Research Expertise
Work and the Workplace
Since its inception, the Heldrich Center has been conducting research on work and the workplace, including subjects like racial discrimination, the public workforce system, and retirement, among many other issues.
U.S. workforce development policies and programs were largely developed 40 years ago and are insufficient to address the needs of today’s economy. The Heldrich Center partnered with the Federal Reserve on two initiatives aimed at examining and restructuring workforce development policy.
Transforming U.S. Workforce Development Policies for the 21st Century was a project with the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Kansas City that resulted in a national conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey in October 2014; the event was attended by over 250 people. The conference was followed by an edited book that was released in the fall of 2015. The book featured chapters by nearly 70 authors and provided perspectives on how workforce development efforts might be rethought to better respond to current trends and challenges. The book examined transforming the U.S. workforce development system, redesigning workforce development strategies, building evidence-based policy and practice, and targeted workforce development strategies.
Investing in America’s Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers was the second project with the Federal Reserve. The project hosted a national conference in Austin, Texas in October 2017 that was attended by over 300 people. Subsequently, over 100 authors contributed to a three-volume book that was released in 2018. The first volume examined how job seekers are viewed as assets that can drive innovation and build the competitiveness of employers. The second volume explored how enhancing the quality of work as well as implementing place-based and job creation strategies can help to attract and retain skilled workers. Finally, the third volume reviewed how the public, private, and nonprofit sectors coordinate efforts and integrate new technologies and finance models to meet the needs of workers and employers. The initiative was a joint effort involving the Heldrich Center, the Federal Reserve System, the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas-Austin, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.