CWA Focuses on "Building the New Workforce"

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Forty years ago, nearly three of every four jobs in the country required only a high school diploma, or less. Today, just 37 percent of jobs are available to those without some form of postsecondary education. Millions of Americans must pursue additional classroom instruction or training to improve skill sets, and gain access to jobs, better wages and upward mobility. Yet, it is estimated that by 2020, the U.S. economy will have a shortfall of 1.5 to 3 million workers with college degrees, and another 4.7 million workers will be needed with postsecondary certificates to meet economic demands. California businesses confirmed that these trends are very real.  According to the results of a recent SHRM survey, The Ongoing Impact of the Recession – California Recruiting and Skill Gaps, 50 percent of California employers reported that candidates don't have the right skills mix.

California Workforce Association (CWA) Executive Director, Bob Lanter said, "According to the SHRM survey, that 50 percent jumps to 65 percent for California employers hiring full-time employees for specific job openings;  that's beyond a wake-up call.  And, it's why the skills gaps issue is a key focus of our upcoming conference, Meeting of the Minds (MMM), where we are convening  the workforce investment system and its stakeholders to examine how to reengineer workforce models to address this new retraining economy."

California's workforce investment system is comprised of 49 workforce investment boards (WIBs) with its 750+ private sector members working together with education, economic development and labor to prepare workers with 21st century job skills through a network of 209 One-Stop Career Centers. The system and its stakeholders create workforce sector strategies with business and industry, match skilled workers with the needs of California businesses, and invest workforce funding based on labor market trends to help job seekers be more marketable.

Lanter said, "CWA's MMM Conference will provide a forum for regional action teams in workforce, economic development, education, business, labor and industry to work together to reengineer workforce development programs and services that support California's major regional industry sectors. The conference agenda is packed with keynoters and sessions to help us rethink our work."

President/CEO, American Round Table to Abolish Homelessness, Philip Mangano served as the 2002-2009 federal homelessness czar of the White House U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.  His keynote will describe key partnerships to disseminate innovative "NEXT PRACTICES™" that aim to reduce and end homelessness through housing, employment, and needed supports. "If we put business principles, innovation, and science to work for the poorest, we can cultivate the vision and imagination for the field-tested, evidence-based practices of the future," said Mangano. "In an era of scarce resources, partners from the private and philanthropic sectors need new strategies to scale up 'what works' in entrepreneurial initiatives that foster independence and change."

The MMM is hosting a series of three Design Group meetings with regional workforce stakeholders to take the ideas learned at the Conference and create innovative models that impact planning, program design, service delivery, training, and other aspects of workforce development.  A design intensive clinic will be facilitated by the award winning global design firm IDEO which recently worked with local WIBs and the states of California and Washington to rethink how services to dislocated workers could be delivered.   Each design group will develop one or more innovations that will be presented during the closing plenary on 9/5/13 with awards given for the best innovations.

The MMM Conference is scheduled for September 3-5, 2013 in Monterey, California.  Regular registration ends 8/26/13. For more conference information, go to www.calworkforce.org/MMM.

The CWA is a nonprofit membership organization that develops public policy strategies and builds local capacity to address critical workforce issues across California. CWA represents Workforce Investment Boards who are responsible for developing local-based workforce strategies and solutions through a network of One-Stop Career Centers and other workforce partners. Membership composition is reflective of our local partnerships and collaborations with educational institutions, economic development professionals, chambers and business associations, and local nonprofits, government and community-based organizations that have a vested interest in workforce excellence.

SOURCE California Workforce Association