Our workforce is not prepared for work in the 21st century, and unless we do something now, people will be left out of economic opportunity. At its height, this labor crisis will leave no group or community, no industry, unaffected. However, the lack of preparedness will most affect the middle class—the engine of our economy and the paragon of modern society. In the coming years, we’ll all have to contend with the disruptive force of an eroding middle class and the loss of human purpose which it produces.

Our mission at WorkingNation is to create and distribute powerful stories about the nation’s current and future state of work that educates, inspires, and connects people, thereby driving decision makers to scale solutions that can produce and sustain a thriving workforce. We strive to secure the future of the American workforce by catalyzing C-suite executives, entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, educators, legislators, and local civic leaders to act in ways that will change the trajectory of today’s and tomorrow’s workers. 

Humans are the critical capital input of our economy, and a robust economy will require 21st century workers to be lifelong learners, capable of attaining new skills and remaining adaptable throughout their careers. Driven by rapidly advancing technologies, globalization, and demographics, modern workers need to adjust to constantly evolving labor requirements. Likewise, employers of all stripes need to embrace the role of developing adaptable talent, and ensuring that the jobs they offer provide a standard of living that enables workers to remain productive and economically valuable throughout their work lives, with dignity and purpose.

Our journalism and storytelling expose the causes and effects of unemployment, revealing both the gravity and the pace of change of these threats. Our work demonstrates that already there are emerging solutions, as well as available resources for more and stronger solutions to be developed. But it’s not enough for an organization to simply cover stories about workforce challenges—there needs to be a clear call to action to diagnose systemic labor issues and generate solutions that can address these issues at the requisite scale.

We start by capturing the fundamental workforce challenges in a targeted geography, demographic, or work sector, and then partner with emerging leaders who are committed to finding a solution, chronicling how the solution took shape over time and is being implemented. Our national distribution of stories throughout this process amplifies these efforts so that their success can be replicated in other cities, sectors, and c-suites.

WorkingNation stories recognize macro- and micro-economic trends and their influence on different industries and geographies, on investment decisions surrounding the worker, and on “human capital” at large. We believe that solutions to specific workforce challenges depend on several factors: industry leaders identifying necessary skills and competencies, the development of talent pipelines that embrace lifelong learning, and, most critically, the coming together of policymakers, academic leaders, and state and local resources with employers.

The success of our approach lies in the combination of conversation-starting content and the encouragement of civic leaders, business leaders, and employee leadership groups to find workforce solutions. Beyond storytelling, WorkingNation convenes business, government, nonprofit organizations, and thought leaders alongside workers to share programs with which they’ve had success and to conceptualize new approaches, creating a nexus point for the conception of actionable outcomes.

The workforce conversation has occurred at the national level in numerous ways over many decades, often placing a greater emphasis on labor statistics and layoffs than the value of human workers. Through award-winning filmmakers and journalists, WorkingNation brings a fresh look at today’s distinct challenges via solution-oriented stories and in-depth reporting. We seek to bring solutions to scale by reporting on best practices, research, and special content distribution channels. We have cultivated a reputation for storytelling that remains fiercely focused on finding employment solutions for workers, businesses, and communities alike—and for decades to come.

At WorkingNation, we believe in a future where people have meaningful employment, fostering not only economic stability but also greater purpose such that our nation’s workforce can truly thrive.