National Skills Coalition works to build workforce of tomorrow today
Joyce grantee the National Skills Coalition (formerly The Workforce Alliance) launched Skills2Compete with a mission to promote two-year workforce development for American workers to secure middle-skill jobs, which require more than a high school degree but not a four-year degree, and to build the economic imperative to invest in those job training programs.
America's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs: Education and Training Requirements in the Next Decade and Beyond, the first report to come out of the campaign in 2007, revealed that the demand for workers to fill jobs in the middle of the labor market will likely remain quite robust relative to supply, especially in key sectors. According a 2010 Manpower survey, 52 percent of employers reported difficulty filling mission-critical positions. Middle-skill jobs, the survey found, were some of the hardest to fill jobs in 2011.
The Joyce Foundation Employment Program works to improve education systems and support opportunities for underprepared adults to learn important skills and pursue good-paying jobs in their communities. Skills2Compete is part of this critical effort, and the campaign’s findings have resonated with federal policymakers. President Obama called on adults to seek at least one year of higher education or job training and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included important investments in new training opportunities.
At the state level, Skills2Compete launched 13 campaigns, so state stakeholders can coordinate organizing and communication strategies, and policy goals.
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Skills2Compete State Campaigns
August 2010 Report: Driving Innovation in the Middle