Manno for Philanthropy Daily: A Donor Playbook for Local Workforce Renewal

August 22, 2025
Bruno Manno

The promise of upward mobility remains unmet for many of America’s workers. Within the labor market, frustrations abound, for workers and employers alike:

Employers face labor shortages while capable workers remain locked in low-wage
Workers without college degrees and other familiar credentials can’t translate their skills into the parlance of employers who use recognizable credentials to screen for jobs.
Education and training programs and placement agencies struggle to find jobs for their graduates because they don’t know which workplace career trajectories lead to upward mobility.

Failing to resolve these and other stumbling blocks is especially frustrating since today’s “big data” creates more information about employers, workers, and opportunities than ever before. Today’s “challenge isn’t gathering more information—it’s making sense of the information we have and putting it to work,” according to the Burning Glass Institute report Jobs That Mobilize: A Data‑Driven Playbook for America’s Workforce.

The Jobs That Mobilize report describes a structured, six-step framework and process for bringing together community stakeholders to promote worker upward mobility. Donors can use the report to take a lead role in marshaling partnerships, supporting evidence-based strategies, and building community capacity and structures to align education, training, employer needs, and worker aspirations. They can create cross-sector partnerships, invest in innovation, and foster system-wide action on workforce development issues.