A joint research project of the Center
on Wisconsin Strategy and Working Partnerships USA, conducted by researchers
from University of Wisconsin, the University of California and Willamette
University.
A key feature of the “new economy” is the growing importance of organizations that help workers and employers adjust to and succeed in the changing and volatile labor market. These organizations might provide information about job openings and potential employees, or even offer training and job placement services to workers and firms. The Ford, Rockefeller, and Russell Sage Foundations are funding researchers in Wisconsin and California to describe these organizations and derive lessons for policy makers from their successes.
In this two-year project, researchers will examine the growing importance of such organizations, among them temporary agencies, community based organizations, community colleges, training providers, unions, and professional associations, to both firms and workers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and San Jose, California. By comparing these very different cities, the study will provide a more concrete understanding of opportunities for low-wage workers and how organizations and agencies help them move into and up through the labor market. Throughout we will seek to identify and document the most successful strategies for moving workers from jobs into family supporting careers.
To explore these issues, we will bring together data from focus groups, organizational profiles, a survey of workers, and data from the state on earnings. We aim to answer a series of key questions: Have new challenges and problems emerged in this field? What strategies are being used to help disadvantaged workers find good jobs? What public policies and public strategies will help disadvantaged workers move into careers?