Workforce Development Insights

RECENT ARTICLES

From Accenture: Technological advances and innovation requirements are the top two drivers of transformation programs in insurance. New technologies like AI and generative AI are crucial for driving widespread improvements in operations and customer interactions. While the label “transformation” is attributed to most change efforts in insurance today, the reality is much more nuanced. These programs typically start with a clearly defined purpose: to execute a specific portfolio of initiatives to deliver value. Click here to read more.

From The Annie E. Casey Foundation: Twelve Jim Casey Fellows — young leaders and advocates who have experienced foster care — recently completed the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Advanced Youth Leadership Institute (AYLI), a program of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. Through AYLI, they’ve deepened the knowledge and skills needed to drive meaningful change in child welfare practice and policies. After completing a series of leadership development seminars, the Fellows applied what they’ve learned by designing and leading projects either in their communities or at the national level. Click here to read more.

From The Aspen Institute: From artificial intelligence and domestic energy demand to global supply chain fragility and intensifying geopolitical tensions, the pressures on the American economy are mounting. At the same time, the United States is re-evaluating long-held assumptions about trade, industrial policy, and regulation, often amid intense political polarization. This Forum was designed to offer a rare space for cross-sector, cross-partisan reflection. It brought urgency and humility to the task of reimagining how the US can remain globally competitive while navigating a period of rapid and disruptive change. Click here to read more.

From Brookings: We are living through a paradox that may define our era. Humans are wired to connect, yet we’ve never been more isolated. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is growing more responsive, conversational, and emotionally attuned by the day. Perhaps because of this, we are increasingly turning to machines for what we’re not getting from each other: companionship. Click here to read more.

From Center for American Progress: Americans deserve a modern immigration system that makes the country safer and more prosperous. Congress’s failure to update our immigration statutes has created a dysfunctional system that makes us less safe and less prosperous, creating chaos and disorder, failing the American people and harming our interests. Because the immigration system has been so broken for so long, an entire extralegal system exists in parallel, which undermines the wages and working conditions of Americans and exploits undocumented workers. Our immigration system must be updated to assure America’s security, promote compliance with the law, boost the economy for all, and reflect our values. Click here to read more.

From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: States can ensure property taxes are not overwhelming residents without threatening funding for local services by providing targeted, income-based assistance to support families struggling to keep up with higher property taxes. States can also provide stability and increase equity by enhancing local governments’ capacity to conduct regular, unbiased property assessments. Above all, legislators should pursue targeted, cost-effective solutions that maintain or even improve local governments’ response to the rising costs of providing public services. Click here to read more.

From Economic Policy Institute: Research shows that the lack of a federal heat standard poses substantial costs to workers, employers, and the economy. This includes the U.S. economy losing $100 billion each year due to disruptions in worker productivity caused by extreme heat. Implementing a strong federal heat standard, such as the one outlined in the proposal, would not only protect millions of workers from extreme heat but also help increase productivity and spur innovation at the workplace. Click here to read more.

From FedCommunities: Many factors go into retention metrics and workers’ decisions about whether to stay in a given job or advance in their careers. But particularly for employees seeking to move from lower-wage or entry-level positions along a career path, fear of a benefits cliff can limit economic mobility. Increasingly, employers across industries are discovering the issues benefits cliffs raise for both the financial stability of their employees and the effective operation of their businesses. Recent pilot programs, partnerships, and conversations offer employers new guidance on how they might best address the issue. Click here to read more.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: Overall, the Atlanta Fed team heard that workers and businesses often face compounding barriers that can limit their full participation in the economy. From a shortage of workers to the rising cost of housing and limited childcare options, the issues facing workers and employers in Miami-Dade are complex—but the level of collaboration on display gives reason for optimism. Local leaders are not only identifying problems; they are actively building solutions through partnerships, innovation, and proposed systems change. Click here to read more.

From Gallup Workplace Insights: If teachers have the resources they need to innovate with AI tools, the AI dividend has the potential to reach more teachers and students. With six in 10 teachers already using AI tools — and three in 10 using them weekly — teachers are off to a running start. As the 2025-26 school year approaches, AI tools could be a powerful force in reshaping teachers’ workload and, ultimately, student outcomes. Click here to read more.

