Extreme Heat at Work Report

This report by Urban Institute researchers offers the first nationally representative estimates of how outdoor and indoor workers are affected by extreme heat.

Read the full report

Grantmaking and Partnerships

Led by a cross-sector Leadership Board that is ideologically diverse and representative of often-siloed groups, WorkRise invests in research on policies, programs, and practices that have the potential to accelerate economic security and mobility for low-wage workers. We fund analyses and the creation of data that shed light on labor market barriers, trends, and opportunities. And we engage in strategic partnerships that help advance evidence-based solutions in support of our mission. Learn more about our most recent request for proposals and how you can collaborate with WorkRise.

The Latest

Job search and matching

Last updated on September 24, 2024

The Prison Credential Dilemma: Insights into Applying for Jobs with Qualifications Earned during Incarceration

Credentials typically help job seekers demonstrate their abilities to obtain better-paying jobs. One study, however, suggests that credentials earned in prison present job seekers with a dilemma: reveal their incarceration and showcase their qualifications or obscure both. Interviews with formerly incarcerated individuals in the United States reveal strategies and tactics deployed to improve labor market outcomes and implications.
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Skills and training

Last updated on June 18, 2024

How to Expand Access to Good Clean Energy Jobs among Women and People of Color

New research shows women and people of color are underrepresented in the potential workforce for high-quality clean energy jobs. Universities, employers, and unions can play a role in creating a more diverse workforce.
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Skills and training

Last updated on June 04, 2024

WorkRise Shorts: Applying AI to Rebuild Middle Class Jobs with David Autor

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David Autor asks what artificial intelligence could enable people to do and who could be enabled by this tool.
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Working Knowledge

The Latest

Midsection of young disabled woman using computer at home
Social determinants of work Last updated on May 14, 2024
Research Summary

Creating Pathways to Remote Work Opportunities for Workers with Disabilities

Remote work can offer significant benefits for both workers and businesses and provides important opportunities for the meaningful inclusion of workers with disabilities. Employers, policymakers, workforce developers, and educational institutions all have an important role to play in reducing occupational segregation among disabled workers to open equitable pathways to remote work arrangements and career mobility.

Oluwasekemi Odumosu

Last updated on May 14, 2024
Skills and training Last updated on May 07, 2024
Research Summary

Completing College is Key for Black Men to Earn Higher Wages and Close the Earnings Gap between Black and White Workers

The earnings gap in the US labor market between Black and white workers is a longstanding problem. New research shows that one way to help close that gap is for colleges and universities to help Black male students complete their college degrees.

Madeleine Sirois

Last updated on May 07, 2024
African American woman Using Laptop Computer at Night
Economic context Last updated on April 30, 2024
Video

WorkRise Shorts: Workers’ Assessments of AI’s Impact on Jobs

Rutgers University distinguished professor Carl Van Horn, founding director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, shares insights from his research, which looks at US workers’ attitudes toward government oversight of AI technologies and its impact on jobs.
Last updated on April 30, 2024
Hands signing contract
Worker voice, representation, and power Last updated on April 30, 2024
Research Summary

The Consequences of Signing Noncompete Agreements among Low-Wage Workers and Those without College Degrees

Noncompete agreements are commonly used by businesses when hiring highly educated, high-wage workers entrusted with sensitive information or specialized training, but new research finds that 14 percent of workers without a bachelor’s degree and 13 percent of workers earning less than $40,000 per year are also bound by these contracts. The Federal Trade Commission now wants to ban all noncompetes because they often are associated with harmful employment outcomes for workers’ career mobility and income growth, relying in part on this new research.

Annabel Stattelman Scanlan

Last updated on April 30, 2024

Research

Employer practices Executive Summary October 18, 2023

Who Has Access to Paid Sick and Safe Leave?

A new report by Family Values at Work and World Policy Analysis Center charts access to paid sick and safe leave in the US and identifies the most equitable policies in effect.

Grantee Research

October 18, 2023
Economic context Infographic September 12, 2023

Leveraging Federal Funds to Create Quality Jobs

Do you want better jobs for your community? Through new federal dollars, state and local policymakers have a once-in-a-generation chance to build a new and thriving workforce.

Pamela J. Loprest , Todd Greene, Ryan Kelsey

WorkRise Research

September 12, 2023
Worker voice, representation, and power Brief August 09, 2023

Worker Voice, Representation, and Power

In this brief, we provide a summary of the research framework that informs WorkRise’s thinking about the importance of worker voice and power for low-wage workers’ labor market mobility. We then offer a series of specific priority areas for future…

Joe Peck , Elisabeth Jacobs

WorkRise Research

August 09, 2023
Job search and matching Brief August 09, 2023

Search and Matching for Jobseekers

Each month, millions of workers in the United States move into or out of jobs. For workers in low-wage employment, transitions to new, higher-paying positions are an important driver of upward economic mobility. For those out of work, regaining…

Joe Peck , William J. Congdon

WorkRise Research

August 09, 2023