WIOA – Federal Policy Drives EWD Effort

Pam Sornson, JD on July 29, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

August 2, 2022

Coordinating multiple social systems to achieve a common goal is a challenge. That challenge is made bigger when those systems exist in multiple regions, have multiple layers of stakeholders, and the ultimate goal for all is the economic success of the country.

Despite its complexity, this IS the challenge for the federal, state, regional, and local agencies tasked with implementing economic and workforce development initiatives. United by an overarching constellation of policies and practices, they’re crafting the educational, industrial, and social services network that is expected to drive the economy of the future while ensuring economic success for the country’s citizens and residents.

Policy at the Federal Level: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act – WIOA

The WIOA came into effect in 2014 as the first legislative reform of the public workforce policy since 1998. Its funds facilitate training and education support services to both job seekers and employers, uniting the skill sets of one with the labor demand of the other.

Primarily, WIOA’s purpose is to align the work of the diverse workforce and economic development agencies with the federal policy of building a strong labor force in every state. It sets publicly accessible performance goals and encourages regional collaborations, so each business, entity, and government can work, for the most part, in harmony with each other toward the same end.

 

… Coupled with Services

But WIOA and its accompanying federal agencies are also invested in providing direct services to the workforce development sector. Perhaps WIOA’s most valuable assets these days are its employment and job training resources, administered through the federal Employment and Training Administration (ETA). This 2,400-strong network of service providers spans the national workforce development environment, helping workers at all stages of their careers find the jobs they want and employers to find the labor force they need.

The array of services available through the ETA is impressive:

The American Jobs Center system acts as a nexus between workforce and employment. Its program areas encompass support for individual workers (veterans, dislocated, laid-off, youth, etc.) while also offering services related to apprenticeships, certifications, re-entry needs, and other employment-related concerns.

CareerOneStop offers career guidance and training resources for employment seekers with unique challenges. Some are related to their particular status; entry-level workers, 55+ workers, young adults, and previously incarcerated people can all find resources specific to their concerns to help them find the job they want. Notably, while the guidances and employment information resources are uniform for everyone, their job listing and training opportunities are categorized by state. The resources are relevant and helpful for workers across the country.

The Apprenticeship center leverages employment opportunities with hands-on training to provide the most relevant form of ‘work-based learning’ (WBL). These roles offer a myriad of benefits to both the worker and the employer, in addition to the WBL capacity:

They are paid jobs, not volunteer opportunities, so learners earn while they train.

They can (and often do) consist of both work-based training and classroom education, so apprentices gain both practice and theory.

They facilitate critical mentor relationships between the apprentice and their employer, often becoming a foundation for a long and fruitful working partnership.

They generate the credentials needed to qualify for other jobs within an industry. ‘Stacking’ credentials earned in apprenticeships advances a career since many careers these days require mastery of multiple skillsets.

The agency’s ‘MyNextMove‘ portal guides those who haven’t yet decided on their next employment step and offers both personal interest surveys and career and industry resources to help worker-wannabe’s pursue an occupation that suits them well. In partnership with industries and companies around the country, the Apprenticeship center provides a ready-made foundation for many careers and jobs.

JobCorps is the most extensive residential career training program in the nation, working for 50 years to support people ages 16 through 24 years to finish high school, obtain job training, and ultimately find gainful work. High school students can direct their personal interests and skills toward one or more of the country’s top ten high-growth industries. With this credential as a foundation, these young people will have already launched their life-long career path.

State-based training providers – Each state maintains an ‘Eligible Training Provider List’ (ETPL) that compiles the names and contacts of those entities receiving federal funding for their training services. Workers seeking training can find no-cost options through their state’s ‘America’s Job Center’ (AJC) (California’s agency is here). These providers also offer local and regional labor market information and a variety of employment-related materials designed to connect people who want jobs with the employers who need them.

 

… and Funding

Not least significant to the ETA’s function is its administration of millions of dollars worth of federal grants. These funds tie directly to the regional and local agencies tasked with upskilling and retraining their local unemployed clients. Grant recipients can access training and trainee guidance ‘best practices’ to ensure their beneficiaries receive the best possible service.

The grant funding also facilitates the wages offered to apprentices through the Apprenticeship program.

 

… And More

Another resource available through the ETA is its ‘WorkforceGPS‘ website which provides more granular data about how to seek, obtain, and administer federal grants directed to economic and workforce development:

‘Retention and advancement‘ resources offer employers insights on how to optimize their workforce after the hiring and onboarding process is complete. They can also assist those looking for self-employment as entrepreneurs.

Labor market information provides employers, workers, educators, and industries with critical information about how the economy is faring based on earnings, benefits, high-growth sectors, occupation data, and more.

The ‘Communities‘ page collects all available resources onto a single page, so users can find the information they’re looking for and continue to more detailed advice and direction.

 

The federal policies embodied in the WIOA guide the actions, funding, and decision-making activities at every state level and in the regional and local governments in the communities where the work is actually done. By providing a (relatively) ‘single’ focus on ‘economic and workforce development’ as the primary goal, regional workforce development agencies can pursue their particular goals while also moving forward with this overarching national strategy.

 

 

 

 

California’s WIOA

Pam Sornson, JD on July 29, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

August 2, 2022

The Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) provides federal funding for state programs that offer training and employment services to eligible state residents. Every four years, all states must submit a State Plan report on how it used (and plans to use) those funds, emphasizing how they contributed to furthering or achieving economic and workforce development (EWD) goals.

 

California filed its latest report in 2019, which set out its intentions for the following four years (2020-2023). Although it pre-dates the COVID-19 pandemic, it sets a clear moment-in-time snapshot of the state of the State’s economy in that year. The data it furnished can be used as a baseline for future analysis and action on many critical EWD elements, such as:

the extent to which the State accomplished those pre-pandemic initiatives in the intervening three years;

the impact of the pandemic on the EWD system itself – which sectors grew? Shrank? Disappeared? Appeared?;

the EWD system’s short-, mid-, and long-term responses to pandemic-driven disruptions;

the emergence of new sectors, industries, or economies that the 1029 report didn’t include,

and more.

California’s plan offers not just a view of how far it’s come in developing its EWD structure but also acts as a road map as to where it plans to go in the future, with or without the intervention of a public health crisis.

 

 

WIOA State Plan Structure

Each state reports general information about its workforce and economic development activities. In addition to asking about the State’s vision and goals, strategy, and operational activities, the report also calls for:

an economic analysis,

a workforce analysis, and

an analysis of its workforce development, education, and training activities.

As of the report’s publication date, California asserted that it had weathered and recovered from the ‘Great Recession’ of 2007-2009 and was building new economic activities and opportunities on that seemingly stable foundation.

Significant statistics from the report act as a juxtaposition to where the State finds its economic status today:

 

Economic Analysis – 2019

Employment:

California’s unemployment numbers were at a 30-year low due to a decade of significant economic growth and its corresponding employment boom.

That job growth expansion was the longest in State history after World War II.

The workforce demographics were changing as the predominantly White Baby Boomer generation continued exiting the workplace to be replaced by a more racially and economically diverse younger crowd.

Industrial:

Ten of the 11 major industries in the State added jobs throughout the February 2010 – October 2019 period, with the most growth seen in the education, health, and professional and business services industries. Only the mining and logging sector lost jobs over the course of that decade.

Overall, the State’s economy grew by 23.8% over those ten years. Individual industries surpassed that growth rate, with construction expanding by over 58%, hospitality and leisure by 37.4%, and business services by 34%.

Of the State’s 14 Regional Planning Units, eight surpassed one million new jobs between 2010 and 2019.

Based on this data, California’s EWD policies and practices generated a bright economic future for the state and its residents.

 

Workforce Analysis – 2019

This section examines employment and labor market trends, education and skill levels, and skill gaps among employed and unemployed people.