From the International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAWP): Across industries and sectors, one stubborn paradox remains: employers can’t find the talent they need—while countless capable individuals search in vain for meaningful opportunity. Everyone’s working hard. But too often, they’re working separately. On one side, HR leaders are building teams, seeking diverse skillsets, and nurturing company culture. On the other, workforce development professionals are equipping people with tools to succeed—through training, support, and career guidance. Click here to read more.

From Jobs for the Future: The budget reconciliation bill that Congress passed on July 3, 2025, includes Workforce Pell legislation, a longstanding priority for Jobs for the Future (JFF) that would expand Pell Grant eligibility to learners and workers who want to pursue a short-term job training program. The Workforce Pell portion, which will go into effect on July 1, 2026, includes a number of metrics and provisions that were part of other bipartisan versions introduced in recent years. Click here to read more.

From JPMorganChase: Inclusive talent pipelines aligned to business needs have the potential to enhance regional economic vitality and expand pathways for worker mobility. Creating these pipelines requires cross-sector solutions. Roughly six in ten workers will require skills training before 2027, but only half of those workers currently have access to adequate training opportunities. As emerging technological changes like AI continue to impact labor market outcomes, this will be even more critical. Employers have a vital role to play in these efforts by providing insight into growing sectors and occupations, in-demand skills, and other workplace trends. Click here to learn more.

From Manpower: If companies want to harness the transformative power of artificial intelligence, the Chief Information Officers will need to combine collaboration and soft skills to become a driving force for organizational change. Across the business landscape, no corporate role has evolved as dramatically in recent years as that of the Chief Information Officer (CIO). From relative obscurity just a generation or two ago, today’s CIO is on the front lines of almost every aspect of an organization’s operations. Click here to read more.

From McKinsey & Company: While successfully rolling out a digital twin can take significant investment and time, the return on this investment can be substantial, given the magnitude of current and forthcoming government investments in infrastructure and capabilities—and given the value in making effective decisions the first time around. Digital twins could offer governments a real opportunity to ensure that they are deploying their finite resources in a way that accelerates the energy transition, increases economic growth, builds resilience, and helps to navigate global disruptions. Click here to read more.

From the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE): Although members taking part in the poll reported a substantial amount of pessimism and anxiety, a majority also characterized their mental health as good to fair, which suggests that they believe they are handling the challenge. This may be down to their support systems: In fact, 40% of respondents reported speaking with someone at their workplace about mental health problems that were affecting their job performance/productivity. Of those, virtually all (95%) said that the response of the individuals in their workplace was supportive. Click here to read more.

From the National Association of Counties (NACO): To help its older population age in place, Baltimore County launched the Villages of Baltimore County initiative, which provided $50,000 in grant funding to six organizations that serve cultural communities that have historically been under-resourced so that they could build out, or expand their existing, social and transportation programs specifically for older adults. Roughly 2,100 people in Baltimore County have been served through the initiative. Click here to read more.

From the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB): In this moment, workforce board leaders are working to embrace the opportunity for increased service to jobseekers and deeper engagement with business while simultaneously navigating a time of significant uncertainty and change. Each of these challenges requires innovation in how workforce boards meet their missions. Top of mind is the need to diversify revenue. Click here to read more.

From the National Conference of State Legislatures: The Mississippi River Basin spans thousands of miles, connecting communities across economic, environmental and geographic divides. Participants were encouraged to look beyond the river’s main stem and consider how tributaries, ports and surrounding land use shape policy decisions throughout the system—a broader lens that framed many of the conversations. State legislators shared updates on recent initiatives, including new investments in river port infrastructure, the adoption of cover crops to manage nutrient runoff, and efforts to meld floodwater mitigation with economic development opportunities. Investments in port and other infrastructure, while promising, were discussed in the context of broader concerns such as increasingly severe weather patterns, reduced availability of federal data and technical support, and growing public health concerns tied to environmental conditions. Click here to read more.

