Worker Voices: Shifting perspectives and expectations on employment

Worker Voices is made possible through the collaboration across the Federal Reserve System of regional banks and community partners. The project team would like to thank Public Works Partners for their expertise and support through the focus groups of this research. The Federal Reserve Banks thank the more than 60 regional and community-based partner organizations who provided their support for the study by offering insight and assistance on contacting workers and job seekers who participated in the research. Moreover, we would like to sincerely thank the 1,243 individuals who applied to participate in this research and the 175 individuals who participated in the focus groups. Without their openness in sharing their experiences and the candor and respect with which they participated in every conversation, this research would not be possible.

The report team would like to especially thank Karen Leone de Nie from the Atlanta Fed and Theresa Singleton from the Philadelphia Fed for their leadership and support implementing and shaping this research. The team appreciates the thoughtful comments and guidance from the following Federal Reserve System colleagues: Keith Wardrip, Philadelphia Fed; Ann Carpenter, Atlanta Fed; Sara Chaganti, Boston Fed; Kyle Fee, Cleveland Fed; and Erick Garcia Luna, Minneapolis Fed. We also thank Federal Reserve visiting scholar Rosemary Frasso from Thomas Jefferson University for her guidance and feedback, as well as Carl Van Horn with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. Additional thanks to our community reviewers Kelli Rhodes and Kerri Rhodes of Restore Education and Tyrone Hampton of Philadelphia Works for their comments.  

This research report would not be possible without the time and thoughtfulness of the qualitative coding team of Heidi Kaplan and Ellie Dries, Board of Governors; Marija Bingulac, Boston Fed; Taylor Griffin, Chicago Fed; Merissa Piazza, Cleveland Fed; and Katherine Townsend Kiernan, formerly of the Atlanta Fed.

Design and production of this report was made possible by the entire team at Fed Communities and with support from the public affairs teams at the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Philadelphia. Special thanks to Nancy Condon, Karen Mracek, Sherilyn Narker, and Lauren Offenberg at the Atlanta Fed; Johnny Haik, Bryan Littel, and Anahi Macauley at the Philadelphia Fed, and Anne O’Shaughnessy, Nicole Guilfoyle, Crystal Flynn, and Allison Ulman at Fed Communities.

The Worker Voices report was a collaborative approach across the Federal Reserve System. The project team would like to expressly thank the following individuals who offered their time and input to support this research.