By some measures, the United States’ workforce and economic development outlook is bright and poised for continued expansion. But much of this progress is incomplete and fragile.
The Worker Voice Project started from the basic principle of asking workers’ opinions of their jobs and what they want for the future, while also asking workforce and labor system stakeholders what is working and what they want to see from workforce development systems and our economy. We started with questions for workers around what they want and need from their jobs, how they feel about the economy, and what federal policies they support. We asked stakeholders across the workforce development and labor ecosystems to think about the state of the field and their vision for the future.
Beginning in 2022 we initiated a mixed-method research approach that leveraged qualitative interviews with stakeholders and a national worker sentiment poll in collaboration with our partners at Strategies 360.
In total, over 150, 30-minute interviews were conducted virtually over the phone or video. Semi-structured interview guides were prepared and vetted prior to the interviews.
Interview Informants:
We began our interviews with workforce development providers and practitioners serving workers who face barriers to employment as defined by WIOA law. We focused on these providers because WIOA has a goal of serving these populations, which reflected a departure from the prior law, the Workforce Investment Act, in that it included people facing barriers to employment as a priority population for training services. For these reasons, we were interested in understanding how stakeholders today perceived and understood the system’s orientation and focus. These providers leveraged a range of funding including WIOA; Dislocated Worker Grants; SNAP E&T; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); apprenticeships; AmeriCorps; and other local, state, and private sources. Some also used “social enterprise” project-based models to support their programs.
We intentionally interviewed providers in rural and urban communities and in every major geographic region, including Puerto Rico. The providers interviewed serve a range of jobseekers in their communities including adults and youth, people with involvement in the criminal legal system, people experiencing housing instability, people living in poverty and with low-incomes, people with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence and gender-based violence, and others. The providers we interviewed implement a range of intensive and evidence-based workforce development
programs and practices in partnership with employers and industries. While their perspectives are not exhaustive, they capture insights from people and organizations who are leveraging workforce system funds, interacting with, and balancing worker and employer interests, and often engaging with a range of other public systems.
Our interviews also included organizations and individuals who identify as stakeholders within workforce development intermediaries, worker and labor organizers, union shops, activists, and worker centers, policy advocates and think tanks, researchers, and economists. Interviews were also conducted with local public workforce development officials. A handful of our interviews were conducted with artists working at the intersection of economic justice and art. Our interviews did not include conversations with employers although this will be a critical piece in the next phase of work.
Worker Sentiment Poll:
In December 2022 we designed and implemented a worker sentiment poll with the goal of directly gathering worker perspectives on the current state of the economy and their workplace. We also gathered opinions about job-quality measures and workforce development issues and policy. Collecting workers’ perspectives directly is critical as those voices are all too often omitted from the program and policy development process.
We conducted the worker sentiment poll in December 2022 to capture the
sentiments of workers immediately after the 2022 election cycle. We used a mixed-mode survey among 1,200 adults nationwide, including an oversample of 594 people of color.
Research Findings:
We curated the findings from both sets of data into a research report that elevates the perspectives from stakeholders we interviewed and workers into themes. The report also elevates recommendations to inform next steps.
Our research tells us now is the time to advance a broadly defined workforce development and labor system oriented and aligned toward workers’ voice, economic justice principles as defined by stakeholders, and job quality to meet the opportunities of today and the needs of workers and our economy for tomorrow.