Workforce Development as an Anti-Poverty Strategy — A Call to Action for Cross-Sector Collaboration

The national conversation around workforce development is reaching a critical point. Currently, federal policy is undergoing a significant overhaul: proposed changes to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) are being actively debated, with the "Make America Skilled Again" initiative at the forefront. This proposal aims to consolidate 11 federally funded training programs into state-administered block grants, stripping away federal oversight and slashing funding by as much as 24%.

One of the most consequential outcomes? Job Corps has been targeted for elimination in the current budget proposal. While a federal judge has temporarily paused its closure after widespread advocacy, its future remains uncertain. Federal officials justified this move as a cost-saving measure despite the program’s decades-long role in serving vulnerable youth. These changes mark a seismic shift in how the country invests in its labor force and prepares people for work in a post-pandemic economy.

What’s more, the Department of Labor’s “worker-centered” agenda—which once prioritized job quality, equity, and access—is now under pressure as states prepare to take on expanded responsibility with fewer resources and less accountability. This shift raises urgent questions about whether marginalized communities will still have access to training pathways that lead to living-wage employment.

Yet amid the political uncertainty, one guiding truth remains: workforce development is one of the most effective and scalable anti-poverty strategies we have. Every day, workforce programs help people gain skills, secure good jobs, and build long-term financial stability. In high-poverty regions like Philadelphia—where nearly 30% of children live below the poverty line—local leaders and coalitions continue to leverage workforce development not just to fill jobs, but to break cycles of poverty, drive equity, and transform entire communities.

Increasingly, the national conversation is also turning toward apprenticeships as a viable and equitable pathway into family-sustaining careers. As four-year college degrees become less accessible or practical for many Americans, earn-and-learn models like Registered Apprenticeships offer a powerful alternative—especially for young adults, career-switchers, and communities historically excluded from high-wage industries. In Pennsylvania, initiatives like ApprenticeshipPHL and PAsmart are helping expand access to apprenticeship programs across sectors, from IT and healthcare to green jobs and advanced manufacturing.

But access alone isn't enough—we must ensure that these apprenticeship pathways are trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and genuinely inclusive. Too often, structural barriers like lack of wraparound supports, transportation, or hostile workplace cultures keep marginalized workers from completing these programs. As we expand apprenticeships, we must also invest in retention strategies that recognize the whole person behind the worker.

At A Sutton-Bey LLC, we don’t define workforce development narrowly as “job placement.” We see it as a tool for liberation – a vehicle for equity, healing, and long-term economic mobility. It’s about transforming the systems that marginalize people and reimagining work as a pathway to well-being, not just survival. Below, we unpack what’s broken in our workplaces, why a trauma-informed upgrade is overdue, and how cross-sector collaboration can turn workforce development into a true anti-poverty revolution.

Let’s Talk About What’s Broken

Despite billions of dollars invested in training and placement, employee turnover remains a silent epidemic across industries. People aren’t just leaving jobs – they’re leaving workplaces that don’t work for them. Consider this: 58% of employees who quit a job say their manager (poor management) was the main reason for their departure cbia.com. In parallel, toxic workplace cultures have cost U.S. companies an estimated $223 billion in turnover over the past five years
cbia.com. These figures (from a major SHRM study) lay bare a critical point: when organizations tolerate bad bosses or unhealthy cultures, the employees pay the price first – but ultimately, so do the companies in lost talent and productivity.

It’s time we stop blaming individuals and start rebuilding systems. If more than half of resignations trace back to poor management, then the onus is on employers to fix what’s broken. We must stop asking, “Why won’t people stay?” and start asking, “What are we doing – or failing to do – that makes good people want to leave?” High turnover is often a symptom of deeper organizational issues: lack of communication, lack of growth opportunities, bias or harassment, burnout, and disengaged leadership. In 2023, about 65% of employees reported feeling burned out at work hrdive.com – a sign that many workplaces still aren’t meeting employees’ basic psychological needs. Rather than dismissing this as a worker problem, employers need to acknowledge it as a workplace problem. Retention, morale, and culture are outcomes of how we lead and design our organizations. If we want different outcomes, we have to change the way we operate.

Workforce Development Needs a Trauma-Informed Upgrade

Trauma doesn’t clock out when people clock in. Many people carry invisible wounds – childhood adversity, violence, discrimination, pandemic-related loss, you name it – and those experiences inevitably affect how they show up at work. An estimated 70% of U.S. adults have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime benefitnews.com, and about one-third of U.S. workers report having trauma that negatively impacts their mental health benefitnews.com. In short, trauma is pervasive. If we truly want to build a stable and inclusive workforce, we must first understand the emotional and historical burdens people are bringing with them.

That’s why our approach is rooted in trauma-informed practices – centered on ensuring safety, trust/transparency, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural responsiveness in the workplace. A trauma-informed workplace recognizes the presence of trauma and actively seeks to avoid re-traumatization. We train leaders not only to recognize signs of trauma or chronic stress in their teams, but to build systems that foster psychological safety and healing. This means disrupting biases and toxic “blame and shame” tactics, holding managers accountable for how they treat people, and creating a culture where employees feel valued and supported rather than disposable.

