At JYST, our team is reshaping the language around the "service industry," most commonly associated with jobs and businesses within the realm of restaurants, hospitality, and retail.
These industries encompass many different jobs and employers, well beyond restaurants and hospitality (and retail); and produces services that provide everyday needs and conveniences foundational to our lives.
We believe that today's vernacular is degrading – described as a lesser-than group, and a sector of jobs undemanding of higher education, specialty skills, experience, and historically yielding lower wages.
As our team's conversation around this topic has grown, FOUNDATIONAL has been a key term in describing the sector of the labor force we are working with. We believe by switching terminology from the "service industry" to the "foundational workforce," we are offering more positivity, as well as several visual analogies that imply how crucial the health of our Foundational Workforce is to the rest of our economy. Like the load-bearing portion of a house, or the roots of a tree – nothing can be great without a strong foundation.
