# data[].attributes.body
San Diego Workforce Partnership is building job quality into their procurement and contracting, and incentivizing employers to improve jobs through public recognition/awards. They're also using Working Metrics! Read more here: https://workforce.org/job-quality-wkdev-guide/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Until March 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in the U.S. was at the lowest it had been in 50 years. We had arguably the strongest economy in the world-more Americans had jobs than ever before, consumer prices remained low and the stock market was on the longest economic expansion in history. But despite low unemployment rates, many workers struggled to find quality jobs -those with decent pay, benefits and predictable hours.

Then COVID-19 shook our country's economy to the core. San Diego County alone reported to the San Diego Workforce Partnership more than 500 businesses and 80,000 workers impacted in 90 days, three times the number traditionally served in an entire year.

This same story is playing out in communities across the US. Instead of security, workers-particularly those of color or in low wage jobs-are experiencing reduced hours, temporary layoffs, unpredictable schedules, variable earnings and an overall lack of health and retirement benefits.

Decades of systemic racism are manifesting as huge chasms of those who "have" and "have not" along racial lines while low wage workers and small businesses are struggling to reinvent themselves to adapt to the changing economy. As workers strive for a "new normal," the effects of shelter in place are laying bare economic reverberations that are likely to shake the economy far beyond even the most conservative timelines for a vaccine.

As a public workforce agency, we believe that the path forward is to rebuild equitably. One building block for equity is job quality. Efforts to improve the quality of jobs help to shift centers of power by equipping workers, paying fair wages that sustain families and providing career ladders and employee ownership opportunities.

Quality jobs are not a luxury. They are not a sidebar. They are not something we can push off until after the crisis has passed. The creation, protection and elevation of quality jobs will take focus and partnerships. As a community, we must rethink how we invest, measure and support success.

Let's rebuild a community where access and representation mean everyone is at the table; success is measured in terms of economic mobility, wealth building, and worker voice; and quality jobs are the cornerstone of our economy.

Here are six actions workforce practitioners can take now to make that vision a reality:

1. Establish a Job Quality Framework

Develop, in collaboration with partners in your community, a shared framework for job quality to use as your north star. Check out San Diego's job quality indicators (photo above) and Aspen Institute's Job Quality Tools Library for inspiration.

2. Signal Values Through Spending

Once in place, determine if your organizational spending and procurement processes support job quality. If you see areas where you can do more, lay out a plan for the right next step. Spending is an important signal of value-it can influence the behavior of your suppliers, partners and grantees, as well as transform the experience for the individual workers serving your organization. Consider embedding job quality indicators into your existing contracts and future procurements. See sample procurement and contract language.

3. Invest Resources in Programs and Employers That Prioritize Job Quality

Consider how your existing funding can be used to incentivize behavior or fill gaps. For example, if you have funds for internships, on-the-job training or other wage subsidy programs, commit to funding wages at or above the local self-sufficiency level, review where funds can support benefits, and prioritize the use of funding for employers who create pathways to quality jobs. See a sample self-sufficiency calculator and check out the Working Metrics tool to establish a baseline for your data and jumpstart a powerful conversation with your partners.

If you provide loans to businesses, you might offer products to assist businesses in implementing family-friendly features such as pooled benefits or child care access. You can also analyze how job quality can serve as an underwriting criterion that facilitates access to capital and provides ongoing technical assistance and engagement opportunities. Check out examples such as the High Roads Kitchens program for inspiration.

4. Focus on Outcomes Instead of Outputs

As you structure new programs, shift grant deliverables from outputs (e.g. number of trainings, number of placements) to outcomes and impact, including inclusive retention and promotion, reduced reliance on social services or debt burden and increased wealth building and employee ownership. While such metrics are harder to measure, they ultimately provide a clearer view of whether the lives of those you serve have truly been transformed.

Consider awarding points in your procurements for programs that demonstrate higher levels of evidence (see National & Community Service Agencies notice of funding for inspiration) and invest time to educate staff on the evidence continuum, which infuses rigorous evaluation and measurement into every phase of a program's lifecycle to build a cumulative evidence base for a program.

