New Article: Workforce Development Should Focus More on Fixing Work

Posted by Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity on December 14, 2021

In this Spotlight Exclusive, Maureen Conway of the Aspen Institute, Mary Alice McCarthy of New America, and Alex Camardelle of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies suggest that reducing inequity and improving job quality should be at the center of new investments in workforce development. They believe the lingering narrative that “equipping workers with ‘in-demand skills’ is the key to labor market success” ignores the growing gap between worker productivity and compensation and damages the goals of equity and job quality. Instead of focusing on the outdated narratives around labor demand and supply, they suggest the focus should be on the shortage of quality jobs. To address this problem, Conway, McCarthy, and Camardelle offer four steps that can be employed by the workforce development field. These include developing a solidarity mindset that values workers as human beings; using data to holistically measure job quality and equity gaps; identifying new levers and partners beyond career navigation and skills development; and connecting the dots between workforce development and worker protections.

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