‘Job-Readiness’ Is a Finish Line Disguised as a Starting Point
It fails job seekers facing systemic barriers — and it fails the Employment Services Sector. Résumé workshops, job boards, and “compete harder” messaging can’t fix a system that was never built for equity. Job-readiness is treated like a neutral starting line. It’s not. Many are excluded even when they check all the boxes — because of racism, ableism, colonialism, or other bias baked into hiring systems. Others are held back by imposed precarity: deep-poverty income supports, transit deserts, empty fridges, no available child care. These are structural conditions that make stability out of reach. The result? Systemically excluded job seekers remain excluded — in our caseloads, but not in our outcomes. Leaders chase fast results, hitting the targets... but missing the point. Staff burn out and churn out. And the data backs it up. Evaluations, audits, and client feedback are telling the same story: This model doesn’t work for those it was never built to serve. It’s time to reimagine employment services. To build pathways that create equity, protect staff wellbeing, and deliver outcomes that last. Every journey begins with our Foundational Course: Reengineering Employment Services.