How Businesses Can Advance Manufacturing's Future through Collaboration with Workers

Join us on 12/18 for a virtual conversation on how innovations in job design and worker partnerships can help manufacturers meet business priorities, increase worker satisfaction, improve sustainability, and promote long-term business success.

Register for the event here

 

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
Employer practices Wednesday, December 18, 2024

How Businesses Can Advance Manufacturing's Future through Collaboration with Workers

Right now, US manufacturers face real challenges meeting their workforce needs. But with innovations in how jobs are designed—such as…

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

In Depth

Illustration of people of different ethnicities
Worker voice, representation, and power Feature Last updated on October 24, 2024

Segregation in the Low-Wage Workforce

Over the past 50 years, the composition of the low-wage workforce has changed: more than half of low-wage workers are now people of color, up from just 20 percent in 1971. Today, Black, Latino, and women workers are more likely to be segregated into worse-quality and lower-paying jobs.

WorkRise Research

Last updated on October 24, 2024
African American technician worker holds part of robotic arm
Employer practices Last updated on November 19, 2024
Video

WorkRise Shorts: Overcoming Racial Disparities in Manufacturing Recruitment and Training Programs

Can a new local manufacturing workforce development program that targets workers who are not traditionally engaged in the sector overcome racial disparities in its hiring and wage rates?
Last updated on November 19, 2024
Working Knowledge

The Latest

College students study together around a table in the library
Skills and training Last updated on April 23, 2024
Video

WorkRise Shorts: The Harvard Workforce Almanac

The workforce almanac is a first-of-its-kind open-source directory mapping thousands of workforce training providers across the US. The workforce training system in the US has historically been treated in fragmentation, Nathalie Gazzaneo, co-director of Harvard Project on Workforce, shares.
Last updated on April 23, 2024
Female Retail Assistant Checks Stock on tablet
Employer practices Last updated on April 23, 2024
Research Summary

A Win-Win for Business and Workers: Evidence from a Predictable Scheduling Intervention at Gap, Inc.

Given shifts in attitudes and legislation around irregular work hours, this study explores the effects of changes in scheduling practices on employee and business outcomes, finding benefits for both parties.

Oluwasekemi Odumosu

Last updated on April 23, 2024
Workers talking at common coworking space tables
Economic context Last updated on April 16, 2024
Video

WorkRise Shorts: Racial Inequity in the Workplace with Adia Harvey Wingfield

Despite a multibillion-dollar diversity industry and decades passed since the Civil Rights Act, workplaces still see substantial racial inequity.
Last updated on April 16, 2024
Skills and training April 16, 2024
Research Summary

Rethinking Career and Technical Education for Individuals Who Are Incarcerated: What Works?

A new study shows that individuals who complete career and technical education programs while incarcerated don’t have better employment outcomes or lower rates of recidivism when measured against a comparison group that did not. Instead of focusing on career-oriented programming, prisons should prioritize individuals with high needs, developing basic education programs and reducing practical barriers to employment.

Annabel Stattelman Scanlan

April 16, 2024

Research

Employer practices Executive Summary June 26, 2023

A Workplace Divided: Survey Research and Stakeholder Engagement to Advance Equitable Workplaces

A national survey by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University explores workers' perceptions of discrimination and unfair treatment based on race and ethnicity. The survey reveals significant percentages of Asian-American, Black, and Latino workers experience discrimination in private-sector and government workplaces. Black workers are more likely to view workplace discrimination as a significant problem than white workers, with Black female workers reporting the highest levels of discrimination. The study highlights the impact of discrimination on career advancement and the need for government and employer interventions to promote workplace equity.

Carl E. Van Horn, Ronald Quincy, Jessica Starace, Anton House

Grantee Research

June 26, 2023
Skills and training Executive Summary April 03, 2023

Navigating Public Job Training

Right now, more than 75,000 Eligible Training Provider (ETP) job programs are eligible for funding under America’s primary federal workforce development law, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). How well do these public investments prepare workers for high-quality jobs? In this analysis, authors combine training provider and program data from the US Department of Labor with performance records and occupational data to study the types of providers receiving WIOA funding and the kinds of jobs for which they offer training. The report also reviews websites for all 50 states to understand how easily potential job trainees can access information on these programs.

David Deming, Alexis Gable, Rachel Lipson, Arkādijs Zvaigzne

Grantee Research

April 03, 2023
Economic context Executive Summary March 15, 2023

How Past Criminal Convictions Bar Floridians from Occupational Licensing Opportunities

In this report, the Florida Policy Institute and the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University highlight research exploring the relationship between occupational licensing and recidivism and the consequences of overregulation on workforce development. The authors also survey the landscape of Florida’s occupational licensing laws and policy reform efforts and present policy proposals to reduce professional licensing barriers for people with criminal records.

Tachana Joseph-Marc, Samuel R. Staley

Grantee Research

March 15, 2023
Worker voice, representation, and power Executive Summary March 13, 2023

Nailing New Labor Models: Exploring Sectoral Bargaining and High-Road Training Partnerships in the Nail Salon Sector

This report from the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the UCLA Labor Center explores how partnerships and sectoral boards can build a sustainable and equitable nail salon industry, focusing on two approaches from other sectors. High-road training partnerships and sectoral bargaining approaches can be adapted for nail salons but require distinct interventions and capacities for member participation.

UCLA Labor Center, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, California State University, Long Beach

Grantee Research

March 13, 2023