Shift Work Forward

For a lot of workers, doing everything right still isn't enough.

This USA Today piece captures a widening gap between what younger workers were promised and what they're actually experiencing. Financial security feels further away even for people working hard to reach it.

That's a structural problem. And it's one that expanding access to good jobs and real pathways to career mobility can start to address. A stronger economy depends on it. Read more.

What's a 'G'-shaped economy and are we in one? Are deep-pocketed baby boomers propping up the economy by helping their children financially?

Childcare workers make it possible for everyone else to go to work. So why are their jobs so hard to hold onto?

That's the challenge at the heart of Shift Work Forward's Shifting the Childcare Industry initiative. And it's one that the United Way of Central Iowa has been tackling head-on.

By partnering directly with childcare educators to shape workplace improvements, they achieved real results: wage gains, stronger retention, and more stable providers. Join us on June 16th to hear what they did and what other communities can learn from it.

June 16, 2026 | 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/6217804929981/WN_SQeApfQnT-Sp8HhKOO__uw

Job openings jumped to a near two-year high. And yet hiring is down.

That gap tells an important story. Open positions aren't enough on their own. Workers need clear pathways to access those jobs, strong career navigation, and employers who are genuinely ready to invest in the people they're trying to hire.

A strong labor market has to work for workers, not just look good on a chart. Read more.

US job openings rise by the most since 2021; hiring weak amid economic uncertainty U.S. job openings increased by the most in five years in April, but the surge likely overstates the labor market's health, as hiring declined against the backdrop ​of economic uncertainty stemming from the Iran war.

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Four communities. Four different approaches. And one thing each of them proved: real change happens when the right conditions are in place, not when everyone follows the same playbook.

That's what Shift Work Forward's Shifting the Childcare Industry initiative was designed to test. Partners had room to experiment, to center worker voice, and to build the kind of trust that rigid grant structures rarely make space for. Racial equity wasn't added on at the end. The experiences of women of color were centered from day one.

And communities learned from each other. Strategies that worked in one place traveled to others. No site was figuring it out alone.

What emerged across all four sites: workers want recognition alongside wages. Training alone doesn't spark transformation. The obvious question is often the one nobody thinks to ask. And when worker voice is taken seriously, systems actually move.

Read the full report, Breaking the Triple Bind.

Breaking the Triple Bind - Shift Work Forward Drawing on real-world examples, data, and firsthand perspectives, this report explores how worker voice, job quality, and cross-sector collaboration can drive meaningful change.

After high school, most people navigate their careers largely on their own. For Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income workers, that reality is even harder.

Shift Work Forward's research made this concrete. We talked with workers in manufacturing, IT, construction, childcare, healthcare support, and domestic work. What they told us was clear: zip code, race, and family income too often determine outcomes. Not skills. Not effort.

Career navigation shouldn't depend on who you know or where you grew up. Read more about our vision for a system that actually works for everyone.

We Need a New System for Career Navigation - Shift Work Forward Inflation is on the rise again, and many families are struggling to make ends meet. Childcare and transportation costs soar while wages stagnate. These pressures are especially acute for workers in low-wage roles, which account for nearly half of U.S. employees. These workers are more likely to be w...

Something big is coming to Albuquerque.

is shaping up to be the place for real, honest conversations about the biggest challenges in workforce development. We're bringing together leaders from across the country who are ready to dig in and do the hard work of moving the field forward.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be sharing the specific conversations we'll be having at the conference. Stay tuned and start making your plans.

We hope to see you there. Register here:

Pricing and Registration - Shift Work Forward Back to all events SHIFT Conference 2026 Pricing and Registration Title SHIFT Conference 2026 Pricing Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Nullam euismod pellentesque adipiscing nisi elementum magnis. Registration Level Early Bird Price Through May 31, 2026 Regular Rate Champion $2,246 $2,495 Cor...

You can't fix inequities you can't see.

When we stop tracking workforce outcomes by race and gender, the gaps don't go away. They just get harder to name and harder to address. Accountability starts with transparency. And transparency requires data.

Building workforce systems that actually work for everyone means measuring what matters, including who's being left behind and why.

MORRISSETTE: A New Economic Civil Rights Struggle — Disappearing Data Dismantling of federal economic data collection poses a significant civil-rights reversal, making it harder to challenge discrimination.

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