WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
To be successful in today’s global economy, Pennsylvania must develop and harness the talent, skills
and capacities of its citizens. Students must be prepared and workers must be able to adapt and
continually acquire the training and skills required in the modern workplace. Unfortunately, public
workforce development programs are too often based on out-of-date industrial models and not
designed to meet current and future needs.
Pennsylvania must establish a forward-thinking strategic approach to workforce development that
invests to create a workforce for emerging markets and opportunities. We must leverage our
incredible education system, labor, and natural resources to attract and connect businesses with a
workforce that provides better value than competing states. With the dramatic forces of change
driven by the 4th industrial revolution there is a real opportunity to provide a strong career for all
facets of our society.
A comprehensive and effective workforce development strategy must also focus on expanding the
talent pool by facilitating employment opportunities for those who are too often economically
marginalized, including reentrants, individuals with disabilities and veterans. Lawmakers, the
business community and other partners should also coordinate to reduce barriers to employment,
such as lack of transportation or affordable, quality childcare options.
Policymakers should undertake regular and thorough reviews of existing workforce development
programs to make sure each is achieving its objective at an acceptable cost-per-participant. These
reviews should include a cost-benefit analysis and always strive to reduce fragmentation and provide
more efficient delivery of services. Moreover, these reviews should be readily available to the
public.
In addition, the Pennsylvania Chamber supports:
- The establishment of clear performance criteria and system-wide accountability standards for
all public workforce training programs;
- Regular monitoring of program administration and outcomes to assess efficacy and facilitate
continual improvement of all existing public workforce training programs, as well as
addressing any regulatory obstacles that prevent or inhibit ideal program implementation and
operation;
- Promotion of public-private partnerships and private sector educational and training
programs, particularly apprenticeships and other innovative approaches to providing
workplace experience and skill attainment opportunities, including internship and mentoring
programs;
- Efforts to promote vocational education programs and highlight the attractive career
opportunities in these fields and their critical importance to communities and the economy;
- Expanding and improving educational options in the technical fields and others that require
some level of post-secondary education to help job-seekers meet the requirements for
employers in the economy of today and in the future;
- Systems that efficiently connect job seekers with job openings; particularly for those
occupations where there are significant and growing opportunities;
- Initiatives that help identify current and long-term community workforce needs,
complemented by career programs that promote jobseekers towards stable living wage jobs;
- Initiatives that educate job seekers on workforce needs that match their occupational
interests, and the skills and education needed to access job opportunities; and
- Encouraging policies that allow institutions of higher education to be nimble and efficiently
react to market demands; as well as offer courses that align with workforce needs, such as
online programs, that are structured to best facilitate participation from non-traditional
students.