Through an analysis of the largest public datasets on U.S. occupational roles, skills, wages, and workers, this report discusses research findings of a study which identifies a talent pool of 71 million workers who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs). Its findings conclude that low-wage does not equate to low skill, STARs represent a vast overlooked pool of talent, and STARs have different trajectories to increase wages.

This white paper highlights several important trends in the labor market that continue to affect the nature of work. Based on these trends, it presents potential research topics in program areas that include job search and career counseling, education and training, and support for workers who have lost their jobs or work outside the traditional employer-employee model.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the childcare workforce? This brief analyzes Illinois employment data through 2020 to gain insights on the impact of the global pandemic on childcare workers, who historically have received low wages and experienced high burnout rates. The brief noted that the lowest paid-workers were most likely to experience employment disruptions in 2020, and 42% of workers in the pandemic cohort received unemployment insurance in 2020, compared to less than 3% of the pre-pandemic cohort.

According to Gallup, the gig labor economy is different from the traditional full-time job market in that it includes independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers and temporary workers. This article briefly answers the following questions about the gig economy: What is the gig economy? How popular is the gig economy? Why is gig work trending? Will the gig economy grow? How does the gig economy benefit employers?

Stable employment helps build a solid foundation for youth as they enter adulthood. Some youth involved in the justice system—especially for serious offenses—may face increased barriers to finding and securing employment. This blogpost features the results from a national scan of workforce programs that identify strategies that may help overcome these challenges. The research identifies common features of quality community-based workforce development programs that serve youth and young adults with criminal or juvenile records. The scan also notes common program offerings, promising practices, and marks of a supportive infrastructure. The information collected helps identify the kinds of organizational structures, partnerships and collaboration that are essential to helping young people with records succeed in the workforce.

Drawing on the partnership experience between Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, MOED’s Workforce Reception Center, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Mathematica, this brief describes lessons learned and potential strategies that technical assistance providers can use to encourage successful public-private partnerships, as well as highlights considerations for funders of similar initiatives. This 5-page brief is for foundations or other private organizations that provide technical assistance to programs as they make changes to their program. Mathematica and MOED developed this brief with support from the Administration for Children and Families and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

This brief captures staff experiences, successes, lessons learned, and recommendations from designing and implementing a transitional jobs program called Baltimore Health Corps (BHC). Designed by the Mayor’s Office for Employment Development (MOED), Baltimore City Health Department, and other community partners, BHC is a transitional jobs program for unemployed and underemployed city residents in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This 5-page brief is for leaders and frontline staff who are thinking about or implementing a program change and want to draw inspiration and lessons from the successes and challenges of other programs. Mathematica and MOED developed this brief under Project IMPROVE through the Office of Family Assistance, and with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

This scan describes recent and long-term economic and policy developments with relevance for the public workforce system. It focuses primarily on topics and trends related to the changing world of work and their implications for the public workforce system. Topics include broad economic trends and recent changes in employment and wages; changes to industries and occupations due to technology, automation, and the rise of the gig economy; growth in remote workforce system services; and Federal policy trends related to the public workforce system.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation report summarizes the design and implementation of LIFT, a coaching intervention in four cities that aims to help participants identify and attain goals related to self-sufficiency. It describes LIFT’s goals, the target population and program participants, the implementation of coaching, and other services available to program participants. The report's findings are of interest to practitioners and policymakers considering implementing or supporting coaching interventions and offers important context for understanding and interpreting the findings from the impact study.

This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief discusses the use of video recordings of interactions between program staff and participants as a data source for an implementation study of four employment coaching interventions for people with low incomes. The brief describes the process for video recording coaching sessions and analyzing the videos, provides examples of what was learned from the data, and offers lessons for researchers considering using video recordings as a data source in future studies.