Even then, the state’s economy was in flux as companies and industries emerged and faded, with technology and innovation opening new opportunities while changing the nature of skill sets and competencies.

Technology, in particular, was eroding decades of job security as more machines took over routine and mundane business chores. At the same time, those software programs needed coding, tuning, and maintenance, giving rise to a demand for a new set of digital skills that transcended all industry lines.

Employee ‘churn’ was rising. During that decade, approximately 30% to 40% of the U.S. workforce changed jobs, leaving employers with the cost of hiring and training replacements. This phenomenon was particularly notable in low-skilled and inexperienced workers.

The demand for some amount of post-high school education was also on the rise to land a quality job. ‘Middle skills,’ those requiring more than a diploma but less than a four-year degree, were growing in demand, and organizations were raising wages for well-qualified middle-skilled workers.

The labor market analysis revealed that the State’s recovery had been uneven, with some regions experiencing significant gains while others did not. Regions with strong industry sectors were doing better economically than their less industrial neighbors. The report concluded that changing labor and market conditions required building new, sustainable career paths for workers at all levels of the economy.

 

Workforce Development Activities – 2019

This response details the activities and efforts of 17 state-wide initiatives in the workforce development sector. Loosely organized into three categories, the initiatives direct government, public, and private resources toward solving EWD challenges and building a more robust economic future:

 

Business, Workforce, and Employment Development Activities

At the state level, the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) advises the Governor on EWD concerns. Building policy based on EWD, labor force, and industrial data, the CWDB also informs the work of 49 Local Workforce Development Areas and their corresponding Local Workforce Development Boards. The State Employment Development Department administers federal employment-related funding streams and maintains employment records for over 17,000,000 workers.

 

Training and Education

California’s 115 Community Colleges provide training and education sources for 2.1 million students annually. Administered by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, collectively, they offer 8,000 certification programs, 350 unique fields of study, and more than 4,500 associate degree programs. The California Employment Training Panel provides funding for businesses looking to train new hires or upskill their current labor force. The State Board of Education oversees the curricula, materials, assessments, and accountability activities for California’s K-12 school system. MEanwhile, the Department of Education manages Career Technical Education (CTE), special education, English Learner and Support Division, and the Coordinated Student Support Division.

 

Specific Population Programs

Special populations receive dedicated funding and attention, depending on their needs and goals. The 2019 WIOA State Plan includes information on the education and workforce opportunities for people with disabilities, low-income families, seniors, veterans, Native Americans, farmworkers, and more.

 

In California, hundreds of agencies employing thousands of workers offer support and guidance to millions of employed or wanna-be employed people. All follow a similar track through these federal and state-level policies to generate a stronger, more robust economic outlook for the state. Come 2023, It will be interesting to read in the State Plan how the State fared in its actual EWD activities during its 2020-2023 term.

Evolving Employment Trends – 2022

Pam Sornson, JD on July 19, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

July 19, 2022

Two trends impacting current employment practices are evolving in response to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the technological disruption of traditional work structures. First, workers are rethinking their job expectations and reevaluating their loyalties to their employers and their careers. Second, enterprises are trying to maintain their competitiveness within industries that technology is redesigning daily. How to keep workers happy is just one puzzle they must solve; how to remain ahead in their sector is another.

What’s becoming more apparent is that both sides of the employment relationship are restructuring how they view their contribution to that pact. Their efforts are remaking how ‘work’ will be considered and experienced in the future.

 

The Employee-Centric Workplace

Historically, employers would post their job openings, and potential hires who filled those qualifications got the work – on the employer’s terms and under the employer’s rules. Those days are gone; high employee turnover and its accompanying costs are driving employers to offer more than just a paycheck to their current staff. Instead, their workplace now supports employee ‘engagement and satisfaction’ initiatives, which are quickly becoming the workforce norm, especially for businesses that struggle to find the quality workforce talent they need.

Many businesses are taking up an ’employee-centric’ mindset as they work to lure and retain top talent in a very heated job market. These are just a few of the employee retention efforts being seen across America’s labor market:

Some companies are offering high salaries coupled with fewer work hours. Over the course of 2021, annual salaries grew by 4% (over the historical norm of 2%), and companies that could afford those increases made that choice. Companies that did not have that financial resource elected, instead, to reduce the number of workweek hours, which had the effect of increasing pay. It also responded to the employee’s quest for a better work-life balance.

How employees feel at work is also being considered, as employers invest more in ‘worker well-being’ programs. The belief is that these efforts will encourage both higher employee performance metrics and better retention metrics for the business. A 2020 Gartner survey revealed that of 52 leaders polled:

94% had invested in enhanced worker well-being programs;

85% put at least some funds into mental health support;

50% added physical health supports, and

38% added financial health incentives to their worker benefits packages.

A ‘Chief Purpose Officer’ may now be patrolling office corridors, keeping an eye out for signs of disgruntled workers or employee discord. To encourage a more inclusive workforce, many organizations are asking their staff to bring ‘their whole self’ to the office, including their personal preferences and beliefs. Often, these disparate views and opinions can cause disagreements or worse; the CPO’s role will be to calm ruffled feathers and return worker demeanor to its more productive stance.

Creative responses to both employee demands and a stressed job market will help most employers find and build the workforce they need.

 

The Employer-Centric Effort

Ultimately, a happy workforce builds a successful business, but that’s not enough for the organization to withstand future sector upheavals. To guard against more workforce instability in the future, some employers are building in new and novel ways to ‘future proof’ their business:

They are adding ‘career pathways’ as elements of their hiring and onboarding processes. Rather than simply filling a job opening, business leaders are looking at how that sometimes limited occupation might expand in the future and are hiring to fill both the current and prospective roles. Engaging in ‘career conversations‘ early in the onboarding process gives the new hire a clearer vision of what will be expected of them and, therefore, what they can expect from their employer. Further, both the worker and the employer gain confidence and optimism when those discussions include notes on future possibilities and expanded career opportunities within the company. Again, keeping the employee engaged and looking forward to more work satisfaction is an excellent retention tool.

Companies that build in advance training opportunities to enhance employee skills are also ahead of their competition on the ‘future proofing’ scale. Rather than looking at the actual ‘job’ to be done, corporate leaders are looking at the skill sets they need to accomplish those tasks. In many cases, similar occupations may have ‘adjacent’ skills that can enhance the work—filling job openings with existing employees whose adjacent skills match those needed both provides a new career path for the worker and retains highly skilled talent for the organization.

Some companies go further by converting the ‘enhanced training’ opportunity into a ‘career training’ exercise. They see the new hire as a long-term employee, capable of working towards loftier – and better paying – roles within the enterprise. Hiring with this long-range view in mind can reduce turnover while also giving the organization the long-term stability it needs.

Another element newly emerging as a critical ‘future-proofing’ tool is the ‘soft’ skill set. Many jobs these days are ‘middle-skilled’ jobs – they don’t require the advanced education of a four-year degree, but they need more training than a high school diploma provides. It is becoming more imperative to business success to add ‘soft’ skills to the middle-skill set. ‘Soft’ skills are those that require some level of critical thinking or analysis to accomplish the set goal. Rather than just ‘run a machine,’ for example, operators will be expected to review incoming data streams and make decisions based on minute-by-minute developments. Middle-level employees who bring these soft skills to their work also bring their employer a better, more comprehensive employee.

 

The work world is considerably different from how it was just a few short years ago. These days, both employees and their employers are seeking better, more fulfilling outcomes from their employment effort. Organizations that follow these trends will most likely thrive as the world adapts to a post-COVID, revised economic reality.

