Information Systems Skills Differences between High-Wage and Low-Wage Regions: Implications for Global Sourcing

Developing Information Systems (IS) skills for a company’s workforce has always been challenging, but global sourcing growth has caused the determination of needed IS skills to be more complex. The increased use of outsourcing to an IS service provider and from high-wage regions to low-wage regions has affected what IS skills are required globally and how to distribute the workforce to meet these needs. To understand what skills are needed in locations that seek and those that provide outsourcing, we surveyed IS service provider managers in global locations. Results from 126 reporting units provide empirical evidence that provider units in low-wage regions value technical skills more than those in high-wage regions. Despite the emphasis on commodity skills in low-wage areas, high- and low-wage providers value project management skills. Low-wage regions note global and virtual teamwork more than high-wage regions do. The mix of skills and the variation by region have implications for domestic and offshore sourcing. Service providers can vary their staffing models in global regions which has consequences for recruiting, corporate training, and curriculum

Understanding Entry-Level Health Care Employment in Chicago

Restructuring within the health care industry over the past ten years has sought to improve the quality and delivery of health care services while reducing employers' costs. However, coupled with the tight local and regional labor market, these organizational changes have introduced new challenges for employers trying to find workers who are adequately prepared to deliver quality health care services.Earlier this year, the Chicago Jobs Council received funding from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and BP Amoco to conduct research in the health care industry. This report summarizes the most recent industry and occupational data on Chicago's health care industry and provides a snapshot of the entry-level recruitment and retention needs of Chicago's health care employers, job training programs, and low-income job seekers. Based on our findings, the report also makes recommendations to employers, training providers, public agencies and workforce boards

Targeting Industries, Training Workers and Improving Opportunities: The Final Report from the Sectoral Employment Initiative

Over the past 30 years, American workers have faced daunting challenges, including declines in real wages and dwindling upward mobility. Paths to advance within companies have deteriorated, leaving many low-skilled workers "stuck" indefinitely in low-wage jobs -- and swelling the ranks of the working poor. As opportunities for less-educated workers to access well-paying jobs grow scarce, it is clear that our nation requires new approaches to workforce development.In a departure from traditional strategies, some workforce organizations have begun to implement services and activities that focus on the needs of specific industry sectors. By identifying local sectors that lack workers -- which might range from health care to manufacturing to construction -- these organizations can help low-income workers acquire the specific skills they need to fill available positions. To explore the potential of this approach, P/PV launched the Sectoral Employment Initiative (SEI) in 1998, with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. This final report relies on data gathered during interviews with staff members at the SEI organizations and other key players in the targeted sectors, site visits, reviews of program documentation, and baseline and follow-up interviews with program participants focusing on a range of outcomes, including employment, earnings, education, housing and household income. The report presents key findings and explores some of the challenges sectoral programs encountered

Sustaining the Promise: Realizing the Potential of Workforce Intermediaries and Sector Projects

Reviews the outcomes of sector-specific workforce development projects run by intermediaries with a comprehensive, long-term approach. Outlines the challenges of and recommendations for securing sustainability in financing, infrastructure, and operations

Solving Colorado's Shortage of Health Professionals: Final Evaluation Findings and Recommendations

This report shares evaluation findings from The Trust's Health Professions initiative, and recommends strategies to increase and sustain Colorado's health professions workforce. For example, creating awareness and readiness for health professions training; providing flexible training options and reaching out to students in rural areas; supporting faculty development and clinical training opportunities; expanding the reach and content of training programs; and strengthening community partnerships for recruitment and retention of health professionals

Redefining Workforce Development in Northeast Ohio: How National WorkAdvance Demonstration Made Local Impact

The Fund for Our Economic Future, Deaconess Foundation and The Raymond John Wean Foundation, along with grantee partner Towards Employment, are pleased to release a local impact report on WorkAdvance, a national pilot tested in Northeast Ohio over the last five years that demonstrated an ability to deliver workforce services more effectively for low-income individuals. Employers can be connected to talent they need, while individuals can enjoy better earnings and increased potential for career advancement. Coordinated locally by Towards Employment and supported by the Fund for Our Economic Future and other national funders, WorkAdvance showed that a comprehensive provision of services, focusing on targeted sectors and emphasizing advancement, could lead to better outcomes for disadvantaged jobseekers and employers. The local report builds off of analysis released by social policy research firm MDRC in August, titled "Encouraging Evidence on a Sector-Focused Advancement Strategy," that includes results for the test sites in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and New York, in addition to Northeast Ohio. Results show WorkAdvance is a clear winner. Northeast Ohio program participants accessed more services; were 49 percent more likely to work in a targeted sector (health care or manufacturing) and more likely to be working regular shift, fulltime, or in a permanent job, and in a job with opportunities for career advancement; and averaged a 14 percent increase in earnings after two years.

Partnering With Employers to Promote Job Advancement for Low-Skill Individuals

Outlines the need for employer involvement in skills development programs that benefit both workers and businesses, barriers to the development of partnerships, promising approaches, and policy considerations for creating and sustaining partnerships

Optimizing Talent: The Promise and the Perils of Adapting Sectoral Strategies for Young Workers

The new report from JobsFirstNYC and the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, highlights national examples of effective sectoral employment programs for youth. It lays out strategies for developing and maintaining strong partnerships among industry experts and youth development practitioners, to boost employment rates among young adults and improve business outcomes. Finally, it details lessons learned from JobsFirstNYC's Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project (YASEP), a successful, first-of-its-kind pilot to test whether sector strategies could be specifically effective for young adults who are out of school and unemployed.Drawing on the promising results of several sector-based employment programs for young people throughout the nation, this report explores how:By expanding and deepening access for young people to sectoral employment initiatives, policymakers and funders can help young people find alternative pathways to jobs, job stability, and advancement;Community-based and young-adult-serving organizations can play a critical role in connecting young people to employment;Collaboration across organizations is essential, and financial incentives to support partnerships must be built into future efforts; andSectoral strategies can yield even greater gains when they go beyond strategies focused on job placement to partnering with employers to identify ways to improve workers' conditions while also supporting business success

Help Wanted: Policy Brief

In today's economy, strong basic skills and success in the workforce are intertwined. Employers across all industries demand a new kind of worker, and businesses can go virtually anywhere to find the right employees. In order to compete in today's global economy, Philadelphia must commit to becoming a city with a world-class, highly literate workforce. This policy brief, written in response to the publication Help Wanted: Knowledge Workers Needed, proposes strategies for uniting the full community to advance adult workforce literacy levels. Many of the strategies described in this policy brief are also applicable to areas throughout the country facing this same challenge