As Americans grapple daily with the cost of living, it’s impossible ignore how rapid shifts in the economy, coupled with a rigid labor market, are negatively impacting workers and jobseekers. People are stretching themselves thin to provide a good quality life for themselves and their families and, in many cases, they are doing so while stuck in low-wage jobs with little or no opportunities to move up the economic ladder.

Economic mobility requires more than access to employment. It means ensuring workers have clear pathways to pursue better-paying opportunities, develop new skills, and advance in their careers without having to start over. It also requires employers and workforce systems to recognize the barriers that prevent people from accessing these opportunities, even when they have the skills and motivation to succeed.

The Shift Work Forward network is filled with people and organizations who are dedicating time and resources to this issue. One such organization is EmployIndy, our Network Partner based in Indianapolis. They recently released their 2026-2029 strategic plan which includes four audacious goals — one focused solely on accelerating economic mobility for Marion County residents.

EmployIndy is the latest member of our network to address economic mobility head on. Earlier this year, New York City Workforce Funders announced the launch of their 2026-2028 strategic plan which also focuses on improving economic mobility by increasing opportunities for low-wage workers to move into middle-wage occupations.

A Coordinated Approach to Career Opportunity

While their approaches reflect the unique needs of their respective communities, both organizations recognize that improving economic mobility requires intentional investments in the systems that connect people to opportunity. Whether through targeted investments in middle-wage occupations or more coordinated career navigation services, their strategies demonstrate how local workforce leaders can help residents make informed decisions about their futures while strengthening connections between workers, employers, and quality jobs.

EmployIndy’s strategy will focus on using targeted workforce investments to empower local residents with the knowledge and personalized career navigation needed to secure good jobs and improve economic mobility. Their new strategies include:

1. Implementing an integrated, countywide data framework across all funding streams to track program outcomes, ensuring consistent provider quality, and driving annual program development decisions. A shared approach to data and accountability can help ensure that workforce investments are producing meaningful results. By tracking outcomes consistently across programs and providers, EmployIndy can better identify successful approaches, address service gaps, and direct resources where they can have the greatest impact.
2. Establishing a unified career navigation standard while bolstering career advising and training, and creating seamless partner referral pathways to ensure residents receive consistent, high-quality and well-informed career guidance. For workers navigating an increasingly complex labor market, access to reliable career guidance can make a significant difference. Consistent advising and stronger referral pathways can help residents better understand available opportunities, identify the skills they need, and navigate the steps toward a quality job.
3. Expanding access to workforce services and career awareness by modernizing digital platforms and establishing neighborhood-based access points across community partner network. Expanding access also means recognizing that not everyone knows where to turn for workforce support or can easily access traditional service locations. By bringing services into neighborhood settings and improving digital access, EmployIndy aims to make career resources more visible and accessible to residents across Marion County.

Building a More Responsive Workforce System

By pairing rigorous, data-driven accountability with accessible, high-quality career guidance, EmployIndy is building a more responsive workforce ecosystem that meets residents where they are. This intentional alignment of resources, technology, and community partnerships will help to remove the systemic barriers that too often keep hardworking people stuck in low-wage roles.

These efforts also reflect a broader shift in how workforce organizations approach economic mobility. Rather than focusing solely on individual employment outcomes, leaders across the Shift Work Forward network are working to align resources, strengthen partnerships, and address the systemic challenges that shape access to quality jobs. That kind of coordination is essential to creating lasting change.

As EmployIndy and other leaders in the Shift Work Forward network puts these types of plans into action, there is real opportunity—and genuine hope—for a future where hard work reliably translates into lasting economic security.

For more details on EmployIndy’s approach, check out their detailed 2026-2029 strategic plan.