 

California’s ‘Strata’ of Workforce Development Sectors

Pam Sornson, JD on July 19, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

July 19, 2022

California’s workforce development sector has rarely been in more turmoil than it is today. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, technology-driven upheavals in workplace norms were already causing struggles between employers and employees. Pandemic-driven technological innovations and the public health crisis exacerbated those challenges, making large segments of the state’s traditional employment roles and jobs obsolete. Workers who kept their jobs started examining their attachment to their work – and their loyalty to their employer. Some wanted better working conditions; others simply quit to find new employment opportunities elsewhere.

And everywhere, economic disruptions drove – and continue to drive – the discontinuation of traditional work standards and the emergence of whole new systems of occupational expectations. Understanding the consequences of all that turmoil and structuring the state’s subsequent economic reality to optimize those changes is the single common focus of California’s workforce development ‘strata.’

 

California’s Workforce Development Strata

‘Strata‘ – a series of layers – appears to be an apt description of the aggregate of governments, agencies, and industries investing in building a stronger, more robust economy in the wake of technological and biological disruptors. In California, each ‘stratum’ – single layer – is working in high gear within its sphere of influence to address the myriad of economic and workforce challenges and opportunities that continue to evolve within its individual purview. Together, all those ‘stratum’ – ‘strata’ being plural – are contributing to the State’s emergence from these crises with a more robust economy and a healthy, well-trained, well-employed population.

 

Workers at the Heart of it All

This economic and workforce development process is based partly on the state’s mandate to convert its community colleges into workforce development engines. The community college system didn’t start with this lofty goal, though, and its efforts since its inception in 1910 haven’t been directed at tailoring all operations to meet a single (albeit varied) goal. However, that lack of vision changed in 2012 when California’s leadership began its investment in this new direction. The State tasked the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) with implementing its ‘Strong Workforce Program‘ to tie the education and training outputs of community colleges with the labor and workforce demands of the state’s thousands of businesses and industries. By connecting the efforts of both strata – education and employment – the State intends to raise the economic fortunes of both.

 

Mapping the Strata

In the effort to accomplish that long-term goal, the coalescing strata of workforce development entities are now exploring ways to tap into and engage with community college resources and each other. Mapping this constellation of players helps explain who is doing what work, and why and how they’re coming together to remedy these critical economic and social situations.

Foundational Players:

Educators, Employees, and Employers

From the community college perspective, current students are future employees, so coursework and programs must provide them with the skills and abilities they’ll need to pursue their chosen careers. For many students, however, college success requires more than just the right class availability. Sometimes it also requires peripheral support to ensure the learner can focus on their education, such as transportation or food assistance, special needs accommodations, or added remedial courses. Today’s community colleges are stepping up services to provide these foundational supports in addition to relevant programs to ensure tomorrow’s workforce is fully prepared to contribute their best on day one of their first job.

Employers are also a foundational element of the workforce development strata. Industries are comprised of businesses, and businesses are run by their workforce. Helping employers attain the best trained and equipped staff is also a goal on the community college radar. California’s community colleges are building new relationships with local and regional employers and strategizing with them to develop current, appropriate, and timely job training opportunities. These partnerships – educator and employer – are essential to economic growth because the effort of one is so critical to the success of the other.

 

Community Players:

Governmental, Economic, and Industrial

Social policies also drive workforce development efforts, and local, regional, and state-level governments add incentives and support to make the process easier for all.

Governmental Entities

At the federal level, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 was the first new legislation since 1998 to address workers’ and employers’ needs. In California, these activities are connected through America’s Job Center of California, which manages employment-related benefits for job seekers. In addition, California’s Workforce Development Board (CWDB) oversees statewide efforts and develops policies and initiatives to move the process forward.

Economic Entities

At the state level, the Centers of Excellence (CoE) work as the labor market research resource for California’s community colleges. Based regionally, these research organizations provide leaders in all sectors with the crucial workforce, industry, and economic data needed to drive decisions.

In Los Angeles County, the Center for a Competitive Workforce (CCW) collaborates with industries, businesses, and educators to respond to emerging skills, programming, and occupation demands. In addition, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership (SGCEP) contribute insights, guidance, and advocacy to regional workforce development entities and initiatives.

Industrial Entities

In its quest to build the most robust possible economy, California established a series of ten ‘priority’ industries that reflect those industrial sectors most likely to grow and help the state prosper. From agriculture to technology, leaders in these industries routinely collaborate with governments, educators, and economic experts, providing data, insights, and other assets to the workforce development agenda.

 

Thinktank Players

Of course, there are experts outside these sectors that contribute significant assistance to the workforce development discussion. A notable few include:

Jobs for the Future (JFF): With its focus on equity, JFF offers guidance and connections to work-based learning and apprenticeship opportunities, among many other projects.

The Milken Institute (Milken): Milken provides pivotal research on medical, healthcare, financial, and economic topics designed to help all strata of the global society achieve their next best step.

The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW): Based at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., this organization evaluates the economic impact of schools and education avenues on students’ lives and the communities in which they live.

The ECMC Foundation (ECMC): The Educational Credit Management Corporation focuses its attention on ensuring all learners get the support they need to achieve college success. Its Basic Needs Initiative, for example, donated over $3 million to support college students experiencing food or housing insecurity.

 

California has one of the most complex and diverse economies in the world. Not surprisingly, any unrest in any sector will affect all other sectors eventually. Fortunately, the strata of organizations that populate its workforce development sector are working together to address common concerns and challenges that threaten its economic future. With this much talent directed to those achieving common goals, California will certainly maintain its role as a global leader in workforce development policy and practice.

White Collar. Blue Collar. New Collar: The Future of ‘Career’

Pam Sornson, JD on July 5, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

July 2, 2022

The number of ‘new collar’ career options continues to grow as technological innovations upend traditional job descriptions. A four-year college degree is no longer necessary to secure a rewarding job and successful life. Learners looking to find their ‘non-traditional’ path to the occupation of their dreams should consider the emerging offerings in these key industries.

 

What’s A ‘New Collar’ Job?

Just a few years ago, employers relied primarily on education transcripts when searching for new hires. Education level – high school, some college, college graduate, etc. – was used as the key indicator of an applicant’s capacity to do the work, and the four-year degree track was considered the ‘best’ path to a successful career. Those who achieved that goal often went on to attain ‘white collar’ jobs, which were typically based in an office setting and offered higher wages and a more lucrative career path. Learners who didn’t attain the degree were often assigned to ‘blue collar’ jobs, those that typically paid less and involved physical labor or more menial tasks. There were only rare opportunities for blue-collar workers to achieve white-collar levels of success.

That standard is changing, however. These days, a growing percentage of the population doesn’t pursue a ‘traditional’ educational path yet still gains significant skills and abilities by accessing ‘non-traditional’ training resources. Newly dubbed ‘new collar’ jobs don’t require a four-year degree, but they do require more skill than a high school diploma, so some form of education or training is still necessary. Many of these occupations also pay the same wages as those received by four-year degree graduates, which makes them that much more desirable. These opportunities offer many community members not just a rewarding career but also the upward mobility that they might not otherwise have the capacity to achieve.

The demand for these ‘new collar’ workers is growing as these ‘middle skills’ – more than high school and less than university caliber – are becoming more available. In many, if not most, cases, the addition of occupationally related technical knowledge is now the employer’s critical resource need.

New Collar Jobs

Several industries, in particular, are experiencing a high demand for these ‘middle skilled’ workers:

Healthcare

Perhaps not surprisingly, healthcare jobs related to ‘vaccines’ are now in high demand as viruses continue to evolve. The medical clinic, sales department, and community outreach sectors all have openings for vaccine management and administration personnel.

The pandemic also opened many job opportunities for molecular biologists. These lab-based scientists search for clues and solutions to cellular-based healthcare issues.

