New Reports from Jobs for the Future
Jobs for the Future (http://www.jff.org/) has released several new reports relevant to workforce education programs:
Getting Ahead: A Survey of Low-Wage Workers on Opportunities for Advancement (http://www.jff.org/Documents/gettingahead.pdf)
Overcoming Obstacles, Optimizing Opportunities: State Policies to Increase Postsecondary Attainment for Low-Skilled Adults (http://www.jff.org/Documents/BTpolicyoverview.pdf)
High-Leverage Governance Strategies for Workforce Development Systems (http://www.jff.org/Documents/winsgovern.pdf)
Making the Connections: The Role of Employer Associations in Workforce Development (http://www.jff.org/Documents/MakingConnect.pdf)
Working Together on Worker Training (http://www.jff.org/Documents/WINsworktog.pdf)
See below for further details.
"Getting Ahead: A Survey of Low-Wage Workers on Opportunities for Advancement" According to a national survey of low-wage workers, commissioned by Jobs for the Future, seven in ten workers who earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level want access to education and training programs that can help them advance to well-paid positions. Nearly one out of four low-wage workers have paid for instruction out of their own pocket despite competing financial commitments and family obligations, a strong indication of the importance they place on advancing their education. Low-wage workers who have used government-sponsored or other workforce development programs for job placement, education, and career training have found them useful. However, the survey results also suggest a gap in workers' awareness of the public system and their use of its services, a gap that better outreach and marketing might narrow. The study, a national survey of 1,002 adults with household incomes near the poverty line, was commissioned by Jobs for the Future as part of the Workforce Innovation Networks (WINs) initiative with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. http://www.jff.org/Documents/gettingahead.pdf
"Overcoming Obstacles, Optimizing Opportunities: State Policies to Increase Postsecondary Attainment for Low-Skilled Adults" The sweeping economic changes of recent decades have left many working families wondering how they will survive. The American industrial economy of the early twentieth century, which relied on unskilled labor, has given way to a knowledge economy that demands higher levels of education and skills. For workers seeking to gain the further education now required, the venue of choice increasingly is the community college, with its capacity to provide both postsecondary credentials and advanced skills training. In most cases, these students are older than traditional college students, they have families, and they must continue to work while they study. Frequently, they arrive on campus unprepared to succeed in an academic setting. http://www.jff.org/Documents/BTpolicyoverview.pdf
"High-Leverage Governance Strategies for Workforce Development Systems" For employer organizations seeking to influence local workforce development systems, this report describes exemplary governance strategies in the areas of: planning and development, policy, promotion, performance measurement and continuous improvement, operational leadership, and administering innovative services. This issue brief for Workforce Innovation Networks-WINs-is part of series of resources for engaging employers in workforce development for the dual purposes of improving advancement opportunities for workers and meeting the workforce needs of employers. http://www.jff.org/Documents/winsgovern.pdf
"Making the Connections: The Role of Employer Associations in Workforce
Development"
Making the Connections is designed to help employer associations
serve their members in workforce development needs. This guidebook
focuses on workforce development for entry-level positions. It describes
four types of activities employer organizations can undertake:
organizing and supporting employers, serving current and potential
workers, improving education and training services, and upgrading
workforce-development systems. Making the Connections was produced by
the Center for Workforce Success of the National Association of
Manufacturers for Workforce Innovation Networks (WINs).
http://www.jff.org/Documents/MakingConnect.pdf
"Working Together on Worker Training"
This issue brief for Workforce Innovation Networks (WINs)
addresses the advantages of inter-firm cooperation in meeting workforce
development needs. Particularly for smaller companies, inter-firm
cooperation can improve pre-employment skill development and recruiting,
reduce costs for incumbent worker training, lower turnover, and raise
productivity. This brief highlights innovative practices and suggests
how employer organizations and their partners in regional workforce
development systems can combine forces to build effective, multi-firm
collaborations.
http://www.jff.org/Documents/WINsworktog.pdf