By Contributor,Maria Flynn

Copyright forbes

In “KPop Demon Hunters,” the fictional pop stars encounter challenges on the job that many U.S. workers face every day. By taking job quality seriously in the real world, we can help millions more workers and businesses thrive.
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My household, like millions of others, has been swept up in the animated musical phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters. The film follows a trio of K-pop superstars on a secret mission to protect humanity from demons who are out to steal everyone’s souls. As the soundtrack dominated our summer 2025 playlist, between the catchy songs and thrilling action, I noticed something surprising: The story reflects a challenge millions of American workers face every day—job quality.

Granted, demon hunter is not a job in the real world. But the fictional Huntr/x bandmates—Rumi, Mira, and Zoey—face dilemmas at work that resonate far beyond fantasy: How can I gain control over my schedule? Get the right training to succeed? Be myself without fear of fallout?

Concerns like these, in addition to pay and benefits, are at the heart of understanding how many people have quality jobs in the United States—and why, as a nation, we should care. Job quality issues influence worker satisfaction. And, as a result, they also influence outcomes businesses know matter, like employee engagement, retention, and productivity.

New research, including early insights from my organization’s collaboration with Gallup to examine job quality in the U.S., shows there’s a lot of room for improvement. Many workers face unpredictable schedules or limited influence over decisions that affect them, such as which technologies their employers want them to use.

Job quality improves worker well-being and business success.

Why focus on job quality now, when the labor market is slowing and more people are looking for work—in, some cases, any work?

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In Demon Hunters, the stakes are crystal clear. If Rumi, Mira, and Zoey become disengaged or abandon their mission, the barrier protecting humanity collapses.

In real life, the consequences may be less cinematic, but they are no less serious. Job quality affects worker well-being, organizational performance, and the economy’s health. And we need more business leaders and policymakers to pay attention—and take action.

One reason job quality is often overlooked: a lack of data. Every month, the government reports how many people are employed and how much they earn. These are essential indicators of economic health, but they tell only part of the story. They don’t show whether jobs enable workers—and the economy as a whole—to thrive.

That’s why my organization, Jobs for the Future, joined with Gallup, the Families & Workers Fund, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute to launch the American Job Quality Study, the first-ever comprehensive survey designed to measure job quality across the U.S. workforce. (The results will be released in October.) We see this study, which has surveyed nearly 20,000 workers so far, as a baseline for future research and a tool for driving progress.

What makes a job a quality job? The issues that matter most to workers and businesses.

The study defines job quality using five areas that research shows matter most to workers and businesses: financial well-being, growth and development opportunities, work structure and autonomy, workplace culture and safety, and agency and voice. Huntr/x may not explicitly sing about these themes, but their experiences vividly illustrate them.

Huntr/x can get anything money can buy, yet they struggle to get some things that matter a lot.

When it comes to financial well-being, the Huntr/x girls are golden. They live in a penthouse, fly private, and seem to have endless perks. They certainly don’t need to worry about fair pay and benefits that meet their basic needs, as millions of today’s workers do.

Growth opportunities aren’t lacking either. Before battling a single demon, they receive intensive training from their mentor, Celine, and pursue well-defined goals. In today’s rapidly changing labor market, the opportunity to build new skills and see a clear path forward is vital to career success. However, access to training is uneven in the United States, and too many workers feel they have no chance to advance.

Mira and Zoey want a predictable schedule and more autonomy on the job.

But when it comes to scheduling and autonomy, the picture changes. After a grueling world tour, Mira and Zoey finally collapse into vacation mode—only to be pulled back by Rumi, who secretly releases their new single and pressures them to promote it. Work-life balance? Not for Huntr/x. At this point, they have zero control over their working conditions. Millions of U.S. workers also want more say over key decisions that affect their work and a stable, predictable schedule.

All three Huntr/x singers need a better workplace culture and a safer environment.

Physical safety is fundamental to job quality, and the demon hunters always escape injury. But they struggle at first with other forms of safety, such as feeling respected and supported at work, regardless of one’s identity.

The movie’s plot centers on Rumi’s secret; she’s part-demon herself and hides it from her colleagues and manager, out of fear of being excluded. As it turns out, Mira and Zoey also hide parts of who they are. But eventually, by bringing their full selves to the task at hand—by recognizing and respecting each other’s strengths—the group functions more effectively as a team, positioning them to meet their most critical deadline and succeed.

My organization’s research with Gallup to be released later this fall will include data on the portion of the U.S. workforce that reports having been treated unfairly or experiencing discrimination on the job because of their identity.

Now is the right time to push job quality to the top of the national agenda.

Just as the threat of soul-stealing demons looms over Huntr/x, the challenge of improving job quality constantly hovers over our economy. Left unchecked, it can erode worker well-being, business performance, and our collective prosperity. Whether hiring is booming or slowing, now is the moment to put job quality at the top of the national agenda. It’s not optional, it’s essential.

We won’t solve every problem overnight, but we must take this opportunity to do better by American workers and businesses and improve job quality for all. As Huntr/x belts out in “Golden,” their biggest hit: “It’s our moment.” If we seize it.

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