Jobs for the Future (JFF) celebrates the launch of The American Opportunity Index, an innovative new tool that rates large corporations on how well they create economic advancement opportunities for their employees. The index examines the access, pay, and mobility of workers in roles that don’t require a college degree and ranks more than half the Fortune 500 companies on career growth, stability, and other outcomes.
“This is an essential benchmark for companies committed to creating more opportunities for career mobility among U.S. workers,” said Cat Ward, vice president of employer mobilization at JFF and leader of a team that advises companies on strategies that are good for workers, communities, and businesses. “Worker well-being is critical to the corporate bottom line and the strength of the overall economy. This resource will help companies understand how they can better support worker well-being by becoming a driver for the equitable advancement of their people.”
The index, developed by the Burning Glass Institute, Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work project, and the Schultz Family Foundation, is unique in its focus on worker outcomes rather than corporate policies and practices. In a hypercompetitive labor market, companies that center people in their business decisions have the upper hand in recruiting, retaining, and advancing workers.
For companies interested in helping their employees advance, here are three actions to take today:
- Inclusive talent acquisition: Write job descriptions that emphasize skills, experience, and competencies, and eliminate unnecessary degree requirements.
- Talent development: Establish transparent career paths that employees can follow to advance both within and beyond your company.
- Pay equity: Ensure that all employees, regardless of their role within the company, receive equitable and family-sustaining pay.
We’re excited to have the American Opportunity Index as a resource to help measure opportunity creation in the private sector, and we’re eager to partner with companies committed to rolling up their sleeves to make progress on this important work.
At JFF, we’re dedicated to helping companies take concrete steps to expand economic opportunity for their employees. To learn more, explore our free Impact Employer Talent Framework.
And if you’re ready to take further action, join the JFF Corporate Action Platform, our community of like-minded corporate leaders championing well-being and advancement for their frontline workforce. Through the free platform, corporate leaders connect with peers to share best practices, engage with innovative resources, and build a network of forward-thinking changemakers.
