Giving Compass' Take:

• The Aspen Institute details a project in collaboration with the Walmart Foundation, which aims to help workers in the retail industry improve their career pathways.

• As the challenges of the 21st century workforce continue to shift, should funders support more programs like this targeted at specific types of businesses? What are other opportunities for corporate partnerships?

• Here's how we can better align college training with workforce needs.


In today’s tight labor market, businesses hungry for talent are increasingly interested in new strategies to attract and retain high-performing workers. This need is particularly acute in the retail sector, a high-turnover industry that employs as many as 42 million workers (when incorporating adjacent sectors), according to National Retail Federation estimates. Workforce development organizations, retail businesses, public workforce boards, small business lenders, worker voice organizations, and others can seize this moment to collaborate to improve the quality of jobs for workers in entry-level positions, create pathways for advancement in retail and related sectors, and increase employee engagement, productivity, and retention to strengthen business performance.

In 2016, in collaboration with the Walmart Foundation, the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program launched Reimagine Retail, a project to explore ways to enhance job quality and mobility for workers in the retail sector. Working with partners across six regions, this program is testing innovative strategies to improve retail jobs and career pathways and to develop win-win relationships that strengthen outcomes for retailers and their workforces.

Read the full article about promising workforce strategies in retail by Jenny Weissbourd and Amanda Newman at The Aspen Institute.