Research and Publications
In partnership with The Boston Foundation, local and national funders, researchers and other groups, SkillWorks regularly publishes or sponsors research into many areas of workforce development, the needs of workers and the workforce sector. Below, you will find the latest research and publications from SkillWorks and our partners.
Featured Research
Fund Rapid Reemployment for a Just and Equitable Recovery
As part of the series "Seizing the Moment" by Boston Indicators, Kathie Mainzer of Workforce Solutions Group, Tonja Mettlach of the Massachusetts Workforce Association, and Anne Calef of Boston Indicators partnered on this paper, which lays out five recommendations to ensure that workers who lost jobs during the pandemic can quickly find new employment opportunities moving forward.
March 2021
Advancing Workforce Equity in Boston: A Blueprint for Action
Part of a series focusing on cities around the country, this report from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions examines the challenges and opportunities for Boston as we strive to create a more equity-based workforce development system in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
February 2021
Read the report
Catapult
In 2019, SkillWorks and The Boston Foundation, along with other partners, launched Catapult. The goal of Catapult is to invest in the exponential growth of Greater Boston’s most effective, market-driven training and education organizations in partnership with the region’s most savvy businesses in order to leverage the region’s potential for sustaining talent via the workforce system.
In early 2019, the Boston Foundation, in partnership with SkillWorks and JVS Boston, published The Catapult Papers, a series of four papers on the practices that "next-gen workforce development organizations" are using to connect employers and jobseekers. Catapult followed up the initial publication with Catapult Forward, which captured how a dozen of greater Boston's most-innovative workforce organizations are using 14 best practices to work with employers and workers to find, train and help ensure that workers are being retained in rewarding careers.
Other recent research and publications:
A Trauma-Informed Approach to Workforce: An Introductory Guide for Employers and Workforce Development Organizations
Although the term “trauma-informed care” is new to most workforce development practitioners, the coronavirus pandemic has spurred many to gain a better understanding of trauma. This introduction was created to help employers and workforce development organizations understand toxic stress and the effects of trauma on individuals in the workplace.
April 2021
High Quality Career Technical Education in Massachusetts: A Critical Investment in Our State’s Future
This paper highlights the elements of high quality career technical education programs and ways to support efforts to expand access to such programming.