Shift Project, Harvard Kennedy School

The Shift Project employs an innovative approach to survey data collection using Facebook and Instagram to identify and recruit respondents. We purchase paid advertisements through Facebook that target users identified as employees of large service-sector firms in the United States. Users who click on the ad are routed to a Qualtrics online survey. This approach yields a custom, policy-relevant sample of employees matched to their respective employer.

We field surveys to workers in retail, food service, grocery, delivery and fulfillment, and hospitality. Our core survey asks workers about job quality, with a specific focus on unstable scheduling. We also ask about workers’ financial security, personal health, the health and wellbeing of their children, and other spillover effects.

The Shift data shows that the vast majority of service-sector workers experience instability in their weekly work schedules. Workers who experience more predictable scheduling report less stress and better overall health, compared to workers who experience less predictable and stable scheduling. In fact, our data reveal that while low wages are negatively associated with poor health outcomes, unstable and unpredictable schedules are a much more significant determinant.