After COVID-19: Building a More Coherent and Effective Workforce Development System in the United States

After COVID-19: Building a More Coherent and Effective Workforce Development System in the United States. Brookings Institution. Harry J. Holzer. February 15, 2021

Workforce development in the United States today is spread across higher education institutions (primarily public two-year and for-profit colleges), labor market institutions, and workplaces, with public funding from a range of sources. But outcomes for students and workers are weaker than they could be, especially among disadvantaged students and displaced workers; funding for workforce development programs is insufficient and not always effective. I propose the following changes: (1) Implement reforms and additional funding in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) for postsecondary occupational training for disadvantaged students. (2) Add modest taxes on worker displacement along with new funding for retraining. (3) Create a permanent version of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grants to fund partnerships among community colleges, workforce institutions, and states. Together, these actions would improve credential attainment and employment outcomes among the disadvantaged and employees at the risk of being displaced. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 33 pages].

The Future of Jobs Report 2020

The Future of Jobs Report 2020. World Economic Forum. October 20, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns and related global recession of 2020 have created a highly uncertain outlook for the labour market and accelerated the arrival of the future of work. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 aims to shed light on: 1) the pandemic-related disruptions thus far in 2020, contextualized within a longer history of economic cycles, and 2) the expected outlook for technology adoption jobs and skills in the next five years.

Despite the currently high degree of uncertainty, the report uses a unique combination of qualitative and quantitative intelligence to expand the knowledge base about the future of jobs and skills. It aggregates the views of business leaders—chief executives, chief strategy officers and chief human resources officers–on the frontlines of decision-making regarding human capital with the latest data from public and private sources to create a clearer picture of both the current situation and the future outlook for jobs and skills. The report also provides in-depth information for 15 industry sectors and 26 advanced and emerging countries. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 163 pages].

Preserving Small Businesses: Small-Business Owners Speak About Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic

Preserving Small Businesses: Small-Business Owners Speak About Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic. RAND Corporation. C. Richard Neu, Diana Gehlhaus, Howard J. Shatz. May 22, 2020.

With the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic causing severe economic dislocations worldwide, RAND researchers conducted a series of interviews with small-business owners, especially those with a physical and visible presence in their communities, to gain a better understanding of the challenges that these businesses are facing as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and what kinds of policies might help them survive. The 21 interviewees came from a variety of sectors⁠—owners of restaurants and small retail shops, specialty grocers, business-support and advisory organizations, small amusement parks, a hair salon, a yoga studio, a specialty manufacturer, an outdoor recreation company, and a painting contractor. Interviews focused on four principal issues: how the pandemic is affecting businesses; what business owners see as the biggest threats to their businesses; what assistance they have been able to access; and, most important, what they will need for their businesses to thrive once the immediate public-health crisis has passed. Although this group was not representative of the vast range of U.S. small businesses, a variety of experiences, challenges, and ideas for making assistance programs more effective were revealed. The most common concern was the need for assistance in covering fixed operating costs—most prominently, rent and mortgage payments but also utilities and insurance. Concerns about worker safety and liability were also mentioned. Adjustments to existing policies were also discussed, such as better government communications, clear rules for reopening businesses, and coordinated reopening policies across neighboring jurisdictions. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 24 pages].

An Estimation of the Economic Costs of Social-Distancing Policies

An Estimation of the Economic Costs of Social-Distancing Policies. RAND Corporation. Aaron Strong, Jonathan William Welburn. May 4, 2020.

Many state and local officials are making social-distancing policy decisions based on the actions of other locations rather than through a decisionmaking framework that evaluates these measures and their reduction of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019. To help provide one piece of that information, RAND researchers developed a series of economic models aimed at filling in the gap and at estimating a rough order of magnitude of the economic consequences associated with a small set of social-distancing policies. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 18 pages].

