Across the US, millions of working people endure undignified working conditions and struggle to make ends meet. This challenge has persisted despite historically low unemployment, and it will likely become even more pervasive should the economy falter. Further, some of the occupations that are projected to add the most jobs in coming years — such as home health aides, medical assistants, food service workers, and building cleaners — are low-wage occupations that offer little prospect for growth and advancement.* Simply advising people to avoid these occupations, or providing training so that people can do different jobs, does not obviate the need for someone — for millions of people in fact — to fill these jobs and perform these vital functions. Thus, for organizations committed to expanding economic opportunity or building regional economies that support human thriving, strategies to improve the quality of work need to become a critical part of their practice.
Shifting Focus: From Workers to Jobs
The problem of poor job quality is often framed in terms of the burdens that low job quality places on workers — and these are important to recognize. Low wages, inadequate benefits, unsafe working conditions, demeaning or disrespectful workplaces, and other job quality challenges all have serious consequences for workers, their families, and communities. But the problem of poor job quality also affects business performance, contributing to low workforce engagement, reduced productivity, and limited business flexibility and resilience. Addressing only a piece of the puzzle — training and skill development opportunities, adequate compensation, stable schedules, or improved working conditions — falls short of achieving the kind of systemic change needed to build an economy that rewards work and restores hope for working people. Moreover, if we want workers to do a good job, they need to have a good job. The two go hand in hand.
For too long, poor job quality has been accepted as inevitable. It is not. It is possible to improve work. Businesses have chosen to manage their workforces by minimizing cost rather than maximizing productivity. This cost minimization approach to workforce management increases employee alienation, weakens trust and dampens enthusiasm for the work. Research bears this out, finding “easy hire, easy fire” policies lead to diminished worker productivity and innovation. On the other hand, scholars like Zeynep Ton research and write about companies that build highly successful businesses through high-quality jobs. What all this research highlights is that bad jobs are a choice — one that businesses do not have to make, and that society does not have to condone.
The Many Types of Job Quality Practice
At the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program, we see organizations use a variety of strategies to improve the quality of jobs available to the constituencies they serve, including:
Supporting small businesses:
Recent work with community development financial institutions (CDFIs) in our Shared Success demonstration focuses on the challenges that small businesses face in managing their workforce and on the ways CDFIs can provide information and resources to help small business clients improve job quality and strengthen their business. In this demonstration, 11 CDFIs in different parts of the country are integrating job quality advising and support into their small business services, and the early results have been encouraging, with 74% of surveyed businesses reporting job quality improvements since the start of their participation.
Embedding job quality into business and economic development:
We have also seen economic and workforce development organizations integrate job quality into their practice. For example, the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center focuses on supporting the success of small manufacturers in the state. In 2014, the organization launched a new approach to the work that integrated a job quality focus into their work on process and product improvement. The evaluation of that effort showed the approach yielded benefits for both businesses and workers. Earlier work with organizations employing a sectoral workforce strategy yielded examples of organizations that complemented training strategies with business advising services, social enterprise, advocacy, and other approaches to encourage improved job quality in their targeted industry sector.
Expanding employee ownership:
Expanding opportunities for employee ownership is another powerful strategy to advance job quality. Research shows that businesses with shared ownership create environments where workers have a stake in their employment, leading to improved job satisfaction and economic outcomes. Employee ownership not only improves job quality; it can also contribute to a more equitable distribution of wealth.
Advocating for policy change:
Programmatic practices that help businesses design better jobs can be complemented by policy advocacy to establish or raise minimum standards for job quality. Many organizations work to establish legislative standards in areas like wages, benefits, scheduling, and workplace safety. These policies not only create fairer workplaces; they also encourage businesses to embrace sustainable, high-quality employment practices.
Leveraging public procurement:
Another way governments can incentivize the design of higher quality jobs is through their role as a purchaser of goods and services. Public procurement practices can be aligned with the public interest in creating good jobs, and such practices can incentivize businesses to move toward business models based on high-quality jobs.
Strengthening collective action:
Collective action and collective bargaining have long been a powerful strategy for working people to improve their wages and working conditions, both in the US and around the globe. Indeed, the right to form a trade union is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is a critical component of building a human rights economy worldwide. And in the throes of the Great Depression, the passage of the National Labor Relations Act gave many working people in the US the right to work together to improve their working conditions, allowing workers to negotiate for shorter work hours and weekends off, benefits that many of us still enjoy today.
While these strategies vary in scope and execution, they share a common goal: creating tangible improvements in job quality, regardless of who holds the position. Although this work may seem daunting, countless organizations have demonstrated that meaningful change is possible.
As we continue our study of job quality practices, we will continue to share examples of this work and tools that can support different kinds of organizations in advancing a job quality practice. We curate these resources in our Job Quality Center of Excellence, and we welcome your contributions, feedback, and ideas for how to improve this repository.
Creating Lasting Change
At its core, job quality is about how we choose to treat one another in our economic systems. Establishing better norms, practices, and policies benefits not only businesses, but also society as a whole. When people earn a living wage and work under fair conditions, they experience less financial stress, allowing them to be better parents, neighbors, and civic participants. They also become more engaged and productive employees.
We stand at a pivotal moment. Policymakers, businesses, community organizations, and advocacy groups have the opportunity to reshape the employment landscape. By working together to prioritize job quality, we can create a future in which every worker has access to a job that offers not just a paycheck, but dignity, security, and a path to a better life. This effort will take time and commitment, but the potential rewards — a more just, equitable, and prosperous society — make it undeniably worthwhile.
* While some lower-paid jobs do provide a starting point that facilitates advancement in the labor market over time, as Jean Eddy, et. al. describe in “Launch Pad Jobs: Achieving Career and Economic Success without a Degree,” these large and growing occupational segments, such as personal care, food service, and health care support, were not identified as offering a pathway upward.
About the Author
Maureen Conway
Vice President, The Aspen Institute;
Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program
Maureen Conway serves as vice president at the Aspen Institute and as executive director of the Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program (EOP). EOP works to expand individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity. View Maureen’s full bio.
Learn More
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