REPORT RELEASE – Voices from the Frontline: An Introduction to NYC’s Frontline Workforce Professionals

The Workforce Field Building Hub (“The Hub”) at Workforce Professionals Training Institute (WPTI) is pleased to announce the release of Voices from the Frontline: An Introduction to New York City’s Frontline Workforce Professionals. This report, the first in our Voices from the Frontline series, provides insight into the workplace experiences of frontline workers in New York City’s workforce development field – the job developers and case managers, the instructors and job coaches and retention specialists and others working tirelessly on behalf of New York’s unemployed and underemployed on a daily basis.

Voices from the Frontline: An Introduction to Frontline Workforce Professionals builds upon groundwork laid by WPTI in our 2012 Deep in the Trenches study and is the result of months of in-depth research on the experiences of frontline workers in our sector, a survey of more than 350 professionals, and ongoing stakeholder engagement with both frontline workers and senior workforce leaders.

The more than 350 responses to the 2020 Survey of NYC Frontline Workforce Professionals provide valuable insight into the people doing the critical work of helping New Yorkers secure quality employment and advance in their careers. It paints a picture of a highly-educated workforce that is disproportionately made up of women and people of color, generally taking on a multitude of job duties while earning low wages relative to their experience. The report explores the challenges facing these workers, as well as their perceptions of their opportunities to succeed, remain, and advance within the workforce field.

In the coming months, will build upon this work with the release of additional reports, providing a deep dive into topics such as: