Engaging Employers to Benefit Low-Income Job Seekers: Lessons from the Jobs Initiative

Employers make choices that are key to the ability of low-income people to get and keep jobs and to advance in the workforce. Given this important role, Engaging Employers to Benefit Low-Income Job Seekers asks: What kinds of employers are likely to be open to doing business with workforce intermediaries that seek to connect low-wage workers with employers? It also looks at the extent to which employers will support low-income workers—for example, by modifying human resources policies—and the factors that promote employer practices and policies favorable to the hiring, retention, and advancement of low-income workers.

The authors of this report reflect on the experiences of employers in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Jobs Initiative, a nine-year, six-site, $30 million effort to reform local labor markets and help connect low-income people to good jobs. The research base includes interviews with and surveys of Jobs Initiative employers, conducted by JFF and Abt Associates.