The payoff for organizations that do this is huge. When employees feel safe and supported, they engage more and churn less. In fact, high-trust, supportive workplaces see significantly less burnout and higher productivity than low-trust ones medium.com. By being proactive about mental wellness and trauma-informed management, employers can boost retention, loyalty, and performance. Put simply, tending to the human needs of the workforce isn’t a soft extra – it’s a foundational strategy for workforce stability. If trauma is an unseen roadblock to employee success, then a trauma-informed approach is the key to removing that roadblock and unlocking people’s full potential on the job.

The Future Is Collaborative
 

Cross-sector collaboration: Public, private, and nonprofit partners convene to drive workforce solutions together economyleague.org. The challenges we face – economic insecurity, widening skills gaps, racial inequities in employment, worker burnout – are too big for any one sector to solve alone. The future of workforce development must be radically collaborative. We need public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit partners working in tandem, each bringing their strengths to build a workforce system that is nimble, inclusive, and truly responsive to workers’ needs.

• Philanthropy funding capacity-building, not just short-term programs. Too often, grants go to fragmented pilot programs that vanish after a year or two. Instead, funders can invest in strengthening organizations and systems. For example, in Dallas the Pathways to Work funder collaborative pooled resources to develop pilot programs and improve job quality, effectively building the capacity for “next generation” workforce efforts in the region
  nationalfund.org. Such investments target systemic change rather than one-off outputs.
  
  
• Employers redefining success by measuring retention and employee well-being. Forward-thinking companies are starting to treat metrics like turnover, engagement, and employee well-being as key performance indicators – as important as sales or customer stats. There’s good reason for this: a toxic culture and disengaged workforce will hit your bottom line. The staggering $223 billion cost of culture-driven turnover in five years should be a wake-up call, pushing CEOs to make healthy workplace culture a top priority
  cbia.com. Simply put, keeping your people happy and growing is not just “nice” – it’s mission-critical for business success.
  
  
• Government agencies supporting human-centered design and trauma-informed implementation. Public workforce programs work best when they are designed with the people they serve at the center. Agencies at all levels should encourage human-centered design – engaging job seekers, employers, and front-line staff to co-create services that truly meet their needs
  jff.org. Likewise, integrating trauma-informed approaches in government-run programs can improve outcomes; for instance, many workforce systems are now training staff on how toxic stress and trauma affect job seekers, and embedding supportive practices into job centers
  dwg.workforcegps.org. When government embraces flexibility, user-centric design, and empathy, policies can be delivered in ways that actually work for people.
  
  
• Nonprofits leading with data, integrity, and deep community connection. Nonprofit workforce providers are the boots on the ground – often the trusted bridge to underserved communities. The best nonprofits today leverage data to drive decision-making and prove what works, while staying deeply attuned to the communities they serve. A great example comes from North Philadelphia, where a coalition led by Temple University (a major anchor institution), local nonprofits, and Philadelphia Works (the workforce board) came together to analyze neighborhood needs and craft a plan linking residents to opportunity economyleague.org. This Lenfest North Philly Workforce Initiative is rooted in community input and rigorous analysis. Its recommendations aim to attack the root causes of poverty and forge strategic partnerships for inclusive growth economyleague.org. That kind of integrity – marrying on-the-ground insight with evidence and collaboration – is what moves the needle on equity.
  
  

When these sectors align their efforts, we don’t just change individual outcomes – we change lives, neighborhoods, and futures. A true cross-sector collaboration can mobilize resources at scale, ensure programs reinforce (not duplicate) each other, and create a holistic ecosystem where a person can find training, supportive services, a good job, and a clear career pathway. We’ve seen that synergy in initiatives from Boston to Philadelphia to Dallas. It’s the difference between isolated impact and systems impact.

Call to Action

At A Sutton-Bey LLC, we’re proud to work at the intersection of workforce development, organizational wellness, and justice. We often say that workforce is the new frontline of equity. Every workplace can be a site of either inclusion and growth, or of exclusion and stagnation – and we know which future we prefer. Whether we’re coaching front-line supervisors on empathetic leadership, helping cities develop trauma-informed retention strategies, or supporting nonprofits in reimagining their internal culture, our mission is to build systems that empower people.

This is a moment for bold action. If you’re navigating high turnover, toxic culture, or simply seeking new approaches to leadership and talent development, we invite you to partner with us. Together, let’s build something that lasts. Let’s use workforce development not just as a program or a pipeline, but as a revolution – a comprehensive strategy to advance equity and economic opportunity for all.

Let’s make this vision a reality, one workplace at a time. Workforce development can – and should – be so much more than placement stats. It can be a pathway to liberation. Join us in turning this anti-poverty strategy into lasting change for our organizations and our communities.

Sources: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act proposals tpma-inc.com; SHRM study on toxic culture and turnover cbia.com; Department of Labor priorities dol.gov; “Make America Skilled Again” budget proposal jff.org; Employee burnout and management statistics hrdive.com, cbia.com; Trauma prevalence and workplace impacts benefitnews.com; Trust and burnout in high-trust workplaces medium.com; Human-centered design in workforce systems jff.org; Philadelphia workforce initiatives and poverty stats whyy.org, economyleague.org; National workforce collaborations and philanthropic capacity-building nationalfund.org.