Transcript Linking Postsecondary to Employers and to Good Jobs

Linking Postsecondary
to Employers and
to Good Jobs
Partnering to Benefit Low-Skilled
Individuals
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Government partnerships with business can
promote access and success in postsecondary
education for low-skilled individuals, but states must:
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Identify where additional investment in workforce education
can make a difference for workers and employers both
Channel resources toward supporting regional partnerships
between employers and providers of workforce education
Tricky balance of meeting individual employer needs,
pursuing state economic development goals and helping
workers advance
But neither employers nor the state, can afford to leave any
adult behind
Linking Workforce Education
to the Labor Market
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How do workforce education offerings compare to
workforce needs of employers?
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Statewide policies that link employer demand to
workforce education programs on ongoing basis
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Washington Dec 2005 report assessing workforce supply &
demand, Illinois project to project future workforce supply
Career Pathways
Illinois’ Critical Skill Shortages Initiative
Washington’s Skills Panels and Centers of Excellence
Georgia’s Statewide Skills Certifications
Massachusetts’ Extended Care Career Ladder Initiative
Ideally doing it for all workforce education programs,
not just special initiatives
Government Training Partnerships
with Business and Industry
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Find creative ways to ensure the training benefits low-wage
workers: target training grants according to workers’ skill levels, job
level, occupational cluster or sector, and/or geographic region
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Link the training provided to wage increases or job promotions
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Incorporate basic ed and English language instruction into training
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Wherever possible, require business partners to provide paid
release time for training
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Offer on-site training, preferably during work hours, or flexible
scheduling at off-site locations
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Help workers earn college certificates and degrees over time by
offering transferable college credit for partnership training
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Support workers’ participation in training with career and academic
counseling, tutoring, soft-skills training, opportunities for peer
networking, and other supportive services, like child care
Career Pathways: Examples in
Several States
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Initiatives that map the range of jobs and linked
educational opportunities, typically within a specific
sector, and fill gaps in education and training services
Ideally ladder starts at lowest literacy and English
language levels and extends through four-year college
degree, and includes comprehensive supportive
services
Kentucky
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KY Community and Technical College System provides funding
to develop and implement career pathways that assist lowincome individuals in entering or advancing in high-growth
occupations (based on regional labor market). Funding provided
through partnership of community colleges, business, and other
stakeholders to design pathways, provide training, and supply
employees for referrals. Funded by state workforce
development trust fund and business partners
Georgia Certified Specialist
Programs
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State convenes groups of large employers to develop
standardized statewide for-credit curricula and
credentials in key sectors such as construction,
manufacturing, warehousing and distribution,
insurance, and customer service which is delivered at
technical colleges
Operated by the Georgia Department of Technical and
Adult Education, with staff assistance from state’s
customized training unit
State’s HOPE Grants, which pay for up to two years of
college for any Georgia resident, are essential to
making these certificates widely available
Curricula geared toward low-skilled workers, also
offered in Spanish
Washington
Regional Skills Panels
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Skills panels bring together local stakeholders
including companies, training providers, and elected
officials to collaboratively:
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Assess current and future skill needs
Achieve dual goals of advancing workers and helping
businesses prosper
Enhance effectiveness of existing state workforce and
economic development investments
Work on solving diverse workforce education issues, such as
articulation of ed and training programs, development of
curricula, creation of apprenticeships, design of customized
training for entry-level and limited English proficient workers in
numerous industries
Washington’s Centers of
Excellence
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State provides financial support to community colleges to
establish centers of excellence in particular industries to
ensure they can develop trained workforces to meet regional
labor market needs
Colleges partner with companies and other colleges to
develop “best practice” industry-based curricula, training
facilities, and product incubator labs
Provide system coordination, coaching and mentoring to
assist in building seamless educational and work-related
systems
Example: Renton Technical College’s Construction COE
serves as a resource for industry, colleges, and others
interested in preparing a workforce for the construction
industry. The Center showcases innovative educational
offering, at RTC and elsewhere, and promotes awareness of
career pathways within construction.
