In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. Let’s start off this month with some good news: unemployment is at near all-times lows! That’s great news for an economy that was reeling less than ten years ago. Now we just need to get wages up. Even though most … Read More
An Economy For Everyone: October Quality Jobs Recap
In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. This month we start off with a great piece from our friends at City Lab. They profile Vewiser Dixon of Kansas City who lives in a once-prosperous African-African neighborhood made famous by Charlie Parker and Count Basie. Dixon wants to … Read More
An Economy For Everyone: September Quality Jobs Recap
In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. When most Americans think of a “good job”, we picture a full-time job with a decent wage, benefits, some retirement plan, and hopefully a schedule we know in advance. But in recent years the lexicon has grown. Work can be … Read More
We’ve Been Awarded An Aspen Institute Quality Jobs Fellowship!
We’re thrilled to announce that Pacific Community Ventures and our President and CEO — Mary Jo Cook — were chosen as one of 15 fellows by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program to more deeply engage in work that expands the availability of better quality jobs in our economy. Americans place a high value on work, and believe hard work should offer a pathway to economic security. But decades of lagging wages, eroding benefits, and declining employment security means too many jobs do not match that vision of work as a pathway to a better life. To restore the ideal of work as the pathway to the American Dream, our economy needs more quality jobs. “Now is the time to focus on making better quality jobs,” said Maureen Conway, vice president for policy programs and executive director of the Economic Opportunities Program at the Aspen Institute. “That’s why we’re launching the Job Quality Fellowship. It … Read More
An Economy For Everyone: August Good Jobs Recap
In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. Since 2010, the Brookings Institution has been calculating and tracking something they call the “jobs gap,” which is the number of jobs the economy needs to return to pre-recession levels. With August’s better-than-expected jobs report, the jobs gap is now … Read More
An Economy For Everyone: July Good Jobs Recap
In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. June was the eighth anniversary of the end of the recession, when the jobless rate more than double what it is today. The economy has completely recovered over that time, at least in terms of the number of jobs on … Read More
We Need Your Small Business’ Voice
Here at Pacific Community Ventures, we’ve seen firsthand though our work with small businesses that job creation alone is insufficient to create lasting economic change in underserved communities and for working people. We view the advancement of quality jobs as an important avenue to better support underserved communities and address rising income and wealth inequality across the U.S. As part of our vision to make quality job creation the norm, we must equip small businesses with the practical tools and resources they need to offer higher quality jobs in a way that balances their business’ financial and operational needs with their employees’ interests. We’re committed to empowering small business owners to succeed – and believe a simple, practical quality jobs toolkit will help them to improve job quality for their workers, thereby reducing turnover, improving productivity and revenue, and boosting brand reputation. In order to create a resource that meets … Read More
An Economy For Everyone: June Good Jobs Recap
In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. There was a study this month on the effects of Seattle’s newly implemented $15 minimum wage, and it kicked off a wide-ranging discussion and a lot of criticism. The study said that raising the wage caused companies across the city … Read More
An Economy For Everyone: May Good Jobs Recap
In order to build wealth and create opportunities in and across America’s underserved communities, and reverse the troubling trends we’re seeing in our economy, we no longer find it defensible to focus on job creation alone. It’s clear that job creation does not itself equate to lasting economic change. And so, we must shift our focus to the creation of higher quality jobs — jobs that are good for workers and their families, good for businesses, and good for communities — enabling us to build an economy that works for everyone. Each month, we bring you the latest roundup of news from the fight for quality jobs for working people. The minimum wage has been in the news a lot this month – both for good and for ill. The minimum wage’s buying power is less today than it was in 1950 – and the millions of working families who … Read More
Public Policy and Investments in Good Quality Jobs
Despite years of economic growth and a declining unemployment rate, the economy – from the perspective of many Americans – is far from healthy. For decades, wages for everyone but the top quintile of earners have remained stagnant or declined, while Americans’ participation in the workforce is at its lowest level in nearly forty years. At Pacific Community Ventures, we believe that community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and the broader impact investing industry are ideally positioned to tackle this issue by supporting businesses that create high-quality jobs offering decent wages, benefits, career and wealth-building opportunities, and fair and engaging workplaces. Yet America’s jobs problem is too large and complex for individual businesses and investors to confront on their own. Without a concerted effort by government to improve job quality in partnership with businesses, investors, and the social sector, we cannot credibly expect to see changes in the economic trends that … Read More