The Partnership
This people-centered work changes lives and stabilizes families while strengthening Dallas’s workforce ecosystem. By upskilling and advancing low-wage and underutilized workers into higher-paying, in-demand roles – and surrounding them with hands-on support to ensure success – we help reduce poverty and its downstream impacts. The result is reduced crime, improved health outcomes, greater educational achievement and stronger, more resilient communities.
For employers, the Workforce Dallas–Goodwill Dallas partnership unlocks access to a reliable, prepared and supported talent pipeline drawn from Dallas’s forgotten workforce: individuals ready to contribute, grow and stay. For jobseekers, it means dignity, opportunity and a second chance to thrive. Together, we are reshaping the future of Dallas’s workforce … one person, one business and one community at a time.
The Landscape
- The working-age adult population (ages 35-64) comprises over a third of Dallas residents and they are less educated than younger adults (ages 25-34).
- Among working-age adults, Blacks and Hispanics are significantly less educated than Whites.
- A strong correlation exists between education and earnings, and with lower levels of education, Blacks and Hispanics earn less than Whites.
- Only 40% of the jobs in Dallas are considered “good jobs” with earnings of $32K or greater, 60% of the jobs earned less that $32K.
- The distribution of “good jobs” is heavily skewed toward more educated individuals, and therefore Blacks and Hispanics heavily represent the proportion not in good jobs.
"Dallas must be prepared for the future and actively build toward the future we want."
DALLAS MAYOR
ERIC JOHNSON
Workforce development:
For our families, our city & our future.
- Over their lifetime, Associate degree workers earn 60% more than high school grads; Bachelor’s degree workers 75% more than those with only high school diplomas.
- Studies show education and training can reduce mortality rates and risk of substance abuse, reduce incarceration rates, and change patterns of generational poverty.
- Caliber of talent in the labor market is one of the top factors considered in corporate locations/relocation.
- Education and training raise productivity and creativity and innovation, leading to greater output, economic growth and a strong, stable economy.