Shift Work Forward

10/16/2026

A raise that does not keep up with inflation is not real progress.

Workers need to earn enough to cover basic expenses and build some financial stability. When inflation outpaces wage growth, people fall further behind even when they are doing everything right. A good job has to pay enough for people to actually get ahead.

Read more:

Average hourly earnings rose an anemic 0.1% from August and are up 3% year over year. That's against a backdrop of 3.4% inflation.

10/16/2026

Community colleges are one of the most powerful tools we have for opening equitable career pathways. But that potential only gets realized through real partnerships across colleges, employers, and workforce development organizations.

On October 28 at 1:00 pm ET, three community colleges will share what they learned piloting new practices through Shift Work Forward’s Advancing Equitable Career Pathways initiative. You will hear how they built stronger local partnerships, centered student voices, used disaggregated data, and expanded access to in-demand jobs in their communities.

If you work in workforce development, career education, or industry partnerships, this one is worth your time.

Register here for “Advancing Equitable Community College Career Pathways: Promising Practices and Partnerships”:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3117915520108/WN_cnJpP5uLRu6RvaH4XfqaTA

10/15/2026

If your organization is working to advance workforce equity, Shift Work Forward offers coaching and training services to help you move forward.

Our training is grounded in the same frameworks we use with our Network Partners. Racial equity, human-centered design, and systems thinking. Every session is shaped by real implementation experience, not generic professional development.

We focus on building your team’s capacity to take action with tools and strategies you can use right away. We can offer standalone sessions or pair training with follow-up coaching depending on what you need.

Fill out an interest form and someone from our team will be in touch:

Strengthen your organization's impact with workforce development training and coaching focused on job quality, employer partnerships, and lasting change.

10/15/2026

The latest Workforce Wrap-Up is here.

New learning opportunities, what is trending in workforce development, and resources worth your time. All in one place.

If you find this useful, subscribe to our newsletters and get it delivered straight to your inbox.

https://prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/EA/EA005/1/77902/mcRAa3vnEmhpxEapnhnPqlFv5Gwj3QoK7PlXJJJXWuG_archive

10/14/2026

Building a successful career depends on knowing what opportunities exist and how to reach them. Too many workers are navigating disconnected systems without the information, guidance, or connections they need to move forward.

The Urban Institute’s Education-to-Workforce Framework is a useful resource for understanding outcomes and identifying ways to build clearer pathways to good jobs.

If you work in workforce development, it is worth exploring:

Explore data on education and workforce outcomes, and compare data by geography, income, race, ethnicity, and more.

10/14/2026

SHIFT 2026 is behind us, but the energy from Albuquerque is still very much alive.

Something special happens when you bring together people who care about the same big questions but come from completely different places. Different communities. Different sectors. Different lived experiences. What tied everyone together was a shared commitment to building an economy where workers, employers, and communities can thrive.

You could feel it in the sessions. You could hear it in the honest conversations about what is working and what is not. You could see it in the connections people made with strangers who turned out to be wrestling with the same challenges in very different contexts.

Read more from Shift Work Forward CEO Amanda Cage about what we are carrying forward from :

SHIFT Conference 2026 is in the books, but I’m still carrying the energy, ideas, and sense of possibility that filled the air during our time in Albuquerque last month.

10/13/2026

Got a question about workforce development? We want to hear it.

Whether you are curious about how workforce systems work, want to know more about what Shift Work Forward is doing, or have a question about the future of work, this is your chance to get a real answer from our team.

Submit your question for an upcoming mailbag episode of State of Our Workforce:

https://form.asana.com/?k=yWDkhnXgPpUlH0q-1QbTAA&d=1119358901580282

10/13/2026

Students in Durham are leaving high school with more than a diploma.

Through a partnership between Durham Public Schools and Durham Tech, young people are earning credentials before they ever graduate. That does not happen by accident. It happens because people are quietly solving the hard, unglamorous problems around scheduling, transportation, and textbooks.

Will Dorsey-Eden talks about what that work actually looks like and why getting the logistics right matters just as much as the vision.

Listen to the full episode:

https://shiftworkforward.org/podcasts/unpacked-creating-opportunity-for-everyone-in-raleigh-durham/

10/12/2026

What could workforce systems accomplish if contracts were built around the results they are trying to achieve, not just the activities they fund?

That is the question driving our next live episode of State of Our Workforce: Unpacked.

On October 20 at 1:00 pm ET, Henry Danner sits down with Kier Scott, Policy and Performance Manager at Aspyr, Shift Work Forward’s Network Partner in Columbus, Ohio. They will dig into results-driven contracting and what it actually means for workforce systems and the job seekers they serve.

This is a conversation for anyone working in workforce development who wants to think differently about performance, accountability, and what success should look like.

Tune in live on October 20 at 1:00 pm ET. RSVP here to save your spot:

https://www.linkedin.com/events/unpacked-rethinkingworkforcecon7513613873531252737/theater/

10/12/2026

Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

We recently spent time in Albuquerque at , a city with deep Indigenous roots and a reminder of why this work matters. Workforce equity is not an abstract goal. It is about making sure every person, in every community, has a real shot at economic opportunity.

Indigenous workers have long faced structural barriers in accessing good jobs and career pathways. Those barriers do not disappear on their own. They require intentional action from workforce systems, employers, and policymakers alike.

Today we honor Indigenous communities and recommit to the work of building an economy where everyone can thrive.