WorkAdvance Sectoral Advancement Model
RCTReview
Non-college educated workers face severe wage stagnation and structural hurdles when attempting to transition into high-paying occupations [1, 2]. Traditional employment programs often focus on rapid job placement without targeting high-growth sectors, failing to produce durable wage increases [3, 4].
Picture this
WorkAdvance operates like a customized bridge between job seekers and high-growth local businesses. Instead of placing workers in any available job, the program screens candidates for basic skills, delivers targeted technical training alongside workplace soft skills, and connects trainees directly to employers in sectors like IT, manufacturing, and healthcare [5-8]. Afterwards, career coaches remain attached to participants post-hire to resolve workplace hurdles and foster long-term career growth [7, 9].
What the evidence says
Pooled earnings across all four providers increased by $1,945 (a 14% increase, p < 0.01) in Year 2 and $2,716 (a 11.5% increase, p < 0.01) in Year 5 [10, 11]. Mature providers yielded higher impacts; Per Scholas participants achieved a 41 percentage point increase in IT sector employment in Year 2 (61% vs. 20%, p < 0.01) and a 19.6% long-term earnings gain in Year 6 (p < 0.01) [10, 12, 13].
- Who was studied
- Human adult job seekers across four operating providers: Towards Employment (Ohio), Madison Strategies (Oklahoma), St. Nick's Alliance (Brooklyn, NY), and Per Scholas (Bronx, NY) [8, 10].
- How
- Multi-site Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluated by Hendra et al. (2016) and Schaberg and Greenberg (2020), measuring participant outcomes at 2-year, 5-year, and 6-year post-enrollment intervals [8, 10-12].
What to do
Establish a multi-site sectoral training initiative that mandates pre-enrollment skill screening, industry-aligned technical certifications, and dedicated post-placement retention coaching.
From the source
"The pooled results across the four providers show that as a whole, Work Advance increased earnings among participants by approximately $1,945 (about a 14 percent increase) in the second year studied and $2,716 (about an 11 percent increase) in the fifth year studied." [11]
Evidence-Review_Sectoral-Employment_2222022_0.pdf