5. Reimagine How You Serve Businesses

Many companies are struggling not only to survive and thrive during this crisis but also to grapple with the need for increased equity, diversity and inclusion within their business model. Consider building out competencies within your workforce or economic development organization to provide technical assistance to help businesses to improve their bottom line through the attraction, development and retention of a diverse talent base. This includes helping employers:

Leverage creative pathway programs, such as TechHire, which targets underrepresented populations (Job Opportunities)

Consider the use of creative financing approaches for learning, such as Income Share Agreements, where employees can retrain without upfront cost (Job Features)

Look at ways to expand benefits through employee ownership opportunities (Job Features)

6. Build Worker Agency

Creating a sense of agency for individuals is a powerful way to increase worker power and voice. Help your job seekers, students or stakeholders make informed choices on jobs and career pathways based on the job quality framework. Provide age-appropriate guidance that highlights the intersection between interests and preferences (what they love), knowledge, skills and abilities (what they can be paid for), labor market data (what employers need) and job quality (what the individual needs). If your organization posts or sources jobs, consider how you can capture job quality information as part of the posting to make it easier for readers to navigate.

7. Partner with Purpose

Consider using job quality and inclusive growth as the pillars around which you center your Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), strategic plans or interagency projects. Leverage the job quality indicators as metrics that guide and inspire the partnership.

To discuss partnership, best practices or activating job quality initiatives, contact PeterCallstrom@workforce.org.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Build Job Quality into Your Workforce Development Approach - San Diego Workforce Partnership

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Until March 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in the U.S. was at the lowest it had been in 50 years. We had arguably the strongest economy in the world-more Americans had jobs than ever before, consumer

# data[].attributes.headline
The creation of Working Metrics at a state level will enable communities and individual employers within their communities to better evaluate their workplace and working conditions.

# data[].attributes.subject
The creation of Working Metrics at a state level will enable communities and individual employers within their communities to better evaluate their workplace and working conditions.

# data[].attributes.headline
In talking with employers, offering access to workforce housing serves to stabilize employment and an incentive for workers to take a job in a community where there is a housing shortage.

# data[].attributes.subject
In talking with employers, offering access to workforce housing serves to stabilize employment and an incentive for workers to take a job in a community where there is a housing shortage.

# data[].attributes.headline
Programs like the Multifamily Collateral Support Program of CHAFA supports small workforce housing projects.  This program may be enhanced by integrating with job and worker development.

# data[].attributes.subject
Programs like the Multifamily Collateral Support Program of CHAFA supports small workforce housing projects.  This program may be enhanced by integrating with job and worker development.

# data[].attributes.headline
Public recognition of the good companies

# data[].attributes.subject
Public recognition of the good companies

# data[].attributes.body
Affordable and good child care

# data[].attributes.headline
I am working with workforce housing and in my discussions with many communities, it appears that employers can play a larger role in creating access to housing instead of leaving it solely in hands of the employees.

# data[].attributes.subject
I am working with workforce housing and in my discussions with many communities, it appears that employers can play a larger role in creating access to housing instead of leaving it solely in hands of the employees.

# data[].attributes.body
Liaison between business and the wealth of resources available to navigate recruitment an development of primary jobs.

# data[].attributes.headline
Be creative, understand the gaps but work toward ssolutions

# data[].attributes.subject
Be creative, understand the gaps but work toward ssolutions

# data[].attributes.headline
Hyper Local Brand awareness with companies importing jobs in 

# data[].attributes.subject
Hyper Local Brand awareness with companies importing jobs in 

# data[].attributes.body
Our region is experiencing some of these same things and getting the word out about the ideas those here today have is fantastic!
As far as how it can be weaved in - Sector Partnerships

# data[].attributes.headline
The discussion today is more worker than employer centric and changes the perspective on not so much hiring as creating a good working environment.

# data[].attributes.subject
The discussion today is more worker than employer centric and changes the perspective on not so much hiring as creating a good working environment.

# data[].attributes.body
It confirms that the work of economic development groups engage in....to collaborate in the retention, growth, and recruitment of primary jobs....continues to be relevant.

# data[].attributes.headline
Transferable benefits to support small businesses,  I.E a retirement plan that a worker/small business can access where if an employe changes jobs within the community they don't have 10 different retirement plans .  Each different employer may not be able to always match but it is still a path for the worker to build wealth

# data[].attributes.subject
Transferable benefits to support small businesses,  I.E a retirement plan that a worker/small business can access where if an employe changes jobs within the community they don't have 10 different retirement plans .  Each different employer may not be able to always match but it is still a path for the worker to build wealth

# data[].attributes.body
We can use this information to further assist employers and what they should be considering during recruitment