Semafor World Economy Summit: Views from policymakers and CEOs on the global workforce

On employee engagement: Clifton argued that there is an “emotional recession happening” in US workplaces: Data suggest that some 30 million working people are doing “a lot worse today than they were last year,” with declining employee engagement globally. That loss of engagement, Clifton added, “we believe amounts to half a trillion dollar loss in productivity.” Fix that problem, he said, and the gains to the global economy could be worth “almost $10 trillion.”

On priorities for advancing Donald Trump’s agenda: Raising the debt ceiling is going to be an “uphill battle,” LaHood said, especially given that some House Republicans have never voted to do so. But it’s a priority for the president, and “we can’t default on our debt.” Leaders also aim to make certain provisions permanent from the 2017 tax law, such as a research-and-development tax credit. “If you think about what we did in 2017, I would argue it created the best economy in my lifetime,” LaHood said, in terms of record economic growth, high wages, and jobs. “We want to make sure we continue that going.”

On whether pieces of the Inflation Reduction Act will survive: The Biden administration law’s incentives for clean energy will almost certainly be scaled back, LaHood said, even though some Republican districts have benefitted from those projects. “There’s a bullseye on the IRA,” LaHood said. Still, he said lawmakers are cognizant of not causing disruption for companies as it’s rolled back. “I think if you look overall at the tax bill, we’ve predicated what we want to do on predictability and certainty for companies and businesses for long and short-term investments,” he said. “We don’t want to pull the rug out from under businesses.”

On the need to boost housing supply: LaHood said he’s optimistic that a low-income tax credit will make its way into an upcoming reconciliation bill. “It’s vital that we increase our housing stock in the United States,” LaHood said. “We need to help the housing industry. Now is the time to do that.”

On a possible US labor shortage: The US is facing an “existential threat” to its economy, Sarsam said. “The risk is that we won’t have the people we need to run this great economy.” He specifically called out the nation’s declining birthrate and what he described as a “not very well-grounded” immigration policy. “We need to get more people’s hands involved in this marvel of the US economy.”

On changing employee expectations: Younger employees feel strongly about knowing more about the people running their companies, Sarsam said. “They’re really intensely curious on knowing and seeing a visible leadership team, a visible CEO,” he said. He has noticed this “much more” than with employees from a generation ago.

On getting out of the office: Macpherson said top executives need to get out of the office in order to truly engage with their customers. “You’ve got to go visit customers,” he said. “Virtually every week, I’m out talking with team members and getting to know their participants, and creating a culture where they can tell you the truth and tell you what’s not working.”

On working with the Department of Government Efficiency: DOGE has already made significant changes to the federal bureaucracy and workforce, and those changes are “probably here to stay,” said Rozanski. Booz Allen’s business relies heavily on government contracts. Rozanski suggested the administration’s cuts could have the most impact in specific areas, including rooting out fraud, improper payments, and nixing duplicative services. And he argued that “DOGE is right that the federal government is slow in adopting technology.”

On how workplace culture has changed: Hoskins said she has seen an increased level of candor in the workplace that she thinks can lead to healthy change. “I’d call it the honesty of the conversation about what works and what doesn’t work,” she said. Hoskins added that openness has helped “challenge some of the things in the past that really didn’t provide the value that we all pretended they did.”

On a hybrid workforce: Marks said more than half of the Otis workforce doesn’t go into the office. “Of our 72,000 colleagues, 44,000 are field professionals. They’re mechanics who keep the world moving every day,” she said. Otis has sought to evolve with increased automation, and to better accommodate a multigenerational workforce that includes Gen Z and Boomers. “The challenge I think we have, not just as leaders, but as a society, is trying to create an environment, logically and physically, where everyone can succeed and where you can optimize the workforce to be able to serve customers.”

On the impact of Donald Trump’s trade war: Bennet said he couldn’t recall anything as devastating to workers and small businesses as Trump’s tariffs. “Unleashing a trade war on 90% of the world, all at the same time, strikes people as a pretty bad idea here, and you can see President Trump trying to walk it back.”

On why he’s leaving the Senate and running for governor: Both parties have failed to promote economic opportunity, but Colorado can be a model, Bennet said. “I really do think Colorado can be a place where people feel like if they’re working hard, they can get ahead and that their kids are going to be able to get ahead,” he said. He called the loss of economic security “one of the essential driving forces of Trump and Trumpism, and if we don’t solve it, we really will lose the democracy.”

On future fuel sources: Rail is currently powered by diesel, Hinrichs said, but “the future, we think, is probably hydrogen.” That transition will take some time, he added, “because of the horsepower we need and the torque we need.” He said CSX is also testing biodiesel, but won’t be looking at batteries. “You can’t do batteries, because you can’t get stuck somewhere in the middle of the railroad and try and charge it,” he said. “You have got to be able to have a power supply that can be on the locomotive itself.”

On artificial intelligence in the classroom: Ballmer argued that the transition for students into the workplace will be tougher now than before. But artificial intelligence may offer more solutions than problems in that regard. “I think over time, [AI] creates more opportunity, more affluence, and more opportunity for people to live better lives,” he said. Still, Ballmer said he worried that teachers will “underutilize” the technology.

On whether the US is well-positioned in the global war for talent: The US needs to make sure that students and workers keep up with changing technology, Ballmer said, but also continues to attract top-level global talent — especially at the PhD and graduate levels. “We’re seeing a huge war for talent for PhDs,” especially with China and India, he said. “Because if we’re really in a talent war, it’s not just about the talent that we develop here. So I think there’s a big immigration issue on that dimension.”

On boosting nuclear power: Wright said he thinks the conditions are ripe for a “renaissance of nuclear” power in the US after decades of no new capacity. The energy secretary said the Trump administration is supporting next-generation reactor companies, including small modular reactors, as well as offering up land at Department of Energy facilities and making it easier to do tests at government-run labs. Instead of relying on subsidies like those in place for wind, he said, “what we’re doing at the Department of Energy is specific deals that are going to hopefully launch the first five, seven, eight, 10, 20 reactors, and let’s get this industry going again. Then we’ll get supply-chain efficiencies and volume, costs will come down and it should fly very well as a commercial industry.”

On exporting natural gas: Wright said natural gas is America’s “fastest-growing export,” poised to eclipse oil in the next five to seven years. Wright indicated there is “high” interest in offtake agreements for liquefied natural gas exports out of a planned facility in Alaska. “You get secure and sizable offtake agreements — buyers of LNG — I think the financing and the project comes together,” Wright said. Uncertainty over tariffs is “disturbing to people,” Wright said, adding that “it’s uncertain because we’re in the middle of it.” “The goal of the president is to get all of the nations of the world equally welcoming to American exports as we’ve been to their exports,” he said.