"Building the Workforce of the Future" is an in-depth, independent report on the first eighteen months of Career Pathways, New York City's sweeping new strategy for workforce development. In November 2014, Mayor de Blasio launched a sweeping new approach to workforce development in New York City. Unlike the previous model, which prioritized connecting workers with available jobs as quickly as possible, the administration's new Career Pathways framework focuses on helping jobseekers and workers to build the skills required to be more competitive in the labor force. Career Pathways emphasizes training and education for workers and jobseekers, deeper connections with the city's employers, and a commitment to improving working conditions for the city's lower-wage workers. This report aims to provide an independent assessment of the progress made since the launch of Career Pathways. Based on interviews with more than 30 workforce development experts, the study details where the administration's new approach to workforce development has achieved success or taken important steps forward, where it has stalled, and what challenges have limited the new system's effectiveness. The study also includes a series of recommendations to bolster Career Pathways and includes endnotes. [Additional research support for this report was provided by Brittany Prieto and Billy Richling.]