Promising Practices for Integrating Positive Youth Development in the Workplace

The demographics of the U.S. workforce are changing in ways that are hard to ignore. Large numbers of baby boomers are retiring and the young adults who are entering the labor force are more racially and ethnically diverse than at any other point in American history.[1] Against this backdrop, there is a common challenge for employers who want to hire and retain young adult talent and for workforce development practitioners: how to set young workers up for success, particularly young workers of color who have been systematically excluded from opportunities to prepare for, access, and advance in the workforce.

One emerging strategy is to incorporate positive youth development approaches into the workplace to better support and engage young adult workers (i.e., those ages 18 to 29). Positive youth development has long been used in social service programs that serve adolescents and young adults. However, the workplace is a very different setting, with different constraints and expectations for young people; therefore, there is a need to better understand what it would mean for employers to implement positive youth development practices. Given that workforce development organizations understand both young jobseekers’ and employers’ needs, they play an important role in engaging employers in conversations about practices that support positive youth development and in helping them foster environments that encourage development for all employees, including young employees.