At the national level, the U.S. created 222,000 new jobs in June 2017 as hiring accelerated in the spring, showing that companies are still finding ways to add staff despite a growing shortage of skilled workers. The national unemployment rate, meanwhile, rose to 4.4% from 4.3% as more people entered the labor force in search of work. The jobless rate had fallen to a 16-year low in May 2017. Orange County’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in June 2017, below both the national average and June 2016’s rate of 4.3 percent.
The job market remains in generally good shape eight years into the economic expansion. However, underneath the surface, unprecedented changes caused by new technologies and innovative new ways of utilizing technology
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A severe lack of affordable workforce housing affects Orange County’s future economy in several different ways; the regional economy can overcome this challenge or face declining competitiveness depending on how current stakeholders and policymakers address this issue. Finally, positive overall job growth may mask the lower quality of many of the new jobs being created in Orange County.
All of these trends have significant implications for Orange County’s education and workforce development systems. The Orange County Development Board and Orange County Business Council’s 16th annual workforce indicators report seeks to prepare the region’s workforce stakeholders – from CEOs to college administrators to entry-level workers – to face these issues and preserve the competitive advantages that have been – and are -- the foundation of Orange County’s economy.
How should local policymakers, businesses, and educational institutions respond to the changes and trends outlined in this report? First, they need to recognize where Orange County is potentially vulnerable. While the skills gap, for example, is a nationwide issue, it may particularly affect Orange County because of its relatively poor ability to retain young workers and key industries in fields disproportionately affected by this trend. The regional economy also may have
This new found partnership will allow us to tap into the talent of those students which have been hidden from us and releasing them to their full potential. Now doing this will help change the workforce of tomorrow and the future of our nation’s education, economics, and economy. Now even though Job Corps is a program that helps young adults it has had much criticism with no solutions offered. Effective solutions need to be offered in order to save this vital program. This program is instrumental and has proven success in guiding the nation’s education of young adults who previously failed other educational
In search of causes for the economy’s weaknesses, Kay spoke to employers in North Carolina and came to the following conclusion, “Employers across North Carolina tell me that there is often a disconnect between the skills held by job seekers and the skills they need in potential employees” (heller.senate.gov). By listening to employers, she determined that the existence of a skills gap was a major problem preventing people from obtaining employment within the North Carolinian community. Therefore, she chose to come up with a plan that would close the gap by providing people with sufficient job training that would lead them to gain the necessary skills to obtain a job. Along with senators Heller and Donnelly, she formulated the AMERICA Works Act. This act would create a system in which community colleges and job training locations would adapt a curriculum that would enable students to learn the skills employers are in search of. Through data, it has been discovered that about 600,000 jobs are not filled because they are intended for skilled workers. With the passing of this act, such unoccupied positions would be filled and would not only assist North Carolina’s economy but the nation’s economy in general. Kay sees this plan as an evident solution from national stance and claims, “In this economy, no family should
The leadership project in course EL-7235, Workforce and Economic Development consisted of identifying a problem, trend, issue or innovation related to the workforce and economic development that affects community colleges. The problem, trend, issue or innovation was to be discussed in detailed, connecting to theory, policy and or practice used in the community college setting to address the selected topic. In addition, conducting a comprehensive review of literature concerning the topic and enhancing the review of literature with field research at a community college were included. Moreover, a presentation of the problem, trend, issue, or innovation research combined with the theory, policy, or findings on how research dealt
Amongst reading the material presented in this chapter about the job market trends, I was able to determine that the job market is extremely dynamic and has a great rate of change depending on the company’s needs. These adjustments also affect salaries, if there is a high demand for a position where there is a shortage in qualified candidates the salaries and benefits will be higher. As new technologies grow, the need for employees in these areas do as well, people need to maintain their skills up to date and seek professional growth to be able to keep up with the requirements and challenges of this fast pacing changing job market. However, some of these changes in the job market are being caused by the rapid change in the workforce. Companies are having to adapt some of their philosophy and the way they view employees, because so much has changed in the way the workforce behaves. Let’s examine the
The Bridges To Opportunity Initiative helps to ready low-income under skilled adult students to obtain workforce ready skills using community and technical colleges to achieve jobs with livable wages and an educational pathway. (Ford Foundation, n.d.) The Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-Best) works with adults who want to better their basic educational skills to increase employability and the opportunity to advance their education in a career development direction. (Wachen, Jenkins, & Noy, 2011) There are seventy-five million Americans that do not have higher than a high school education or who have not attain a General Education Development/General Equivalent Diploma (GED) the I-Best programs focus on increasing education, gaining employable skills to earn a livable wages. (Wachen, Jenkins, & Noy, 2011) Breaking Through Initiative goal “is to promote the development of practices and policies that connect low-skilled adults (with reading and math skills testing below the eighth-grade level) with postsecondary occupational or technical education”. (Jobs for the Future, 2010)
The changes in the economy, the shift to the global economy and change in the workforce are challenging traditional federal approaches to employment and education. Global economy advances enable work to be shifted and sometimes renders some work obsolete. To compete effectively in a knowledge based economy, education systems must equip children with appropriate skills that meet high standards. There should also be continuing adult education to ensure adults continue to learn new skills as they acquire additional knowledge.