From the National League of Cities (NLC): What we’ve seen in Arizona is a blueprint for how municipalities across the country can harness private-sector innovation for public good. Clear Channel Outdoor’s medium, high-visibility digital billboards in strategic locations provide an unparalleled platform to reach residents when and where they need help. But our message is only as strong as the partnerships that amplify it. Local governments bring invaluable knowledge of community needs, infrastructure and emergency response. Nonprofits like 211 Arizona bring empathy, coordination and trust. And private sector partners bring tools to reach the public at scale and in real-time. Click here to read more.

From the National Fund for Workforce Solutions: There’s no substitute for being in community. In Baltimore, the workforce system doesn’t follow a top-down model. Nonprofits are at the center—not just delivering services, but leading with intention, equity, and accountability to the people they serve. They know the neighborhoods, the history, the barriers, and the potential. They build trust because they’ve earned it. Click here to read more.

From the National Skills Coalition: As our economy evolves, students of all ages are increasingly turning to higher education to acquire new skills and advance their careers. But looming cuts to financial aid and the safety net would mire pathways to education and economic mobility for too many. As higher education leaders call on Congress to protect programs that support students this week, safety net programs should be at the top of their list. Click here to read more.

From Prosperity Now: Everyone wants a sense of security. A chance to make plans. A little breathing room. That’s what financial freedom is about. Not necessarily luxury or early retirement, just the freedom to make everyday decisions without fear. Whether it’s fixing the car, saving for your child’s future, or finally starting your own business, financial freedom means having options and knowing you can handle what’s next. At Prosperity Now, we believe financial freedom should be possible for more people, not just a few. And we work every day to help families, entrepreneurs, and communities get closer to that goal. Click here to read more.

From the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): Failure is a neurological event that can create future behavioral patterns. When people stumble or fall short of expectations, their brains light up in ways that can reinforce fear and negatively impact performance. But with the right mindset shift, people can reframe mistakes, allowing them to adapt more quickly and build stronger neural pathways for resilience and learning. Click here to read more.

From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is treating AI as just an IT issue. The use of AI within any organization deserves its own review and thought regarding the right and appropriate way to implement its use. Therefore, any AI strategy must be built within organizations all the way from the CEO to the rank-and-file staff. Click here to read more.

From Workforce Monitor: Staffing employment held steady during the week of June 9-15, with the ASA Staffing Index holding at a rounded value of 85. Staffing companies cited no primary factor that hindered further growth. Staffing jobs were 5.6% lower relative to the same period last year, widening the year-to-year gap observed the previous week by nearly a point. Click here to read more.

From Workday: Small business owners need financial tools that keep pace with their growth. But legacy desktop accounting systems can slow you down, forcing you into making manual entries, dealing with fragmented files, and experiencing disruptive maintenance cycles—turning essential bookkeeping into a hidden drain on time and resources. That’s why today, two-thirds of small businesses are increasing investment in automation and digital tools that drive optimization. Cloud accounting software is one of the most critical of these tools Click here to read more.

From WorkingNation: There’s no single definition of rural America. Some rural communities are a small, but bustling, town center surrounded by vast swatches of farm land. Other communities are mountainous with a few homes and businesses scattered about the region. What they have in common is a population that wants to live and work in a community that offers a slower pace of life, one with financial stability. Providing quality jobs is key to making that happen. It takes a coalition of partners to make it work. While the number of U.S. farms continues a slow decline, and with tech playing an expanding role in all industries, the rural American job market is diversifying. The shift from traditional agricultural jobs towards manufacturing, clean energy, and health care is creating new opportunities that can provide that economic mobility and security. Click here to read more.

From WorkRise: Apprenticeship training and college are often considered substitutes for each other, when they in fact work best as complements. This research and practice summary analyzes administrative apprenticeship data to better understand how colleges have engaged with the apprenticeship system, and the experiences of apprentices in college-sponsored apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship is an evidence-based education and training model that prepares participants to advance in skilled career pathways. Over the last five years, apprenticeship programs have become increasingly integrated into the nation’s community college systems. Students choosing between postsecondary pathways need clarity on this evolving landscape and the college-based apprenticeship opportunities available. Click here to read more.

