The Governmental Accounting Office (GAO) published a report recently touting the positive effects of local WIBs collaborating with employers. DOL Secretary Hilda Solis echoed praises for the public workforce system in testimony to congress, as noted in her statement issued February 16th.
According to GAO, Workforce board officials and their partners in the 14 initiatives cited a range of factors that facilitated building innovative collaborations. Almost all of the collaborations grew out of efforts to address urgent workforce needs of multiple employers in a specific sector, such as health care, manufacturing, or agriculture, rather than focusing on individual employers. Additionally, the partners in these initiatives made extra effort to understand and work with employers so they could tailor services such as jobseeker assessment, screening, and training to address specific employer needs.
The report cited positive examples from Greensboro, NC and Cincinnati, Ohio. WIBs do well with skilling up job candidates, but expressed challenges in the restrictions of WIA to meet employer needs for advancing incumbent workers. The current WIA performance measurement system also neglects key employer outcomes, according to WIBs studied. The initiatives examined include local WIBs in Chicago, Cincinnati, Gainesville (FL), Golden (CO), Greensboro (NC), Lancaster (PA), Madison (WI), Rochester (MN), San Bernardino (CA), Seattle, Taylor (MI), Vienna (VA), and Wichita (KS).
“The findings in the report emphasized that stronger partnerships between employers and federally funded workforce programs lead to improved employment and retention outcomes for our nation’s workers, something that the U.S. Department of Labor does very well through our Employment and Training Administration. The report also reaffirms the importance of reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to help meet the needs of regional and local economies, and enhance the skills of workers to more effectively compete in the job market.
“As GAO points out in its report, we are working across federal agencies to streamline administrative processes and create better alignment of resources and programs to ensure effective service delivery. The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education continue to seek opportunities to develop joint guidance to states and local grantees, and to implement cross-cutting demonstration projects that encourage partnerships and improve models for delivering quality services across programs at lower costs.
“In the report, GAO recommended that the Department of Labor compile information on local workforce boards ‘that effectively leverage WIA funds with other funding sources and disseminate this information in a readily accessible manner.’ We agree with GAO’s recommendation,” Secretary Solis noted in her statement of February 16th.
“The department has begun work to design the next generation of online technical assistance for the public workforce system’s leaders and practitioners, agency grantees, and other key partners and stakeholders. As part of this effort, we are developing ways to identify promising practices and incorporate and disseminate this information through guidance, virtual and in-person technical assistance, and outreach efforts.
We will continue to take the necessary steps to improve the way our workforce system functions so that employers and workers alike can thrive in our economy.”