NCRC helps Missourians work sooner, earn more

NCRC Workforce MeasuresMany advocates of credential based hiring have long held that jobseekers will earn higher wages or salaries commensurate to higher scores on credentials such as the National Career Readiness Certificate. Frank Neely from the WIB of Southwest Missouri led joint efforts with Mayo Enterprises and the Missouri Division of Workforce Development to put this theory to the test.

The research partnership examined the average earnings, entered employment, and retention rates by NCRC and education levels of Adult enrolled clients over three years.  The results quantifiably demonstrate the benefits to jobseekers that choose to demonstrate their skills via the completion of such assessments.  The WIB published the monograph now available for download detailing the performance for NCRCs throughout Missouri.

The research focused on customers of the Missouri one-stop career center system comparing job seekers with the NCRC and those without.  While it’s natural to conclude that education advancement improves average earnings, additional education coupled with the NCRC propels earning potential even further, according to the report.  Three years worth of data also demonstrates that workforce center customers with higher NCRC scores are more likely to get back to work.  Employment Retention, the measure for the likelihood that customers stay in a job longer, also shows improvement with each level of the NCRC, though not as dramatic as the Entered Employment and the Average Earnings measures.

The report acknowledges special contributions by Dr. Merrilea Mayo of Mayo Enterprises and a lead strategist for New Options New Mexico.  Brenda Ancell and Roger Baugher from the Missouri Division of Workforce Development provided valuable data sourcing and analysis for the project as well.