Illinois Critical Skill Shortages
Initiative
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Aligns workforce programs within regions to build a reliable
supply of skilled job seekers for “critical skill shortage”
occupations that pay a good wage and provide benefits
Pulls together regional partnerships of employers, economic
and workforce development agencies, and postsecondary
providers to identify key occupations
With WIB leadership and strategic use of WIA 15% and state
econ dev, encourages state & local E&T agencies to redirect
programs and services to meet labor market shortages
Solutions must meet the short- & long-term needs of regional
economy, realign existing public & private resources, and
expand opportunities through training for “at-risk” individuals,
including TANF recipients, ex-offenders, and the disabled
MA’s Extended Care Career
Ladder Initiative
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Provides grants to nursing homes and home health
agencies, who may partner with other long-term care
facilities, community colleges, CBOs, WIBs, and
others to help create ladders so lower-skilled, lowerpaid nursing home workers can move up (food
service to CNA, CNA to LPN, etc.)
Ultimate employer goal: to increase quality of care
and retention of workers
Types of training: on-site technical, basic skills, soft
skills, off-site occupational training at community
colleges for upper spectrum of ladder
1 in 5 nursing homes in the state participating, some
as consortiums
Raises at each step of the ladder
Incumbent Worker & Customized
Training Programs
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Most states have incumbent or customized training
programs that subsidize the cost of upgrading skills of
current workers or new hires
In nearly half of the states, training is funded through
some form of employer tax revenues, including UI tax
offsets, UI penalty and interest funds, and separate
employer taxes
Tend to view themselves as economic development
programs whose goal is to help employers meet
workforce needs
Many programs are geared toward middle- to higherlevel workers
Using Incumbent Worker & Customized
Training Programs Strategically
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Allow basic skills & ESL training
Target growth sectors that offer avenues for advancement for low- to
middle-wage workers
Hold employers accountable: require business to match state
investment and pay raises or promotions for employees who
complete training
Target high unemployment areas to assist firms and employees in
lagging economies
Target low-wage workers in ways that maintain credibility with
business
Encourage including for-credit coursework or industry-based
certifications in training plans so those receiving training can work
toward credentials
For employers new to the state, require investments in training in
exchange for economic development dollars
MN’s Job Skills Partnership
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Funds employers in two critical areas where the
state faces particular workforce education
needs
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Low Income Worker Training Program: covers the
cost of short-term training for the unemployed or
those in low-wage jobs with incomes below 200%
FPL so they can move up the career ladder to higher
paying full-time jobs in growth sectors
Special Incumbent Worker Training Program: funds
training for workers with limited English proficiency
and prioritizes projects that have a regional or
statewide impact
Building Workforce Ed & Better Jobs
into Economic Development Policy
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Move beyond bricks and mortar, access to capital, and financial
incentives to ensure public subsidies result in concrete benefits to
residents:
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Ensure development subsidies result in creation of quality jobs,
apprenticeship programs
First source hiring agreements with local workforce education
providers, WIBs, etc.
Require investment in workforce education by groups, such as
Texas’ Economic Development Corporations, that college and spend
local economic development sales taxes
Tie largest tax exemptions to higher compensation levels
 Oregon’s Enterprise Zones require companies to compensate new
workers at 150% of county average wages in order to receive largest
subsidies
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Ensuring Workers and Employers
Benefit
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Invest in partnerships that support postsecondary workforce
education that is portable for workers across a group of
employers (e.g., fund for-credit programs)
Leverage employer investments with state funds by requiring
employers to provide matching funds, paid release time for
training, and/or use of employer facilities or staff for training
Link state investments in regional partnerships or
development to workforce education, hiring preferences,
wage increases, and promotions for workers participating in
postsecondary
Require that regional partnerships supported with state funds
provide postsecondary to a range of workers, including entry
points for those with lower skills and/or limited English
Create consistent funding for community colleges to support
local and state economic and workforce development
priorities