The problem I chose to write on is the potential workforce skills gap within California’s population but more specifically within the population of college graduates and how they will effect California 's work force now and in the future. In the Public Policy Institute of California’s 2025 report a potential mismatch was shown between the level of education the future population is likely to poses, and the level of education that will be demanded by the future economy. This reveals that California is facing a serious issue with it’s supply of college educated workers. Projections of the states economy shows a steady increase of demand for an educated workforce but California is unlikely to meet this demand unless the decision makers implement policies that greatly effect changes in college attendance and graduation rates among the states college youth. “If current trends persist, California will have one million fewer college graduates than it needs in 2025—only 35 percent of working-age adults will have a college degree in an economy that would otherwise require 41 percent of workers to have a college degree” (Johnson, Hans, Ria Sengupta). Three approaches appealed to decision makers for improving this outlook and lessening the gap is by increasing California 's college attendance rates, increasing transfer rates from community colleges to
In the article “Are They Really Ready to Work?,” editors Jill Casner-Lotto and Linda Barrington reveal the views of employers on the preparedness of incoming people into the modern workforce in the U.S. Do the graduates of high schools and colleges have the skills to make it in todays workforce? According to reliable sources like The Conference Board, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management, the U.S. is not correctly preparing students. High school graduates lack more skills than graduates of college. College graduates are more successful, but not at an expectable rate. While the incoming workforce lacks skills like basic knowledge and applied skills, they are excelling in many other areas also.
A minimum wage not only shuts out younger, unskilled workers from existing jobs, but also lowers new job creation and is a factor in job destruction. Research has shown that a minimum wage has a significant effect on unemployment, regardless of industry (Clain, 2015). The higher the wage, the less likely a business, especially a small business, will be able to hire new employees. The lack of job creation and increase in automation has become evident even in some larger businesses. A number of restaurants, including Applebee’s, have moved to automated order takers and payment options where there is no need for human interaction (Heriot, 2015). As the minimum wage continues to increase, so, too, will automation.
As a 21st century learner, the American institutional instruction is no longer enough to prepare our young prospects, like myself, for future in-demand jobs. It’s adamant that American education still withholds the same standards and content taught in the past 20+ years, whilst our society continues to evolve. Progress. Change. I grew concerned for my future placement in the workforce, as my parents were not as fortunate in their career selection, and I absolutely wanted to be successful, but I did not know what to be or do. But then, I found my calling through an organization labeled “SkillsUSA.”Allow me to make my case on how this national, student-led organization will be able to tackle the skills-gap issue and prepare
Experience with economic and labor market dynamics concepts within the context of the workforce development and employment and training programs.
Blinder has three main points to make about preparing our workforce for the future: we need to redesign our education system, remember that the line dividing personal services and impersonal services will only move in one direction, and personal and nonpersonal jobs does not mean that one requires higher levels of education than the other. Blinder feels that the most important of these points is education, that it should be more about the kind of education the students receive and not the amount, he also believes that the motto looking forward should be “Prepare yourself for a high-end personal service that is not offshorable.” Blinder believes that training students for jobs that won’t be offshored, developing a creative workforce, having a tighter labor market, bouncing displaced workers back into productive employment, and more training for low-end jobs will keep America
New graduates are facing tough competitions in the job market. First, some of the low skills jobs are being replaced with automation tasks. Second, many IT jobs are moved to lower cost countries. Many new college graduates continue to struggle to find a job. Although the national rate of unemployment is under 5 percent, the job market is saturated with highly educated grads with little to no work experience. Many baby boomers continue to work past their retirement age due to their financial difficulties. The limited job opportunities that are offered to new graduates are diminishing. Employers strategically hire prospects candidates at lower wages.
From the societal centric viewpoint, we can define workforce development as an initiative which will educate and train specific people to maintainable competitive economic environment. Post-secondary education is an important part to meet of any states workforce and economic development goal. In addition, states, regions and communities are understanding that post secondary education does not just come with a set of involving letters only, but also covers a wide range of job training and educational assistances as well. For example, Arkansas states has focused on STEM degree holders and as a result, they raise median household income in a good way.
The Journal entry of “Preparing Students for the New Reality” by Miller, Donald S. and Slocombe, Thomas E. explains to teachers of how to coach millennials to get ready for their future in the workforce. Miller and Slocombe do not talk down on millennials, but instead talk about teachers needing to be more efficient coaches. Thomas Friedman introduced the idea of “The world is flat,” meaning there is always new things to learn and new people to compete with for employment (1). Chen stated that the unemployment rate is going up and Miller and Slocombe explained that educators need to coach students of how to prepare, get hired, and keep a job (1). Miller and Slocombe noted that millennials feel “entitled” to good jobs, and coaches need to teach