Technology

Also not surprising is the rise in the scope and number of technology-based occupations. As a stand-alone industry, the technology sector continues to evolve as innovations build on existing platforms to provide more services and capacities.

‘Cybersecurity specialist‘ is an especially valuable career option. Cybercriminals are everywhere, and many, if not most, consumers have been victimized by evil-doers breaching their digital accounts.

Cloud computing specialists are also in demand. The rise of ‘remote’ work shifted much of the world’s workday to the cloud, and keeping those digital resources safe and functioning correctly requires constant attention.

The global population of data scientists is also growing. These technology wizards use their comprehensive knowledge of databases, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other digital assets to search out ever more granular insights from vast quantities of raw data.

Finance

Technology has disrupted the world of finance as much as it has disrupted every industry. These days, financiers must be competent not just in financial standards and capacities but also in the technologies through which much of the global finance activity now takes place:

Much of the global banking sector now relies on automation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to manage many routine but sensitive financial chores. Mastery of both security and compliance standards is also critical to achieving career success.

The demand for advanced analytics is also on the rise in this sector. Gartner’s research indicates that 80% of financial institutions are using advanced analytics to guide investment, mergers, and other critical financial decisions.

The traditional ‘accountant’ career is also becoming more attractive as digital resources provide better management and control of financial assets. Most businesses benefit from the input of an accountant who is familiar with both IRS regulations and state and local tax rules.

There are many more jobs and occupations available in each of these sectors, all of which don’t require an expensive four-year degree and most of which do offer fulfilling work that can sustain a fulfilling lifestyle.

 

Community Colleges Rise to the Challenge

A consequence of the demand for these newly defined job skills is the emergence of ‘non-traditional’ training opportunities, and California’s community colleges are reinventing themselves to provide those very specific educational opportunities. New courses are developing as employers and industry insiders offer direction and insights to college curricula development. Businesses are building internship and apprenticeship opportunities to connect with future employees. The ‘workforce development’ community is collaborating to ensure that education (at most levels) leads to both employment and economic success.

California designed its Strong Workforce Program (SWP) to respond to these specific demands by investing billions of dollars in upgrading the middle-skill training capacities of its community colleges. Launched in 2016, the SWP uses labor market research to guide the development of relevant, occupationally based curricula for its colleges, to ensure that:

      1.  California’s community college students aren’t wasting their resources studying subjects that have little to no chance of sustaining lifelong employment, and
      2. California’s economic resources are invested in building and growing its economy through strategized workforce development initiatives.

As the new post-COVID-19 economy emerges, more ‘new collar’ occupations will materialize. California’s community colleges are well on their way to providing the training needed to both attain and succeed in those careers.

California’s High Road to Economic Success

Pam Sornson, JD on July 5, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

July , 2022

California has been a trendsetter since its establishment, and it continues to blaze trails today. It’s in the process of converting its community colleges into workforce development engines, connecting those students to the jobs and careers that will grow the State’s economy. It’s also in the process of transitioning over to carbon-neutral energy sources, and it’s planning on connecting its economic goals to that project, too. Its ultimate goal is to ensure all “Californians thrive during and after the transition into a carbon-neutral economy,” and its strategy to pursue that goal is outlined in a 2020 report, “Putting California on the High Road: A Jobs and Climate Action Plan for 2030.”

 

Intentional Paths to Intentional Goals

Developed by the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB), the strategy aligns with that agency’s ‘Unified Strategic Workforce Development Plan,” a platform of actions to coordinate and leverage the impact of the State’s many and varied workforce, education, and economic programs. Additionally, the plan follows the mandate established by Assembly Bill 398 (E. Garcia, Chapter 135, Statutes of 2017), which requires California’s workforce development efforts to also address its equity and social justice concerns while pursuing a carbon-neutral economy. California’s plan is remarkable because it encompasses multiple sectors of social, economic, and environmental problems within a single, albeit complex, strategy to provide a better life for all its residents.

 

The ‘High Road’ Framework – In Pieces

Policymakers kept each sector’s (education, economy, and environment) fundamental policies at the center of the strategy and built connections and pathways from those through a series of three approaches to achieve the outcomes that unite them all.

Overarching Policies

Climate Sector Policies

California’s climate concerns continue to evolve, and the State is expecting another dry, hot summer. To address the climate conditions causing its environmental distress, the State is pursuing several initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. It’s developing its renewable energy resources and its electric vehicle infrastructure, and encouraging the embrace of ‘Investor Owned Utilities Energy Efficiency’ (IOU EE) programs.

Economic Development Sector Policies

To build new economic strength and maintain existing economic assets, the State must attract and keep the attention of its businesses and industries. It does so by ensuring its economic policies offer appropriate incentives to ensure their success. Those incentives include public investments in private enterprises and providing access to a robust, well-trained labor force.

Education Sector Policies

Both existing and emerging industries require access to a talented labor pool, and California’s community colleges are on track to become that labor pool. Policies now connect programs and coursework at the community college level to the jobs in demand, which will continue to be in demand in the future. Further, the State has identified several key industries that promise significant growth opportunities; the colleges are designing training programs to meet that escalating demand.

 

Overarching Approaches

Achieving strategic outcomes requires developing approaches that both conform to policy and encompass the three fundamental sectors.

The ‘Demand Side’ Approach

Specifically related to achieving climate goals, the ‘demand side’ approach contemplates building a stronger, more robust renewable/alternate energy industry capable of meeting the State’s energy demand:

State-level investments will support new and established forms of renewable energy.

Workforce agreements will standardize performance metrics.

Wage disparities will be eliminated across all sectors.

The ‘Supply Side’ Approach

The supply side approach contemplates developing the workforce needed in response to the demand for well-trained labor:

Higher education schools and training facilities will include apprenticeships and pipeline training as fundamental elements of the educational process.

Businesses and industries will collaborate on training materials and methods.

Curricula upgrades will match industry demand, so students graduate ready to work.

The ‘Justice’ Approach

A ‘Just’ transition assumes that all Californians will benefit from the overarching strategy, especially those workers who’ve lost their jobs or haven’t had the resources to pursue a career path. By offering wrap-around social support to citizens who need them, the State is increasing their opportunity to engage and succeed in the new economic sphere.

 

 Intended Outcomes

Assuming policies are met, and approaches succeed, California’s intended outcomes will provide a sound infrastructure that will support its economy for decades to come:

The number and scope of ‘high quality’ jobs will grow, ensuring more workers have the opportunity to achieve the upward mobility they seek. ‘High quality’ jobs are those that pay well, respect the worker’s other obligations, provide a safe and fair workplace, and offer the opportunity to build new skills.

The number of eligible workers will increase as those who’ve previously been shut out of workforce development opportunities find access through new educational and social programs.

Companies and industries will find the skilled workforce they need in the communities in which they operate. Collaborations will ensure that the goals and activities of all parties – the schools, businesses, and policymakers – tie together to deliver economic benefits to the community as a whole.

Of course, the overall ‘High Road’ strategy report outlines how these efforts will impact the political, industrial, and economic sectors involved, and there are many of those, including the energy, transportation, logistics, waste and water, and natural land sectors.

 

Conclusion

California’s approach to resolving its climate concerns through strategic workforce and economic development policies is laudable and, again, sets a trend that other groups will certainly study and adopt. Each tenet of the plan’s strategy involves rethinking current practices and reworking them to reflect today’s economic realities:

Too many people are unable to achieve economic stability due to unnecessary political, biased, or ability barriers or constraints.

Current training resources don’t meet the needs of local businesses or industries.

Existing environmental threats caused by climate change and global warming will exasperate the economic malaise unless the State adopts and implements intentional and direct interventions to reduce or eliminate their impact.

While still in its infancy, the strategy offers hope and optimism that California will continue its role as a treand=setting leader for many more years.

