As noted earlier this month, in April, the White House released President Obama’s Upskill Initiative. I want to highlight two important questions from the report, and the underlying evidence that demonstrates their importance to the President's initiative.
How can front line workers access training?
The prevalence of job-related training has fallen: Newly released analysis of survey data shows that the prevalence of training has fell between 1996 and 2008, the most recent year with data available. Over this period, the share of respondents ages 16 or older receiving any training in the past year fell from about 26 percent to 16 percent.
Employer-provided training is the most important source of job-related training but has declined alongside all training: 16 percent of surveyed workers in 2008 reported receiving some kind of job-related training. For about three-quarters of those (12 percent of all workers), this training was employer-provided. By comparison, in 1996, 21 percent of workers reported receiving employer-provided training, with 13 percent of workers receiving this training on the job.
What are promising practices for supporting front-line worker advancement exist?
Expanding apprenticeships and other forms of on-the-job training that lead to better paying jobs: On-the-job training at most companies is a combination of formal and informal, instructor-led training, e-learning and on-the-job training, coaching, shadowing, video training, self-study, testing and visual assessments. Apprenticeships are the “gold standard” for on-the-job training – nine out of 10 apprentices are employed after completing their apprenticeship, with an average starting wage of over $50,000.
Increasing employer-provided education benefits that help employees work towards a degree while they are on-the-job: On average, organizations spend $16.5 billion per year on education benefits that allow current workers to continue their education and earn a degree or credential while working or to go back to school. Further, education increases the likelihood that an employee will be promoted or given new opportunities, earn higher wages, demonstrate improved performance, and seek additional responsibilities.
The report goes on to provide 12 case studies examples of how businesses, labor groups, higher education and human services organizations are working together to develop and support upskilling initiatives. Below are the 12 case studies, listed by partnership.
The ASCEND Program for Gap Inc. Workers
Blue Cross Blue Shield South Carolina and Apprenticeship Carolina
National Institute for Metalworking Skills
College for America and Partners Healthcare
Pepsico: Modernizing Tuition Assistance Programs
Pine Technical and Community College Employer Partnership
Xerox Global Learning Innovation
Thomas Edison State College and United Parcel Service (UPS) Learning
Goodwill Industries and Anne Arundel Community College
Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Program at Sinclair Community College
Finishing Trades Institute
Kaiser Permanente's labor management trust funds
Question: Based on these partnerships, and the brief descriptions of each provided in the full report, which of these partnerships are you most interested in learning more about? Please reply to this thread with the name, or send me an e-mail directly. Based on your responses, I would like to possibly organize for a guest moderator from one or more partnerships to share their experience with developing and implementing these unique programs.
Thanks,
Mike
michaelcruse74@gmail.com