‘All work produces value’: What experts say Eric Adams gets wrong about ‘low skill’ workers

On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed an executive order to reduce fines and penalties for small businesses from a wide range of government agencies. After signing the order, Adams took questions from journalists and spoke about his hope for corporate workers to return to their Manhattan offices in order to stimulate local businesses. 

“Many employees are saying, ’We don’t want to come back into the office… Now, that’s fine, if we weren’t connected,” said Adams. “My low skill workers — my cooks, my dishwashers, my messengers, my shoeshine people, those who work in Dunkin Donuts — they don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office. They need this. We are in this together.”

The statement caused backlash from workers, politicians and experts alike who disagreed with Adams’ characterization of workers’ skill levels.

“No such thing as a ‘low skill worker,’” tweeted New York City Council Member, Tiffany Cabán.