Workforce Training From an EWD Perspective

Pam Sornson, JD on June 1, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

June 21, 2022

Leslie Thompson has made ‘Higher Education’ her career for 26 years. Currently serving as the Director of Operations in Economic and Workforce Development (EWD) at Pasadena City College (PCC), she oversees the work of the division’s seven pillars, including that of the Workforce Training pillar.

 

Each day, as she looks over all the division’s activities, she focuses on a central theme to guide her thoughts and next steps: clarifying and pursuing the true purpose and goal of the division’s work. From her perspective, the EWD’s ultimate goal is to offer a ‘people-focused’ approach to training, upskilling, and preparing its student body to achieve maximum economic mobility in their chosen fields. Achieving that goal also means finding sufficient educational and employment opportunities so PCC students can actually attain that mobility. It’s only after a long series of interim goals are pursued and accomplished that both aspirations can be met.

Structuring a path toward those realities, however, is a complex task:

She sees the work of the EWD as both inward and outward facing:

Inward-facing – Its educational assets must be appropriate to achieve student goals, and its seven pillars provide information, support, and training on career research, academic pathways, and job searching.

Outward-facing – It should also provide upskilling and training facilities and resources to improve the regional community workforce for the benefit of EWD’s enterprise partners.

She’s also invested in what’s going on in the greater workforce development ecosystem, exploring possible barriers, and focusing on maximizing the points where systems intersect.

The need to reskill the existing workforce is also critical. Entire economic sectors have had to change how they do business, communicate with each other, and sometimes coordinate totally new resources to achieve milestones that may or may not now be obsolete.

And, of course, her primary focus is on the student’s success – ‘people-focused,’ in Thompson’s mind, means leveraging on- and off-campus resources to offer supports necessary to facilitate student success, whether those address transportation, housing, or financial needs, or achieving basic educational foundations. 

Thompson’s job, then, is to maintain the division’s attention on the school’s ultimate goals while also monitoring the new labor force environment for barriers and opportunities.

 

Existing Programs

PCC engages with several state and federal agencies to deliver appropriate training and upskilling for both incumbent and displaced workers:

The Employment Training Panel (ETP)

ETP is a funding source for employers to provide upskilling training for new and existing workers. Funded through a California state payroll tax, the ETP resource helps workers improve their wages and long-term job opportunities. EWD serves as a contractor to access that funding and facilitate training.

Contract Education

‘Just In Time’ training provides the upskilling training needed by the existing workforce of the local business community. These training services eliminate the need for businesses to develop training in-house and maximize the value of state-based ETP funding and other employer resources.

California Training Initiative

The California Workforce Association granted EWD’s participation in this initiative, providing growth opportunities for EWD to deliver quality training to a variety of local employers to upskill the existing workforce.

TAA & I-TRAIN

These federally funded programs subsidize a student’s journey to obtain skills and credentials via PCC. EWD partners with local EDD and Workforce Development Boards to attract and support student clients by assisting with their applications and supporting their program engagement from entry to PCC to program completion.

PCC collaborates with regional agencies as well, all of which also operate within the workforce development ecosystem. Cooperative business organizations such as the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership (SGVEP) offer their unique assets and perspectives to the effort. They, too, are rethinking how they will move forward in light of how evolutions in the work world are impacting their internal processes and outward-facing programs.

 

New Opportunities

Despite the complexity of the work, Thompson intends to build on successes already achieved by existing workforce development initiatives, including those within the EWD, the region, and the state. She staunchly believes in California’s several billion-dollar investment in its community colleges as its workforce development engines. The EWD pillars work to maximize the impact of their effort by intersecting with these entities so that all can achieve their common goals.

The Robert G. Freeman Center for Career and Completion provides employment attainment training for PCC learners, including resume development, mock interviews, and job fairs. It offers student career development services, helps students find job opportunities, prepares them for job searches and interviews, and curates alumni engagement.

The Small Business Development Center offers small business owners guidance, training, insights, and resources to start, build, or scale their enterprise as they contribute labor and workforce insights to PCC.

The PCC Extension provides not-for-credit courses for a variety of adult learners. Workforce training, professional development, and life-enrichment programs encourage learners of all ages to continue their intellectual growth.

Workforce Training develops and delivers customized training programs to meet the needs of individual businesses and organizations to upskill their employees.

 

Thompson sees these PCC assets as the foundation of an exceptional opportunity to attain a high-quality education, appropriate job-training skills, and ultimately, a life-sustaining occupation or career and the economic mobility that that entails. While there may be systemic barriers within the workforce development ecosystem to explore and address, she believes that the ‘collective objective’ of the greater community to address economic and social concerns through collaboration and communication will facilitate social and economic success for all its residents.

 

 

Workforce Talent Development: Upskilling Your Staff

Pam Sornson, JD on June 1, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

June 21, 2022

It’s hard to fathom how the COVID-19 pandemic changed things for the better, but, in some cases, that seems to be the case. In many businesses, it’s acted as a catalyst to innovation and renewal as they retool their enterprise to embrace new consumer expectations. They’re also rethinking how to go about their ‘business as usual’ in light of the explosion of technology, the transition to remote work, and the new economic opportunities that have opened up as the world shifted its activities to comport with COVID’s digital demands.

What some business leaders have come to know, too, is that their existing workforce is not yet capable of managing all the changes that have arrived or will arrive in the next few years. Their challenge is now is deciding if they hire a new, more capable workforce or retrain their existing one to meet emerging needs. According to experts, investments in workforce upskilling are beating all others in terms of corporate ROI metrics.

 

‘Tom-A-to/Tom-AH-to’ – It’s all the Same Thing

‘Upskilling.’ ‘Workforce Training.’ ‘Workforce Talent Development.’ ‘Corporate College.’ Whatever you call it, it still refers to the practice of improving the skills of existing employees instead of hiring a set of new, already trained workers to take their place. In some cases, standardized programs that teach a standard set of (new) skills are available through many sources, such as basic computer skills, office management procedures, or basic hygiene techniques. In other cases, a specialized training program is designed to fulfill a specific company’s occupational or systemic requirements. In both cases, the employer retains all the value already invested in its workforce while the workers improve their job skills and set themselves up for future career growth.

 

 

Upskilling is Now an Imperative

Even before the pandemic, the C-Suite was aware of the lagging of its workforce skill base compared to newly emerging tools and practices. According to SHRM, in May 2020, one in four CEOs (79%) reported concerns about their employees’ lack of essential skills. Almost two out of three (60%) believed the skill level of their workforce would be out of date within three to five years. And nearly half (46%) said they considered retraining and upskilling as their best strategy to close skills gaps in their organization.

There are more benefits, too, apparently, to be had by making the upskilling investment:

It boosts morale. In most cases, a happy worker is a productive worker, and the most productive workers are those whose skill sets meet their job description demands. Employees, too, are watching how technology is upending occupational standards; investing in their future with your company is a win/win for both of you.

It improves retention. Well-trained workers are proud of their efforts and of the company that has invested in them. Reducing employee churn saves the time and money needed to recruit, hire, and train the replacements.

An upskilled workforce can also improve your customer’s satisfaction. When existing customers can count on your employees to keep them up-to-date and informed on the latest (product/service/options), they’re more likely to repay that service with enhanced customer loyalty.

 

Developing the Workforce Talent Development Strategy

Like any business investment, the most successful workforce talent development project begins with an informed and comprehensive strategy. It makes sense, then, to also invest the time needed to tune that strategy to meet specific corporate goals.

