About the Good Jobs Initiative
The Good Jobs Initiative, led by the Department of Labor (DOL), aims to provide guidelines to workers, employers, and the government to improve job quality and create access to good jobs free from discrimination and harassment.
To do this, DOL has partnered with other federal agencies to embed equity and good jobs incentives in over $181 billion of funding. DOL has entered agreements with various departments committing to using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds for equitable workforce development. Additionally, they have established shared Good Jobs Principles with the Department of Commerce and engaged employers nationwide in showcasing strategies for recruiting and retaining diverse workers through training, higher wages, benefits, and encouraging collective bargaining.
Criticism of the initiative states that while the framework outlined in the Good Jobs Initiative provides valuable examples of best practices, the strict definition of a good job as defined by the initiative doesn’t fully appreciate the tremendous work employers already do to attract, train, promote, and support their employees with the flexibility, fluidity, and speed that comes with free markets and competition for talent.
More Information from the Department of Labor
Colorado’s Job Quality Framework
“Despite its importance, the Good Jobs Initiative remains off the radar for most business leaders. The business community should be wary of any one-size-fits-all, central planning approach to how business must attract and retain talent. Employers need to know the extent these principles are being embedded into federal and state funding opportunities.”
Policy Roundtable
What Makes a Good Job and Who Decides?
Colorado Business Roundtable Position Statement:
Building a “tomorrow-ready” workforce requires modernizing training pipelines, embracing technology, unleashing free-markets, and strengthening post-secondary education options so Coloradoans, both youth and working adults, can have expanded career pathways to secure fulfilling jobs and ultimately flourish.
While the framework outlined in the Good Jobs Initiative provides valuable examples of best practices, employer data, and other information to help employers attract and retain employees, the current definitions of a good job and equity do not fully recognize the tremendous work Colorado employers already do to attract, train, promote and support their employees with the flexibility, fluidity and speed that comes with free markets and competition for talent. More troubling, employers will be subject to “Good Jobs and Equity” measurements when seeking federal funding opportunities, including incoming American Rescue Plan ACT (ARPA) targeted to infrastructure, energy and transportation. This creates unnecessary barriers, and may prevent highly qualified and good Colorado employers from receiving federal funding for these important projects. We will continue to provide feedback from employers on these critical issues.