pillar of the economy. This momentum, combined with technology trends and market opportunities, offers a rare chance to change the existing trajectory—and give the United States a powerful driver for economic recovery, inclusive growth, resilience, and the capabilities of the future.

An effective transformation of the US manufacturing sector could boost GDP by $275 billion to $460 billion while adding up to 1.5 million jobs.
Read more

More from McKinsey

Global theme

Sustainable, Inclusive Growth

Explore insights on the new era of growth—one that doesn’t treat growth and positive impact as opposing forces.
Collection

Reinvesting in America

Approximately $3 trillion in additional federal spending could enter the US economy. Will these investments be transformative? How can governments and companies harness the opportunity to advance sustainable and inclusive growth?