5 Takeaways from the American Job Quality Study from JFF
Jobs for the Future released the first ever American Quality Job Study earlier this fall. This national study, subtitled the 2025 State of the U.S. Labor Force and launched in partnership with heavyweights Gallup, the Families & Workers Fund, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, studied more than 18,000 people to create the first nationally representative survey of job quality across the entire U.S. workforce. It included the experiences of workers across industries, occupations, regions, demographics, and job-types, including W-2, gig, and informal work.
As background, the study defines job quality across five dimensions that research shows matter most to both workers and businesses:
1) Financial Well-being, which includes fair pay as well as stable employment and benefits that meet needs and reduce financial stress
2) Workplace Culture and Safety, reflecting a safe, respectful environment
3) Growth and Development Opportunities, with clear paths to build skills, gain experience, and advance in one’s career (this is particularly important to Deaconess)
4) Agency and Voice, allowing workers to influence decisions that shape one’s job, such as pay, working conditions, and technology implementation
5) Work Structure and Autonomy, including meaningful control over when and how work gets done
The report reflects benchmarks for these markers; for example, it sets a level of pay related to the Federal Poverty Level which reflects if a job offers “Financial well-being”.
Here are some of the key findings from the research:
1) Nearly 3 in 10 (29%) US employees are struggling financially. They are “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by” despite the fact that they are working. Another 43% say they are “doing ok.” This is consistent with what we know about government benefits, which is that many people accessing food supports and other government benefits are working, but they aren’t making enough money to support themselves. This is also consistent with data Deaconess receives from TeamNEO, reflecting that 60% of Cuyahoga County workers make less than a family-sustaining wage.
2) 60% of US workers lack quality jobs; more specifically, their jobs don’t offer all 5 aspects of job quality listed above. A few relevant breakdowns:
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- If someone has an Associate degree or less education, their odds of having a quality job are 35% or under
- Only 33% or fewer of Black, multi-racial, or Hispanic employees hold quality jobs, and only 34% of women.
- The Midwest (including Ohio) is the lowest region in the U.S., with only 36% of jobs being quality jobs
- Those age 18-24 are least likely to have quality jobs at only 29%, about 10 points lower than other age groups
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3) 25% of employees do not see opportunities for advancement in their current role, as their organizations don’t offer promotions, access to mentorship or on-the-job or other types of training.
4) Almost two-thirds (62%) of employees have unstable or unpredictable work schedules, and more than half of people often or sometimes work longer than planned.
5) Quality jobs are linked to better outcomes at work and in life. Employees in quality jobs report substantially better outcomes across nearly every aspects of their well-being, including life satisfaction, happiness and health. 58% of people in quality jobs are highly satisfied at work, compared with 23% of people not in quality jobs. This all makes sense, doesn’t it?
The report is chock-full of other interesting data, which I don’t highlight here only to keep this short-ish, but I found it all meaningful and thought-provoking. Similarly, the implications section of the report is the shortest, as that wasn’t the goal, but it mentions some initial ideas for employers, for policymakers, and for worker advocates (e.g. unions). For anyone who cares about people having better outcomes in life, I encourage you to spend more time learning, and thinking, about the data in this study.