Shift Work Forward

AI can make work faster. That alone won't make work better.

The real question is whether workers have a say in how these tools get introduced. And whether the gains are actually shared with the people doing the work.

Technology should open doors. If we want AI to strengthen the workforce, we have to be intentional about who benefits and who gets left behind.

Automation Led to Economic Misery. AI Doesn’t Have To. How to make AI work for workers

July went fast. If you missed anything from Shift Work Forward, we've got you covered.

The latest edition of the Shift Work Forward Digest is out now. Catch up on everything from the past month in one place.

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Session Alert for !

JVS Bay Area didn't just collect data. They used it to face some uncomfortable truths about occupational segregation in their region. Stark wage gaps. Demographic disparities between healthcare and tech pathways. Structural hiring barriers that training alone couldn't fix.

This session shows what it looks like to use data not just to measure outcomes, but to rethink strategy and push for real change. If you want to do more with your data, this session is for you.

Join us in Albuquerque this fall.

From Data to Audacity: Turning Insight into Equity-Centered Action - Shift Work Forward This session explores how JVS Bay Area used workforce outcomes data to confront occupational segregation and shape an equity-centered strategy.

Labor force participation in the U.S. has fallen to its lowest level in decades. It's easy to blame retirements or demographics. But there's a deeper problem. Too many jobs simply aren't working for today's workers.

Shift Work Forward Chief Program Officer Michelle Rafferty digs into why job quality is the key to turning this around. Not just for workers, but for businesses and the broader economy too.

Read her latest blog and learn what it looks like when workforce organizations and employers work together to build jobs that actually work.

Better Jobs Strengthen the Labor Market - Shift Work Forward In June, our nation’s labor force participation rate — the portion of working-age adults who are employed or actively looking for work — fell to its lowest point in 50 years, excluding the COVID pandemic years. This isn’t due solely to retirements or a declining immigrant population. Many wo...

September is right around the corner and spots for SHIFT Conference 2026 are going fast.

Three days in Albuquerque with workforce leaders from across the country. Real conversations. Practical learning. Bold ideas about the future of work.

If you've been on the fence, now is the time to act. Register today before space runs out.

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...

Better jobs start with listening to the people doing them.

That's exactly what Burgatory did through Shift Work Forward's Centering Workers in Job Design initiative. Workers weren't just asked for feedback. They helped redesign how the job actually works.

The results speak for themselves. And now that work is getting the recognition it deserves.

Read more about what worker-centered job design looks like in practice.

www.hospitalitybusinessreview.com

The Workforce Wrap-Up is here!

Catch up on the workforce news that matters most. All in one place, from Shift Work Forward.

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AI is already changing how workforce development works. How decisions get made. How providers operate. How job seekers prepare.

The question is whether we're building the guardrails to make sure it works for everyone.

This session at gets into the real work of that. Participants will dig into actual use cases from the field and work through what policies and practices are needed to use AI ethically and effectively.

Don't miss it. Register before space runs out.

Guardrails for Ethical and Effective AI in the Workforce Development System - Shift Work Forward In this highly interactive studio, participants will engage with real-world AI use cases and lessons emerging from the field.

Major infrastructure investments should do more than build things. They should build opportunity for the communities around them.

We're proud to see our Network Partner, the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative, at the table with the City of Baltimore and Amtrak. Their work is connecting local residents to construction jobs and long-term career pathways through the Frederick Douglass Tunnel project.

This is what it looks like when workforce systems are built into major projects from the start.

Frederick Douglass Tunnel Breaks Ground as Baltimore's 153-Year Rail Bottleneck Faces Elimination Frederick Douglass Tunnel construction takes a major step forward as Amtrak excavates a 60-foot launch pit in West Baltimore for the first of two tunnel boring machines, keeping the 2036 passenger-service target intact despite rising costs and design changes to the Northeast Corridor’s most