Keep Your Focus

These steps offer insights into appropriate upskilling strategy goals:

      1. Focus on your business values. If you want to sell more, upskill existing sales activities to include up-to-date technology and practices.
      2. If you’re looking to grow, retrain production lines to see new opportunities in existing systems or products. The opportunities available to add value to existing inventory are growing as technological tweaks add improved performance and function.
      3. Focus on talent. You already have an IT department (probably), but have you connected your entire workforce to emerging technological tools? In many companies these days, truly skilled and technologically savvy workers are making a significant impact on their employers’ outcomes because they:
      4. know how to optimize their technology usage, and
      5. don’t waste the IT team’s time with mundane, non-corporate-critical repairs.

Your current workers are already your biggest corporate investment; enhancing their value maximizes their already proven value to the company.

Engage Your Workers

These steps illustrate how some organizations embraced the task:

    1. They made it an actual corporate asset investment. More than $300 million is invested annually in corporate education, but many projects fail because they aren’t tied directly to business impact. Without that clear focus, the training may provide interesting updates and new skills but have little or no return on investment in terms of corporate growth.
    2. They made it easy to achieve. Rather than immersing employees in weeks-long training seminars, many successful employers provide upskilling activities in smaller batches that are easier to access, obtain, and retain. Also, the training packages themselves are related directly to work already being done. Workers were upskilling the skills they used in their daily jobs, making those more effective and productive.
    3. They made it fun. Today’s immense online gaming industry speaks to its embrace by millions of people. Educators, too, have learned that student participation goes up, social and emotional skills evolve, and even (appropriate) risk-taking actions improve when lessons are taught in a game format. Workers with focus challenges also improve as their focus and attention are drawn into the game.
    4. They reduced silos by building teams through upskilling activities. People ‘playing’ together develop stronger bonds and emotional attachments as they pursue success in mutual tasks, negotiate strategy, and collaborate on problem-solving.

 

Changes in workforce expectations are already here, as COVID-19 forced more workers than ever into remote positions. More change is coming as the global economy adjusts to the new situation. Companies that invest in retooling their workers to meet both today’s and tomorrow’s workforce demands will be better prepared to lead the way into those emerging economic opportunities.

 

Community Partner: Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses

Pam Sornson, JD on June 1, 2022

Training a well-equipped workforce takes more than just a dedicated educator. It also takes initiative by an engaged business community to collaborate with those educators to ensure that every regional learner has the chance to achieve their educational goals. One such engaged business in Pasadena is its world-famous Pasadena Tournament of Roses® Association (ToRA), which hosts the annual Rose Bowl Game® and that event’s companion Rose Parade® presented by Honda on New Year’s Day. As a globally recognized feature of Pasadena’s recreational landscape, the ToRA generates millions of dollars for the regional economy every year while also distributing its charitable proceeds to support local youth and communities. In the 2021-2022 academic year, the ToRA partnered with Pasadena City College (PCC) to launch its inaugural ‘Rose Fellows’ program, which created a once-in-a-lifetime, work-based learning opportunity for a worthy and fortunate PCC student.

 

Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Association

Each Winter since 1890, Pasadena has celebrated the floral bounty of its almost perfect climate, especially its gorgeous and plentiful roses. Back then, the San Gabriel Valley’s Valley Hunt Club, a group of local sports enthusiasts, sponsored a contest to reward the gardeners who grew the most notable foliage, and a ‘parade’ format was chosen to best show off the responding display. The competition is now played out each New Year’s Day and has grown to attract marching bands, equestrian participants, and, of course, floral parade float entrants from around the world.

 

Community Focused, Volunteer Driven

Regardless of its stellar international reputation, the non-profit ToRA actively focuses on the economic and social goings-on in Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley. Its activities throughout the year generate an economic impact of an average of $300 million to the community, support the equivalent of over 2,000 full-time jobs (although its staff totals only 35), and keep LA County’s many restaurants, lodging houses, and retail establishments open. During the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl season (January 1st and 2nd), upwards of 200,000 out-of-region event attendees also spend millions of dollars at other hospitality and entertainment venues.

In pursuit of its mission, however, the Association (and its companion ToR Foundation – ToRF) is careful to share its resources with the community members for whom those resources were intended – its regional non-profit and charitable organizations. Launched in 1983, the ToRF’s initial purpose was to manage all the donations that flowed into the Association’s coffers. The group is guided by its Key Themes – enhancing education, investing in the community, strengthening business partnerships, and providing experiences that make a difference in people’s lives. Its Board of Directors turns financial donations into support for the many non-profit agencies around the County that offer opportunities in sports and recreation, education, and visual and performing arts. Since its inception, the ToRF has given away more than $3 million to over 200 different organizations.

 

One way the ToRF supports its beneficiaries is by funding grants for notable projects that promise to have a significant social impact. Remarkably, the agency didn’t let the COVID-19 pandemic interfere with that objective, either:

While the coronavirus prevented the January 1, 2021, Rose Bowl Parade from happening, it did not interfere with the 2020 distribution of grant awards of over $140,000 to 16 San Gabriel Valley non-profits for projects supporting youth, children, the disabled, and seniors. These funds were critical contributions to organizations that lost some or all of their regular funding due to the public health crisis.

The agency improved that performance in 2021, awarding more than $230,000 to 27 fortunate organizations. The group also facilitated the donation of thousands of books to local elementary school children, including 10,000 collected and distributed on the National Day of Service (September 11, 2021). Another 14,000 were donated by the UPS Store to public elementary schools in the Pasadena Unified School District in honor of International Literacy Day.

The group’s 2020-2021 Community Impact Report offers a comprehensive view of how it disperses its resources per its Key Themes directives:

Enhancing Educational Opportunities

Students, teachers, and community volunteers are the targets of these resources, with the goal of achieving educational empowerment for all. Enhancing college exposure, access, and attainment, introducing young students to STEM sciences career opportunities, and rewarding educators for excellent work are just a few of the ToRF-funded initiatives. In 2020 and 2021, $340,000 funded innovative projects offered by over 300 enlightened educators.

Investing in the Community

The agency focused on the impact of the COVID pandemic, too, in its effort to make a difference during the height of the crisis. Churches, well-known charities, and other social support entities received funding to distribute food and vaccinations to those who needed them.

Strengthening Business Partnerships

The ToRA partners with many community organizations to help them further their philanthropic goals:

Together with the retail store Forever 21 and the LA County’s Sheriff’s Office, the ToRA contributed more than 500 boxes of clothing to support victims of domestic violence.

Southwest Airlines sponsored the group’s Arts Initiative for Youth, an art contest for elementary and middle school students to celebrate the year’s Rose Parade theme, ‘Dream. Believe. Achieve.’

Partners Verizon and the UPS store contributed to the literacy and STEM projects noted above.

East West Bank sponsored a Youth Empowerment Forum that (safely) gathered more than 200 youth to discuss following dreams, building a career strategy, and leveraging talents in the work world. The speaker panel was populated with experienced and inspiring leaders from several high-profile local companies, including Marvel Studios, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the LA Rams.

Experiences that Make a Difference

There was a plethora of worthy options for this theme. Those that made the cut included sponsoring a concert celebrating Pasadena’s Latino Heritage Month, contributing to the National Football Foundation’s scholarships for student-athletes, and, with partner Citizen’s Business Bank, the award of $20,000 in scholarships for eight graduating senior ‘Rose Scholars.’

 

Through these and other notable community service projects, Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Association and Foundation provides funding and foundation for thousands of regional residents to achieve otherwise unreachable goals.

 

Work-based Learning: Pasadena Tournament of Roses

Pam Sornson, JD on June 1, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

June 7, 2022

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses® Association (ToRA) is involved in many philanthropic activities that support dozens of area non-profits and thousands of LA County residents. In the 2021-2022 academic year, the ToRA partnered with Pasadena City College (PCC) to launch its inaugural work-based learning scholarship, the Tournament of Roses ‘Fellows Program.’

