This morning, the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project released a series of studies looking at issues related to workforce development and federal training programs. For long-time followers of workforce development issues, the studies don’t contain any particularly new revelations or findings. But, they are a very well-done review of the state of the art in workforce development. They also make a very compelling case for why all levels of government, and the business sector as well, need to pay more attention to the training and retraining of the US workforce.
The new reports include:
“Raising Job Quality and Skills for American Workers: Creating More-Effective Education and Workforce Development Systems in the States,” by Harry Holzer of Georgetown University.
“Building America’s Job Skills with Effective Workforce Programs: A Training Strategy to Raise Wages and Increase Work Opportunities,” by Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Hamilton Project.
“Policies to Reduce High-Tenured Displaced Workers’ Earnings Losses Through Retraining,” by Louis Jacobson, Daniel Sullivan, and Robert LaLonde.
If you’re looking for a relatively succinct summary of what is (and what should be) happening in the world of workforce development, these three studies are a great place to get started.
