May 28, 2024
Spotlight: Our Employment Program
The Employment program addresses the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation’s commitment to helping families and individuals move out of poverty. The program supports job training programs that help individuals access living-wage jobs and careers.
The past five years have presented a complex employment landscape, as the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the racial justice movement. National unemployment rates are low and should be celebrated – however– we know that neighborhoods in Chicago’s south and west sides struggle with some of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Riverdale, a neighborhood on the far south side of the city, has one of the highest unemployment rates at 29.9%. In Englewood, 24.9% of its residents do not have a job. In neighboring West Englewood, 24.5% of residents are out of work. And, in West Pullman, the unemployment rate is 20.7%. These neighborhoods could benefit from a thoughtful and collaborative approach to helping community members enter and stay in the workforce.
Since the beginning of the Fry Foundation’s Employment program grantmaking, the Foundation has recognized that the most effective workforce development programs have healthy and sustained relationships with employers that lead to high quality employment opportunities for job seekers. Engaging employers is a key strategy for all the Foundation’s grantee partners and these relationships are important to the success of employers, grantee partners, and job seekers. Grantee partners gain access to current hiring trends and adjust curricula based on the skills needed by employers. At the same time, employers learn better ways to retain and support their employees. All of the Foundation’s grantee partners engage employers for hiring purposes, and 88% of grantee partners connect with groups of employers through employer advisory councils that meet regularly. Employer advisory councils help design training curricula and monitor industry changes to ensure students have the skills that employers need. Employers often provide pro bono technical expertise and donate equipment for organizations to use for training.
Recent changes in the job market including rising staff turnover and labor shortages along with new employer commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have allowed the Foundation’s grantee partners to strengthen their partnerships with employers. Grantee partners are working with employers on DEI initiatives while providing candid feedback and even pushback on biased hiring practices. This includes encouraging employers to create job opportunities for residents returning to communities after leaving the criminal justice system, questioning degree requirements for certain positions, and training frontline supervisors to support women and people of color in industries like manufacturing that historically have been dominated by white men. Grantee partners are both gently and sometimes not so gently nudging employers to improve the quality of jobs they offer. In response, we are beginning to see some promising changes from employers. Employers are offering increased wages, more flexibility, and childcare benefits. And employers are looking beyond the historical employee pipelines and are recruiting job seekers they may have been reluctant to hire in the past. For example, several large employers are taking part in local initiatives where employers receive support as they work to change their hiring practices, develop pipelines of candidates into their positions, and work to support their managers and staff to build a culture that supports individuals whom these employers would not typically hire. These initiatives include: the Chicago Employer Action Lab, Fair Chance Hiring, the Generation Work Challenge, and the Public Safety Task Force of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Chicago Employer Action Lab
A 10-month immersive learning experience that brings together a cohort of employers who are committed to transform their current hiring practices to address their medium to long-term talent and business needs and expand opportunities for frontline and entry-level workforce to build careers not just jobs. Employers design and implement pilot projects as part of their experience. Past projects have included mentorship programs for new hires, changing grooming policies, and improving frontline supervisor training to better support workers. The initiative is facilitated by Foundation grantee partner, the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, and funded by the Wal-Mart Foundation.
Fair Chance Hiring
A business-led effort to reduce barriers to hiring individuals with criminal justice involvement. The initiative includes peer-to-peer learning among companies who are committed to changing their hiring and retention processes to include those individuals. The goals of the Fair Chance Hiring initiative are to 1) demonstrate and promote models of successful fair chance hiring with a focus on the internal changes employers must make; 2) build a cross-industry group of local champions for fair chance hiring to scale the effort; and 3) increase the number of people with criminal records gaining productive, family-supportive employment. The cohort meets monthly for nine months and has access to expert support throughout the experience. The initiative is facilitated by grantee partners Cara Collective and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance with support from the Corporate Coalition of Chicago. It is funded by philanthropy (e.g., McCormick Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Global Philanthropy) and membership dues paid by employers to the Corporate Coalition of Chicago.
Generation Work Challenge
Companies interested in hiring, retaining, and advancing young talent, particularly employees of color ages 18-29, work alongside experts and other companies to launch a pilot centered around inclusive hiring and building a more resilient workplace. Examples of pilot projects include adoption of team panel interviews to reduce time-to-hire and improve candidate experience in the hiring process, facilitation of unconscious bias training for staff to improve internal and external interactions, and standardization of new hire onboarding practices to improve employee experience and increase retention. The cohort meets monthly for six months to share their learnings, offer feedback and support, and engage in networking. The initiative is facilitated by Foundation grantee partners Cara Collective and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, with additional support from the Corporate Coalition of Chicago. It is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The Public Safety Task Force of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago
In June 2023, the Public Safety Task Force of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago announced a commitment to reducing violence in Chicago. Improving access to well-paying jobs is a critical violence reduction strategy. The two explicit workforce commitments that the Civic Committee has made include: 1) hiring and retaining community violence intervention program graduates, and 2) increasing employment in and for disinvested communities. To fulfill both commitments, the Civic Committee is collaborating with its members to identify positions within their companies to offer to these job seekers. The Civic Committee is working in partnership with the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, Chicago CRED and grantee partners Cara Collective, Metropolitan Family Services, and Skills for Chicagoland’s Future on the development of the plan.
While many workforce initiatives are impactful, they typically cater to a small number of employers each year. The Foundation's grantee partners stand out for cultivating long-term relationships with both large, mid-size and small employers over many years. They continue to exert influence on employer behavior over the long haul. These efforts are crucial to improving the quality of the workforce and ensuring community members have access to living wage jobs that support families and contribute to healthy communities.