This op-ed discusses the important role of domestic workers such as nannies, housecleaners, and homecare workers in our society and economy and offers ideas on how we can value and support its importance.

This report compiles insights from workforce professionals about the types of questions they ask employers. 210 workforce professionals in Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Philadelphia responded to a survey about the kinds of conversations they have with business representatives on topics related to workplace practices, environment, and equity and inclusion in the workplace.

This op-ed examines the challenge of poverty-wage work and how policymakers can encourage and promote work that allows people to have a dignified, quality of life.

This article highlights how public procurement can be a strategy to improve job quality.

This op-ed discusses the important role of essential workers and how coming out of the pandemic, we can ensure their contributions are fully recognized and valued.

This publication provides a guide to re-opening businesses in the restaurant sector and sets out a long-term vision for the restaurant industry after the shock of COVID-19. Based on input from restaurant owners across the country, the roadmap identifies ways restaurateurs can reimagine how they operate as practical, sustainable, and ethical businesses, including by reforming tipping and restaurant minimum wages. The business examples and innovative ideas have relevance for restaurant owners who are navigating the crisis and for workers and their advocates with a stake in the sector’s trajectory after COVID-19.

This set of principles provides guidance for COVID-19 policy responses that center equity and longer-term stability and prosperity–which remains relevant in the context of COVID-19 recovery and as a resource for understanding community needs after societal shocks. Policymakers and practitioners seeking to support workers and job quality may be particularly interested in the sections at the bottom of the page related to investing in community infrastructure and building an equitable economy.

This profile describes Linda Nguyen’s efforts to establish Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) during her tenure with Jobs to Move America, a policy advocacy organization. JMA has taken an innovative approach to CBAs, developing contracts with businesses that receive public infrastructure funding. This resource can be useful for practitioners exploring different ways to structure CBAs to support quality jobs as well as those interested in the intersection of job quality and environmental advocacy.

This research report offers an overview of labor trends and systemic barriers to employment to contextualize Black women’s current economic and occupational status. The authors explore the history of Black women’s economic mobility; how occupational segregation, discrimination, and stereotypes impact Black women’s experiences in the labor market; and offer recommendations aimed at increasing economic equity. This resource may be of particular interest to individuals and organizations focused on learning about or addressing systemic barriers to race and gender equity in the labor market.

This series, informed by local job quality initiatives, can support workforce development professionals interested in beginning or strengthening engagement with employers to improve job quality. The reports are organized around three areas: 1) Strategies for Resourcing Job Quality Initiatives, with a focus on co-investment strategies with employers; 2) Practitioner competencies that can support staff engaged in job quality efforts with employers; and 3) Employer readiness characteristics to consider when determining employer partners. The last report also includes a link to a resource to help practitioners navigate employer resistance to change efforts. This series may also be useful for others interested in partnering on local job quality efforts, including economic development professionals and employers.