Running from August 2021 through April 2022, the program funded a part-time job in the ToRA’s Community Relations department for the PCC student, giving them the opportunity to participate in the many community relations events held by the organization throughout the year. The first Rose Fellowship award went to Azucena Duran, who completed her second year at the college immersed in work that will inform her entire career.

 

The ToRA Community Relations Fellowship Position

The ToRA and its companion, the ToR Foundation (ToRF), are busy organizations hosting and supporting dozens of events throughout the calendar year. Since its inception in 1983, over $300 million raised by the ToR partnership have been distributed to dozens of LA County charities and other worthy causes.

The ToRA’s two most significant events, the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl College Football Game, draw hundreds of thousands of fans to LA County while millions more watch television. Preparing for those two days and the days leading up to them is daunting work. The organization has only three dedicated staff people coordinating those efforts; most of the work is actually done by hundreds of volunteers.

 

To assist that small organizing team, however, the ToRA devised the new Rose Fellowship opportunity in conjunction with PCC’s work-based learning coordinator, Jackie Javier.

The ToRA’s purpose for the fellowship was to obtain needed assistance managing all the details that go into the Parade, Bowl Game, and the Association’s many other annual functions. In addition, the student would contribute to the overall day-to-day running of the Community Relations office, supporting the various volunteer committees, connecting with community members and agencies, and doing pretty much whatever needed doing to move the day forward.

The purpose for the PCC student was to gain valuable, work-based experience and skills that would transfer into future jobs and careers. Candidates for the position had to meet specific PCC curricular standards (be in their 2nd or 3rd year, enrolled in at least six credits, and studying a relevant major), and would be selected from a specific underrepresented population, be it LGBTQIA+, undocumented, or otherwise marginalized.

Ms. Duran was thrilled to be selected.

 

Azucena Duran, Inaugural Community Relations Rose Fellow

Originally from the Bay Area, Duran had enjoyed her first year at PCC and was actively looking for an internship when she spotted the ToRA application opportunity.

Accessing the resources at PCC’s Freeman Center for Career and Completion, she received assistance filling out the paperwork and coordinating her response. She was especially grateful to then-WBL director Javier for her guidance on job interview skills. Coming away from the application process with these newfound skills boosted her confidence as she went into the formal interview process with the ToRA office.

She was also thrilled with the warm welcome she received from the Community Relations team, Senior Director Carlos Illingworth, Foundation and CR Manager Ryan Lynn Johnson, and CR Assistant Aida Muciño. Securing the position after two rounds of interviews, she felt they had come to know her, and she certainly thought she had come to know them. Ryan was her daily supervisor, and Aida kept her in the communications loop while Carlos offered her a variety of professional development opportunities.

 

Over the course of the eight months, Duran was more than pleased with what she was learning and the skills she was developing:

As an assistant for the organization’s International Literacy Day event, she worked with volunteers and school personnel to distribute over 14,000 books to children in the Pasadena Unified School District.

She also participated in the clothing drive for and distribution of hundreds of pounds of clothing for victims of domestic abuse. In this role, she worked alongside members of the LA County Sheriff’s Office and employees from the event’s sponsor, the retailer Forever 21.

Parade planning was particularly interesting, as she helped organize seating and services for people with disabilities following ADA standards (the Americans with Disabilities Act). Additionally, working with event volunteers, her duties included identifying who got which tickets and ensuring the ticket packages were accurate and delivered appropriately.

She is particularly proud the work she did on her independent project, the organization’s first annual ‘Dia de Los Muertos: A Celebration of Art’ event. Working with members of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, Duran created and ran a craft activity for children ages four to eighteen years using papel picado and mini-skeleton figures. The event awarded more than $6,000 to winners in a variety of age categories.

She also really appreciated Illingworth’s professional development efforts. He introduced her to several notable groups, events, and agencies. She was really impressed with the Pasadena Women in Leadership series and was able to personally interview 15 of its members for advice and career counsel.

 

Looking Ahead

Duran graduated in Spring 2022 with an AA degree in Sociology and was accepted into UCLA’s Public Affairs program in pursuit of her Urban Planner career goal. She can hardly express her gratitude to PCC and the ToRA for awarding her the Rose Fellowship position. “My confidence is so much higher now because of it, and I see that I truly have talent and skills to bring to any job.” Seeing herself as a member of a community makes it easy for her to envision herself in her future, successful occupation. “Thank you to PCC and the ToRA and CR team for all you’ve given me. I’m excited to see where I take it all.”

 

Applications for the 2022-2023 Rose Fellows Program will be available in June – check with the Work-based learning department in PCC’s Freeman Center.

Launching LARC

Pam Sornson, JD on May 9, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

May 17, 2022

As the 6th pillar in Pasadena City College’s (PCC) Economic and Workforce Development division (EWD), the LA Regional Consortium (LARC) has begun laying the groundwork for its future activities. As a collaborative initiative that is funded by California’s Strong Workforce Program, the LARC (LA County’s 19 community colleges) is designing a workforce development strategy by accessing resources already available throughout LA County to inform its next steps and make short-, mid-, and long-range plans. These five foundational projects build on work already done and use that impetus to expand them into the emerging ‘future of work.’

 

UNITE-LA & LARC

Since 1998, UNITE-LA has provided job and skills training for young (16-24 years) future workers. With over 100 business partners already engaged, this organization leverages work-based learning and internship opportunities to provide critical, valuable labor skills to the newest wave of employees.

UNITE-LA has devised two unique career-oriented pathways that guide participants into the Health Care or Technology occupational fields. Each pathway exposes students to a diverse population of employers, which opens opportunities and alternatives to job and career choices. In some cases, they also provide ‘soft-skill’ training (communications, deportment, etc.), mentoring, and ‘Workforce Ready’ certifications. In collaboration with LARC, UNITE-LA will reach out to more employers across a broader scope of occupational fields to replicate the successes they’ve had in these two.

 

The LAEDC’s ‘Industry Engagement and Employment Pipeline Development’ Project

The non-profit Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) builds on its relationships with its cadre of industrial leadership members to create talent pipelines between community college graduates and the employers who need them as workers. By first connecting employers with the college faculty members who train their future employees, students are guaranteed to achieve the workforce standards and credentials they’ll need to find and hold a job.

For LARC, this project asserts two goals:

      1. Building a network of companies seeking employees with in-demand ‘middle-skills’ and ensuring that the curricula of the colleges engaged in providing ‘middle-skills’ training match the skills needed on the job.
      2. Providing career awareness and exposure to hundreds of regional college students to help them make their best college and career choices.

Notably, several of the careers and occupations targetted for this project are those related to the ‘five economies’ that have emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic as critical resources for future economic success. Skills in these occupations translate across multiple industries and sectors, so newly trained workers will have an excellent opportunity to find well-paying jobs after graduation.

 

The CCLA-19 Foundation

The ‘CCLA 19’ effort is a marketing project that promotes the work and opportunities embodied by the 19 Community Colleges of Los Angeles. It acts as a portal that identifies the 200+ programs offered across the County and provides access to those programs to potential students. Once the site visitor finds a course of interest, the CCLA’s website then directs the learner to the schools that offer those programs. The primary intention of the CCLA group is to build enrollment in each of the schools using advanced digital and social media marketing tools. The CCLA initiative has been reaching out to new CC students since 2019.

However, its activities aren’t only directed at potential students. Businesses can connect with the group to obtain insights into prospective student interests, concerns, motivations, and other educationally relevant issues. When students indicate an interest in a program or company, the CCLA connects the two to further their opportunity to develop a relationship. Not insignificantly, the organization also provides training, production resources, and marketing and media management skills for businesses and programs to ensure that the students they want to attract are receiving their messaging.