Perfect Match: How Workers Can Find Jobs That Fit Them Best

Perfect Match: How Workers Can Find Jobs That Fit Them Best. Center for Strategic & International Studies.Kati Suominen et al. October 4, 2019

The purpose of this report is to focus on mismatch problems in manufacturing labor markets. This report lays out several frictions that keep qualified and available American workers from becoming hired by American manufacturers and puts forth ideas for both manufacturers and the public sector to make the marriages between qualified workers and best-fit jobs happen and work. As such, this report is not focused on measuring or analyzing skills shortages or proposing new ways to build a workforce skilled for twenty-first century manufacturing jobs. Thus, “mismatches” in this report do not refer to “skills mismatches” where workers do not have skills employers want, as they do in some studies; rather, mismatches in this report mean settings where available workers are not being easily and optimally sorted into best-fit jobs. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 57 pages].

The U.S. Labor Market in 2050: Supply, Demand and Policies to Improve Outcomes

The U.S. Labor Market in 2050: Supply, Demand and Policies to Improve Outcomes. Brookings Institution. Harry J. Holzer. May 31, 2019

Current estimates suggest that over the coming decades, slower population growth and lower labor force participation will constrain the supply of labor in the U.S. The U.S. labor force will also become more diverse as immigration and fertility trends increase the size of minority populations. New forms of automation will likely require workers to adapt to keep their old jobs, while many will be displaced or face less demand for their work (while others benefit). Firms will continue to implement alternative staffing arrangements, like turning workers into independent contractors or outsourcing their human resource management to other firms; and many will adopt “low-road” employment practices to keep labor costs low. Exactly whom these changes will benefit or harm remains unclear, the author finds, though non-college workers will likely fare the worst; higher productivity from new technologies and reduced labor supply could raise average wages, but many workers will clearly be worse off. According to the author, policymakers should provide incentives for firms to train current employees, rather than replace them, and should encourage schools and colleges to teach flexible, transferable skills, as the future workforce will likely need to adapt quickly to new and changing job requirements. Lifelong learning accounts for workers could help. Expanding wage insurance and improving unemployment insurance and workforce services could help workers adapt after suffering job displacement. Policies that make work pay, like the EITC, and others designed to increase labor force attachment, like paid family leave, could help mitigate declines in the labor force. Reforms in immigration and retirement policy will help as well, as would policy experimentation at the state and local level (with federal support). [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[PDF format, 51 pages].

Labor Market Patterns since 2007

Labor Market Patterns since 2007. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.  Sarah A. Donovan, Marc Labonte. October 3, 2018

The period since 2007 has been a time of significant change for labor markets. The Great Recession of 2007-2009, the longest and deepest recession since the Great Depression, caused the unemployment rate to briefly reach 10%, and labor markets have subsequently experienced a long and gradual recovery. Most labor force metrics, including the unemployment rate and various other measures of labor force underutilization, have returned to levels that have historically been consistent with full employment.

 [PDF format, 26 pages].

Bridge to Opportunities: How One Probation Agency Developed a Program Designed to Connect Probationers to High-Wage Jobs

Bridge to Opportunities: How One Probation Agency Developed a Program Designed to Connect Probationers to High-Wage Jobs. RAND Corporation. Dionne Barnes-Proby et al. May 25, 2018

 This report summarizes findings from a case study of a program intended to improve the earning potential of probationers in Sacramento County, California, by training them in construction trades and connecting them to high-wage employers. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

 [PDF format, 20 pages].

Skills for Work in Bulgaria : The Relationship between Cognitive and Socioemotional Skills and Labor Market Outcomes

Skills for Work in Bulgaria : The Relationship between Cognitive and Socioemotional Skills and Labor Market Outcomes. World Bank. Victoria Levin et al. January 2016.

Employers value three types of skills, two of which are foundational: cognitive skills, such as functional literacy and numeracy, and socioemotional skills, such as self-discipline, perseverance, and the ability to work well with others.

But how are these different skills distributed among the working age population in Bulgaria? And what is the relationship between labor market outcomes and skills?

These particular questions are addressed in a new World Bank report, Skills for Work in Bulgaria: The Relationship between Cognitive and Socioemotional Skills and Labor Market Outcomes – a study based on data from the Bulgarian Longitudinal Inclusive Society Survey (BLISS) that was collected by the World Bank and the Open Society Institute–Sofia in the spring of 2013. [Note: contains copyrighted material].

[HTML format with a link to the full text PDF file].