Improved Hiring, Retention, and Employee Advancement Practices Overview
Through the ‘Improved Hiring, Retention, and Employee Advancement Practices’ effort, we are working to support employers to expand their labor pool and community members to have more equitable access to jobs.
The Opportunity
In our region, only 69% of community members in this region are employed. When we dive deeper into this data, there are clear equity gaps that exist:
| In Adams County, 67% of Hispanic / Latino/a/x community members are employed | compared to 69% of white community members |
| x | x |
| 73% of women are employed | compared to 86% of men |
| x | x |
| 69% of women with children under 18 years old are employed | compared to 73% of all women |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table s2301 Employment Status. RMP Region data includes Adams County & the City and County of Broomfield. Data for Hispanic / Latino/a/x community members is not available for the City and County of Broomfield due to small population size.
“The pandemic shined a spotlight on vast inequities entrenched in our labor market: workers of color are both more likely to be in the “essential” workforce and work in sectors hardest hit by the pandemic—often earning abysmally low wages with few benefits or career advancement opportunities as well as greater exposure to Covid-19. This employment crisis rests atop structural issues: stagnant wages, skyrocketing inequality, an anemic workforce development system, and persistent racial discrimination and occupational segregation.”
Source: “10 Priorities for Advancing Racial Equity Through the American Rescue Plan,” Policy Link
This effort is working to close these equity gaps by improving how companies and organizations hire, retain, and support the advancement of diverse community members. This will support companies and organizations to expand their labor pool and ensure community members have more equitable access to jobs.
What Will Be Accomplished By the End of 2022
- 20 Large Employers (50+ employees) in top industry clusters and critical industries engage in this effort to improve how they hire diverse candidates, and connect current employees to support services to help them stay employed and gain the skills and credentials needed for career advancement
- At least 10 Large Employers in top industry clusters and critical industries improve their practices (advance through the Benchmarks for Improving Hiring, Retention & Advancement Practices)
- Specifically, increase the number of employers who remove unnecessary degree requirements in job postings, and instead establish competency-based requirements for jobs
Note: This strategy also supports organizations who have less than 50 employees, and those that utilize volunteers
More About The Effort
This work is focused on organizational level policy action. Employers who join this effort will expand their labor pool and support community members to have more equitable access to jobs by:
- Improving their hiring, retention & employee advancement practices to be more equitable and give them access to a larger pool of potential employees
- Connecting employees with community support services that help them stay employed
- Connecting employees with navigators to support them to gain the skills needed to advance in this region
Learn more about this effort, including how we measure impact, our action underway in 2022 and beyond, and who’s involved, by clicking on the links in the left sidebar.
Join This Effort
Click the button below to join this effort.