
The American Job Quality Study
2026 State of the U.S. Labor Force The second year of the American Job Quality Study shows that 6 in 10 American workers still lack quality jobs, and populations including Gen Z workers and people…

March 3, 2026
With JFF’s support:
Jobs for the Future (JFF) is shaping the narrative about what makes a job a quality job—and supports workforce development organizations in improving existing jobs.
Through a contract with the U.S. Department of Labor, JFF led the federal Job Quality Academy, which helped our partners in the workforce system identify strategies to advance job quality in their communities. More than 1,600 workforce professionals attended two in-person summits and two webinars to learn how to put job quality principles into action. Our job quality resources, including tools, best practices, and case studies, received more than 13,000 views.
We also introduced our quality jobs framework to 16 state and regional workforce development boards.
We want to be sure the board is doing all it can to ... help inspire and support other employers to be model employers. JFF's support has been incredibly helpful.
James Martini, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board
In Pennsylvania, the state’s workforce development board was inspired to adopt JFF’s job quality framework to help screen partners and vendors, ensuring that companies working with the state provide quality jobs.
James Martini, the board’s executive director, continues to see positive results from the organization’s work with JFF.
“We want to be sure that the board is doing all it can to support the Commonwealth in being a model employer and to help inspire and support other employers to get there as well,” Martini said. “JFF’s support has been incredibly helpful.”
Thank you to the U.S. Department of Labor for supporting this work.

2026 State of the U.S. Labor Force The second year of the American Job Quality Study shows that 6 in 10 American workers still lack quality jobs, and populations including Gen Z workers and people…

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