Jennifer Wallace

And this is about to get worse.

As AI erases jobs that once gave people a sense of identity and purpose, millions more will face this crisis of mattering.

The job ahead for us is not just to keep up with machines.

It's to protect what it means to be human, to feel valued, and the responsibility we have to remind others that they are valued, too.

In my research, I found that the places where we live and work can either fuel this crisis or be a key to solving it.

I visited a factory in Phillips, Wisconsin, where each workstation had a card that talked about how the piece being made fit into the final product.

On that card was a photo and a story of the person who would one day use it.

That story card was a powerful reminder to workers that they weren't just assembling parts.

They were building something meaningful.

Mattering at work is not some soft, squishy, nice-to-have idea.

It's actually good business.

When employees know they matter, they work harder, they stay more loyal, and they bring more energy to their roles.

To matter, we need to feel valued, but we also need a chance to add value.

And in my research, I uncovered a formula for doing this.

Identify a need in the world or in your community or in your neighborhood, and then use your strengths, your resources, your talents to meet it.

I interviewed a woman named Julie outside of Boston who discovered this for herself firsthand.

For two years, Julie was her mother's full-time caregiver.

When her mother passed away, Julie described feeling unmoored, purposeless.

But instead of retreating inward in her pain, Julie had the courage to look outward for a new way to matter.

And when she did, she noticed two needs in her community, grieving families like hers who were struggling with what to do with their loved ones' belongings, and other families who were rebuilding after a fire or experiencing homelessness.