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DATA TOOLS

From Atlanta Regional Commission: Each week ARC, in partnership with Neighborhood Nexus, provides updated research and analytics through the 33^on blog. From a look at dhousing, rental rates, and cost of living to the job market and latest on wages, this blog is a one-stop portal to a treasure trove of local and regional data. Click here to learn more.

From Brookings: Using data from hundreds of thousands of real job transitions, the Job Mobility and Smart Growth Toolkit shows how workers can advance through labor markets—featuring national and city-by-city data on wage levels, local labor demand, and job mobility rankings for 441 occupations, from retail salespeople to cooks to computer programmers. Click here to see the toolkit.

From FedCommunities: FedCommunities is offering Using Qualitative Research to Understand the Economy: A Toolkit for researchers, policymakers, employers, and workforce organizations interested in engaging directly with the populations they serve to elevate those populations’ perspectives in policy, programming, and practice. Research that engages communities as equal partners can yield unique, authentic results. This new Worker Voices Project toolkit, “Using Qualitative Research to Understand the Economy: A Toolkit,” offers insights on the community-engaged qualitative research practices used for the Fed’s Worker Voices Project and shows how researchers, policymakers, and workforce organizations might use these methods in their own work. Click here to access the toolkit.

From the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity (CWEO): The Unemployment Claims Monitor displays data from the weekly and monthly unemployment claims reports from the U.S. Department of Labor. It is updated every Thursday. Users will find weekly and monthly data on claims and on who have filed for unemployment insurance, including special unemployment programs like Short-Time Compensation (or Workshare), Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees, Ex-Service Members, and Extended Benefits programs. The Opportunity Occupations Monitor displays opportunity employment and its prevalence across labor markets. Opportunity employment is an estimate of the number and share of jobs accessible to workers without a bachelor’s degree that pays more than the national median wage. Click here to learn more.

From the Georgia Department of Labor: The Georgia Department of Labor provides access to a complete set of data tools for workforce developers to better understand the labor market conditions in Georgia. The portal also includes resources for job seekers and employers. Click here to learn more.

From Georgia Power: Georgia Power’s Community & Economic Development team maintains interactive tools to take a deeper dive into the data on target industries, the labor force, and more. Click here to learn more.

From the National Fund for Workforce Solutions: The National Fund for Workforce Solutions’ Workforce Equity Dashboard provides disaggregated data that uncovers racial gaps in workforce outcomes, identifies opportunities to advance racial equity across systems, and informs high-impact strategies to build a future where employers, workers, and communities prosper. This dashboard was developed in partnership with the National Equity Atlas. Click here to learn more.

From Neighborhood Nexus: Neighborhood Nexus, a data partner of ARC, developed Data Nexus, a powerful tool to find, visualize, analyze, and download community data including demographic, education, health, and economic indicators from state and national sources, all in one place. Click here to learn more.

From the Partnership for Southern Equity: The Metro Atlanta Racial Equity Atlas (MAREA) is designed to offer an immersive, story-centric experience that contextualizes personal narratives with engaging, interactive community data and historical background. This tool has been developed by the Partnership for Southern Equity, Neighborhood Nexus, and archi. Click here to learn more.

From Prosperity Now: The Prosperity Now Scorecard is a comprehensive resource for data on household financial health, racial economic inequality, and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity. Click here to access.

From the Technical College System of Georgia: TCSG’s Data and Research provides access to the System Scorecard, enrollment data, and more. Click here to learn more.

From the University of Georgia, Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG): CVIOG has developed toolkits and other resources on a variety of workforce topics. Click here to learn more.

From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Right now, there are too many jobs without people to fill them. As a result, businesses can’t grow, compete, or thrive. The America Works Data Center captures trends on job openings, labor force participation, quit rates, and more. Click here to learn more.

From WorkSource Georgia: Through its portal, WorkSource Georgia provides access to labor market facts, area profiles, industry profiles, educational profiles, and occupational profiles. Click here to learn more.