Excellent report from The Burning Glass Institute the helps to better define pathways into economic mobility.
Every job matters but some jobs move workers ahead, address urgent needs for industry, and build critical capacity for regional and sectoral growth – all at the same time. We call these the Jobs That Mobilize. The Burning Glass Institute’s Jobs That Mobilize framework aligns the interests of workers, employers, educators, and policy makers by identifying what those jobs are and by highlighting the best opportunities to fill them – not by pulling talent into a region but by pulling existing talent up. For the local economy, this means using education and #workforcedevelopment as key instruments of #economicdevelopment. What does this mean for workers? In our pilot in #Houston with the Greater Houston Partnership and UpSkill Houston, we have observed an average wage gain of 15% when workers transition into Jobs That Mobilize. The framework leverages a structured, data-driven approach to identifying, growing, and filling the jobs that drive both individual advancement and regional economic prosperity, following a six-step approach to workforce transformation: * Map the skill landscape?of a region, identifying strengths and gaps. * Pinpoint high-value occupations—Jobs That Mobilize—that offer strong wages, career growth, and strategic economic value. * Define essential skills?and create standardized proficiency benchmarks to ensure alignment between education and employment. * Validate with employers?to ensure JTMs are aligned to their needs and establish a common skills language * Establish career pathways?that connect untapped talent pools to in-demand roles. * Design training solutions?that equip workers with the skills they need to access opportunity. Read more about our work in Houston, as well as the framework we developed, at https://lnkd.in/eQWDqB6Z. ? America’s workforce is at a crossroads. Employers face persistent talent shortages, even as millions of workers struggle to land quality jobs. The disconnect isn’t lack of data. It’s our failure to translate it into actionable solutions that bring forward talent and create real economic mobility. The opportunity ahead is great. By scaling this approach, we can bridge the gap between workforce potential and employer demand—creating a labor market that works better for everyone. I am deeply grateful to Patti Constantakis and to Walmart for their partnership in advancing this work.?Many thanks to authors Katherine Townsend Kiernan, Mariano Mamertino, Frank Steemers, and Stuart Andreason for their work. Thanks as well to BGI colleagues Luke Chen, Gad Levanon, Olivia Gunther, Debbie Wasden, Henry Woodyard VI, Gwynn Guilford, Erik Leiden, Shrinidhi Rao, and Carlo Salerno for their contributions, as well as to our partners at Greater Houston Partnership and Upskill Houston. #economy #humanresources #jobs #education