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Orange RPU PY 2025-2028 Regional Plan <br />42 | Page <br /> <br />pathways, and promote equitable workforce development strategies that enable workers <br />to advance into sustainable, high-quality careers. <br /> <br />Strategic Approaches to Advancing Job Quality <br /> <br />Ensuring job quality requires a targeted approach, prioritizing collaboration with high-road <br />employers while expanding access to sustainable career opportunities. The Orange RPU <br />is committed to partnering with businesses that embrace high-road job principles while <br />working within industries with low-wage jobs, prioritizing employers that demonstrate a <br />commitment to workforce investment and career progression. Given the region’s high <br />concentration of low-wage jobs, workforce development strategies must expand access <br />to quality jobs while improving conditions in traditionally low-wage sectors. <br />The Aspen Institute’s research on sectoral workforce development highlights two key <br />strategies: removing barriers to good jobs for low-income individuals and improving job <br />quality in industries with high concentrations of low-wage work82. These principles will <br />continue to inform the RPU’s approach as it strengthens partnerships, advances career <br />pathways, and implements policies that support long-term economic mobility across the <br />region. <br /> <br />The RPU will continue implementing support workers to obtain sustainable employment <br />and strengthen industry competitiveness by ensuring a skilled and stable workforce. By <br />integrating high-road employment practices into workforce planning, the RPU aligns its <br />efforts with California’s vision of a High Road Workforce System, ensuring that regional <br />investments promote equity, economic security, and sustainability. <br /> <br />Employer Engagement and Job Quality Standards <br /> <br />Employer engagement is a critical component of this strategy. The RPU will expand its <br />efforts to collaborate with businesses to integrate high-road employment practices. It will <br />establish a standardized job quality assessment tool to evaluate industries, companies, <br />and occupations, ensuring that workforce development investments prioritize employers <br />committed to job quality. Additionally, through regional employer convenings, industry <br />roundtables, and direct business engagement, the RPU will facilitate discussions with <br />employers, helping them understand how workforce investments can enhance their <br />competitive advantage while improving job quality. <br /> <br />Integration of Statewide Interventions <br /> <br />In alignment with CWDB priorities, the RPU will integrate the four key state interventions <br />to advance job quality and worker equity: <br /> <br />• Professionalizing Precarious Work: The RPU will collaborate with employers to <br />establish industry-recognized certifications that elevate traditionally low-wage <br />occupations. This will ensure that workers gain the skills necessary for higher-paying <br />positions. <br /> <br />82 Maureen Conway, Amy Blair, and Steven L. Dawson, Sectoral Strategies for Low-Income Workers: Lessons from the Field (Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute, 2007), <br />https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Sectoral-Strategies.pdf. <br />EXHIBIT 1