Performance > Pedigree

Our labor market has been battered this last year, and the pain has been anything but equal. As we take stock of the damage and invest in building back better, we can encourage emerging changes in employer mindsets and design new elements of an ecosystem that can enable more inclusive growth and more equitably open up pathways for diverse talent to thrive.

In the latest Opportunity@Work “Opportunity Wrap," Cheston McGuire shared a new report that finds pandemic-related job and income losses are disproportionately impacting LatinX and Black workers, low-income workers, STARs, and those without a high school degree. On a positive note, YearUp’s CEO articulates reasons more leading US companies are widening their talent pools. Finally, he shares reporting on promising new "pay-for-success" workforce experiments.

• A new Gallup report finds pandemic-related job losses disproportionately impacted Hispanic and Black workers, low-income workers, and those without college degrees. More than 40% of Americans whose 2019 incomes were in the bottom 20% and those without a college degree said they were laid off during 2020 – compared to 31% of overall respondents. buff.ly/3g3Jv4R
• Year Up’s CEO Gerald Chertavian says that many leading companies his organization works with are looking to hire candidates without bachelor’s degrees for open positions. Chertavian cited companies who are looking beyond the degree to source their talent, which opens the door to more STARs. buff.ly/3mywMrW
• In an article for The New York Times, Steve Lohr explains that today, most workforce training programs only get paid based on enrollment – and explores a "pay-for-success" model pioneered Social Finance that pays programs based on students getting hired at higher incomes. Will this become one blueprint for policymakers and philanthropists? buff.ly/3s7QHz0

Given the 40-year decline in real wages of Americans without bachelor's degrees, the key test of success for US labor market innovations will be unlocking the talents, engaging the skills, and raising the earnings of 71 million STARs who’ll do so much of the work that will need doing.

All the best,

Byron