More than half of the people in the U.S. labor force—92 million workers—are stuck without quality jobs and face systemic barriers to advancement. We must do better—and, together, we can.
Jobs for the Future’s Quality Jobs Framework provides an updated comprehensive definition of a quality job that highlights what all workers deserve in addition to good pay and benefits—the flexibility, autonomy, stability, and advancement opportunities that are essential for people to thrive.
While the framework focuses on what employers, industry leaders, policymakers, and government agencies can do to improve job quality, it also serves as the basis for identifying actions everyone throughout the learn-and-work ecosystem can take to help millions more people move into quality jobs and advance economically.
At JFF, we believe this framework will play a crucial role in rallying our partners to join us in achieving our recently announced North Star goal: In 10 years, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs.
We must transform low-quality jobs into quality jobs
It won’t be easy. Of the occupations projected to see the fastest growth between 2021 and 2031—including frontline positions in health care and the service and transportation industries—nearly half are of low quality. And there are far too many jobs with little opportunity for career or economic advancement that employers could make into quality jobs but don’t.
We must encourage concerted efforts throughout the economy to create new quality jobs and make them equitably accessible to people of all educational backgrounds and life experiences. And we must persuade employers to transform low-quality jobs into quality jobs—a process they can undertake with additional guidance from JFF’s Impact Employer Model, which outlines how employers can update their strategies for attracting, developing, and retaining talent by prioritizing the social and economic well-being of employees.
This work requires a movement
Employers can't do it alone. This work requires a movement, and we all have a role to play. Industry groups, policymakers, and government agencies are key to creating millions more quality jobs, and we call on all of them to take concrete steps detailed in the Quality Jobs Framework.
Leaders throughout the broader learn and work ecosystem must also take direct action to promote meaningful and lasting improvements in job quality. This includes state and local workforce boards, educational institutions and training providers, community-based organizations, funders, agencies at all levels of government, and—always—workers, themselves.
Read the Quality Jobs Framework and begin taking action to improve job quality in your community and across the country.
For more information, contact Molly Blankenship at mblankenship@jff.org.