 

The LARC’s Faculty Innovation Hub Project

LA County is known for its immense population of imaginative and creative minds, many of whom teach at its 19 community colleges. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted most, if not all, traditional educational processes. This group of talented teachers navigated the emerging demand to shift academic activities from in-person to digital platforms. The demand was felt across the County, too, so it compelled every teacher in every college to innovate their lesson plans into new forms of digital training materials. As that pandemic evolves and even as students return to in-person classes, many of these digital training trends remain popular and offer better opportunities for learning to a broader population of potential learners.

The Innovation Hub connects Career Education and General Education professionals to develop educational ‘best practices’ across numerous community college programs. Once established, the revised programming can be scaled consistently to schools across the entire County so that students within those programs obtain the best possible training for the occupation of their choice regardless of the school they attend.

In addition, the Hub offers professional development opportunities for the teaching faculty and industry alignment between businesses and the schools that are training their future workers. The ‘regionality’ of the project engages all County community colleges in the effort to build the regional economy through consistent, high-quality job and occupational training.

 

LA County Alumni Outcomes

Another change stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic disruption is how the system will measure the success of its community college investment. Up until now, accountability measurements for community colleges did not include how well their graduates performed in the work world. Instead, they were focused on more administrative details, such as the number of students enrolled, the number of programs offered, and how long it took for students to attain their desired educational credentials. None of these statistics reveal how well the school met its student’s goals of finding well-paying jobs.

The LA County Alumni Outcomes project aims to determine how many LA County community college graduates actually obtained work within their chosen fields, how much they’re paid for their work, and how long those careers lasted, among many other economic occupationally relevant factors. Using both school and labor market data, the project will help community colleges measure their programs’ relative economic and occupational value from their students’ perspectives. With this information, school leadership can modify where needed to ensure that their courses can lead directly to jobs in the learner’s chosen fields.

The economic and education analytics firm Burning Glass provides the services that drive the project. Their work will keep the schools, regional industries and businesses, and local and regional governments apprised of where jobs exist, the skills needed to land them, and the economic impact on the community that they will have.

 

These five projects span the workforce development spectrum, connecting community college participants to the businesses and industries that are constantly needing a well-trained labor force, and measuring the economic impact on the region. The LARC will be bringing much-needed resources to PCC, each of the County’s community colleges, and all of the County’s business and industry colleagues.

 

 

LA County’s Economic Collaborative

Pam Sornson, JD on May 9, 2022

Pam Sornson, JD

May 17, 2022

Pasadena City College and LA County’s 18 other community colleges are in the beginning stages of evolution. Collectively known as the LA Regional Consortium (LARC), this collaboration is working to build a cohesive, comprehensive, county-wide workforce development strategy that provides critical training and support for regional workers and the businesses that hire them. Informing their process are LA County’s many economic, social, and political agencies that generate the data and activities that will drive their decisions. Understanding the basics of LA County’s economic infrastructure gives context to the work that PCC and LARC are and will be doing.

 

Following the Data; Defining the Opportunities

Building a sustainable, equitable, and resilient economy is the work of all regional entities, and the non-profit Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) provides guidance and leadership for those efforts. It gathers data created by County business and industry activities, educational strategies, and political initiatives, then tracks regional economic growth opportunities as those emerge from the community. The LAEDC recently released its 2022 Economic Forecast, and it sees a reasonably bright future for the County.

Despite the COVID-19-driven drops in both employment and productivity numbers, LA County’s hard-hit industries are actually recovering at ‘a particularly high rate,’ according to the LAEDC. In 2020, the County’s GDP dropped more than 6%, total employment numbers fell by over 11%, and the unemployment rate averaged 12.8%. This year and looking forward, the LAEDC predicts that the GDP and overall employment growth will top more than 10% over the 2020 losses, and the unemployment rate will drop to as low as 6.4%.

The agency suggests that full recovery (back to pre-2020 levels) won’t likely happen until at least 2024. Further, their data also shows which industries are expected to grow fastest and where job openings will likely be clustered. This information helps define where new training and skills development should occur if the County wants to produce a workforce capable of filling those existing and future occupational vacancies.

 

 

California and LA County Partner Inputs

In addition to the economists affiliated with the LAEDC, the LARC will also be working closely with three other community pillars: the many governments that preside over the State, the County, and the County’s 88 cities, the California Community College Chancellors Office (CCCCO), and business and civic leaders involved in LA County’s significant industrial complex.

California’s Enlightened Governments

For the past ~decade or so, California’s state government has been remaking its 116-strong community college system (CCC) into a world-class workforce development engine. The State has invested billions of dollars building its ‘Vision for Success,’ which sets parameters for college programming, so schools train students to meet the needs of the State’s economically critical industrial sectors. Rather than simply counting classes and credits, the CCC organization is now looking at student employment metrics to measure its success. The shift in perspective has also shifted the views of the State’s 116 community colleges. They are now tasked with tracking student activities beyond graduation to understand how well their programs put students into the jobs and occupations that they’ve chosen.

County and city governments are included in the plan to the extent they also contribute money and resources to their higher education institutions and strategies. It is far more likely that California will succeed in its economic recovery plan because it is actively coordinating the higher education efforts of all its regional and local governments.

The CCCCO

The CCCCO is tasked with implementing the Vision for Success strategy and has organized the state’s 116 community colleges into eight ‘regional consortia.’ The LARC is one of those regional entities. Each consortium is now collaborating to pool all relevant school assets into a County-wide ‘economic and workforce development’ engine that serves the needs of its regional businesses and industries. The initiative incorporates both economic and equity principles into all its elements, and each school is responsible to its constituents, its regional colleagues, and the State for ensuring those mandates are achieved.

LA County’s Vast Economic and Industrial Base

Driving the LAEDC’s positive outlook are the efforts of LA County’s 244,000+ businesses and the many major industries in which they work. While LA County is a global hub for several industrial sectors, the County government focuses much of its attention on the seven ‘targeted’ industries that offer both the biggest economic base and the widest scope for growth:

– Healthcare services, which employed more than 12% of the County’s workforce in 2015-2016;

– Manufacturing activities – LA County is home to more manufacturing jobs than all of the state of Michigan;

– Trade and Logistics became front-page news as the pandemic disrupted global supply chains. The extensive Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach annually receives more than 40% of all containers entering the country;

– Leisure and Hospitality services are built into the fabric of the LA culture, and they attract millions of visitors every year;

– Entertainment is also a fundamental element in LA’s make-up. Television, film, and music are just three of the creative, LA-based industries that entertain the world;

– LA County’s Bioscience sector isn’t as well known as Disney®, but millions of people benefit from the breakthroughs and medical developments that emerge from its labs;

– The Construction industry is also a critical element of LA’s future growth. New housing, factories, and facilities for all kinds of ventures ensure that today’s and tomorrow’s companies have the space they need to build and grow.

Hundreds of supply chains and support sub-industries are tied to these seven primary industries. Together, they comprise an industrial complex that is one of the most extensive single economic zones in the world. The number of jobs, occupations, and careers that are available now and will be available in the near future is almost unlimited in Los Angeles County.

Numerous civic and business groups exist in the County, too, keeping communication channels open between colleagues, industries, governments, and educators. The LAEDC is one such group. It works closely with the County of Los Angeles Economic Development Program to connect community efforts to government efforts. The San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership is another economic workgroup that focuses its attention on the businesses and industries within that Valley. Further, there are 125 Chambers of Commerce within LA County, with each representing the economic needs of an average of over 80,000 LA County residents.

These economically focused entities directly connect the economic growth in their area with the consumers who shop those services and the employees that populate their workforce.

 

Pasadena City College sits at the heart of the LA County economic region and plays a leadership role in developing current and future economic initiatives. With its substantial cadre of Economic and Workforce Development collaborators, government partners, and economic directives, the school and its partners are working together to build a new, post-COVID economy one well-trained student at a time.

 

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