An argument for reimagining skill in a way that can extend economic opportunity to workers at the bottom of the labor market. America has a jobs problem--not enough well-paying jobs to go around and not enough clear pathways leading to them. Skill development is critical for addressing this employment crisis, but there are many unresolved questions about who has skill, how it is attained, and whose responsibility it is to build skills over time. In this book, Nichola Lowe tells the stories of pioneering workforce intermediaries--nonprofits, unions, community colleges--that harness this ambiguity around skill to extend economic opportunity to workers at the bottom of the labor market.

Skilled technical occupationsâ€"defined as occupations that require a high level of knowledge in a technical domain but do not require a bachelor's degree for entryâ€"are a key component of the U.S. economy. In response to globalization and advances in science and technology, American firms are demanding workers with greater proficiency in literacy and numeracy, as well as strong interpersonal, technical, and problem-solving skills. However, employer surveys and industry and government reports have raised concerns that the nation may not have an adequate supply of skilled technical workers to achieve its competitiveness and economic growth objectives. In response to the broader need for policy information and advice, Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce examines the coverage, effectiveness, flexibility, and coordination of the policies and various programs that prepare Americans for skilled technical jobs. This report provides action-oriented recommendations for improving the American system of technical education, training, and certification.

Globalization, technological change, and deregulation have made the American marketplace increasingly competitive in recent decades, but for many workers this "new economy" has entailed heightened job insecurity, lower wages, and scarcer benefits. As the job market has grown more volatile, a variety of labor market intermediaries—organizations that help job seekers find employment—have sprung up, from private temporary agencies to government "One-Stop Career Centers." In Staircases or Treadmills? Chris Benner, Laura Leete, and Manuel Pastor investigate what approaches are most effective in helping workers to secure jobs with decent wages and benefits, and they provide specific policy recommendations for how job-matching organizations can better serve disadvantaged workers. Staircases or Treadmills? is the first comprehensive study documenting the prevalence of all types of labor market intermediaries and investigating how these intermediaries affect workers' employment opportunities. Benner, Leete, and Pastor draw on years of research in two distinct regional labor markets—"old economy" Milwaukee and "new economy" Silicon Valley—including a first-of-its-kind random survey of the prevalence and impacts of intermediaries, and a wide range of interviews with intermediary agencies' staff and clients. One of the main obstacles that disadvantaged workers face is that social networks of families and friends are less effective in connecting job-seekers to stable, quality employment. Intermediaries often serve as a substitute method for finding a job. Which substitute is chosen, however, matters: The authors find that the most effective organizations—including many unions, community colleges, and local non-profits—actively foster contacts between workers and employers, tend to make long-term investments in training for career development, and seek to transform as well as satisfy market demands. But without effective social networks to help workers locate the best intermediaries, most rely on private temporary agencies and other organizations that offer fewer services and, statistical analysis shows, often channel their participants into jobs with low wages and few benefits. Staircases or Treadmills? suggests that, to become more effective, intermediary organizations of all types need to focus more on training workers, teaching networking skills, and fostering contact between workers and employers in the same industries. A generation ago, rising living standards were broadly distributed and coupled with relatively secure employment. Today, many Americans fear that heightened job insecurity is overshadowing the benefits of dynamic economic growth. Staircases or Treadmills? is a stimulating guide to how private and public job-matching institutions can empower disadvantaged workers to share in economic progress.

With many Americans striving to build their skills to get jobs in a rapidly changing economy, the workforce development field has seen a significant increase in sector strategies, which focus on the specific skills that employers need and address the real-world challenges facing low-income workers. Maureen Conway and Robert P. Giloth deliver a robust volume featuring perspectives from prominent nonprofit and philanthropy leaders, academics and researchers to capture how sector-based workforce development, in industries ranging from health to construction, has evolved over 30 years - and how it can continue to grow and inform future investments and policy decisions. The book offers lessons for policymakers, philanthropic investors, researchers and local leaders interested in policies and practices that support strong businesses while helping struggling Americans connect to good jobs. Connecting People to Work features case studies of organizations implementing sector-based workforce development strategies in the health care, construction, manufacturing and restaurant industries, and highlights how policy and economic changes and new practices among education and training institutions are affecting workforce development efforts. It also includes evaluation results and a review of major sector-financing strategies. The book discusses the need for these workforce strategies at a time when many people are out of work or underemployed and face a labor market that is difficult to navigate. Too many workers today earn too little to make ends meet, and they often lack the time or resources to participate in local education programs that may or may not help them find work. Many low-wage workers often need additional support as they go through training, an approach generally adopted by sector strategies. The results chronicled in the book make clear that such strategies can help create viable opportunities for more Americans to gain the skills they need to achieve greater financial stability.

Conference report on the role of employment services in helping to improve the operation of labour markets in the USA - comprises papers relating to job searching behaviour, public sector employment services in the USA and the UK, private sector agencies and community development organizations, etc., and discusses the use of press advertising and hiring halls, and a case study of private enterprise job placement. List of participants. Diagrams, references and statistical tables. Conference held in Washington 1977 November 17.

From the traditional craft hiring hall to the Web site Monster.com, a multitude of institutions exist to facilitate the matching of workers with firms. The diversity of such Labor Market Intermediaries (LMIs) encompasses criminal records providers, public employment offices, labor unions, temporary help agencies, and centralized medical residency matches. Studies of Labor Market Intermediation analyzes how these third-party actors intercede where workers and firms meet, thereby aiding, impeding, and, in some cases, exploiting the matching process. By building a conceptual foundation for analyzing the roles that these understudied economic actors serve in the labor market, this volume develops both a qualitative and quantitative sense of their significance to market operation and worker welfare. Cross-national in scope, Studies of Labor Market Intermediation is distinctive in coalescing research on a set of market institutions that are typically treated as isolated entities, thus setting a research agenda for analyzing the changing shape of employment in an era of rapid globalization and technological change.

The institutions who work to match employers and employees.

This book brings the reader information on innovative initiatives that have succeeded in bringing new skills to people formerly trapped in low-wage jobs in various OECD countries.