Workforce Developments

More on the stimulus bill: Senate text, workforce development analysis

The folks in DC have been busy today. I've received several documents related to the stimulus bill that's making its way through Congress, AKA the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, AKA S.1 and H.R.1. The House version passed on Wednesday.

Here's a quick list of documents and links on the newly-released text of S.1:

• Text of the Senate version

• Summary of the Senate version (only 176 pages!)

• Analysis of Workforce Investment Act and Employment Services spending in the Senate bill, courtesy of The Workforce Alliance

• Analysis of training and employment services spending in the Senate bill, courtesy of the California Workforce Association

For comparison, here's info on H.R.1, the House version:

• Text of the House version

• Analysis of how the money is allocated in the House version, state by state

• Summary of workforce provisions in the House bill, again from TWA

In addition, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has issued detailed analysis of key provisions in the stimulus bills affecting low- and moderate-income people, including food stamps, child tax credit, education and unemployment. 

Indiana to train community groups to help unemployment filers

Indiana plans to provide computers and training on how to file for unemployment benefits to community- and faith-based organizations and public libraries around the state. Their goal is to increase the number of places where Hoosiers can file for unemployment, and reduce the number of errors in unemployment filings.

A press release yesterday announced this new partnership between Indiana's Department of Workforce Development (DWD), their Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI) and the State Library.

This follows closely on the heels of Tennessee's announcement of a plan to offer mass unemployment claim sessions at career centers throughout the state.

Computers will be loaned out to community groups and libraries, and volunteers will be trained to assist filers. The training will take place on February 25 at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis. The training will be recorded and the video posted on the state library's multimedia website.

In Indiana, all first-time filers must file online for unemployment. Click here to file, and here for a video tutorial on how to file. Unemployment is currently at 8.2% in Indiana, compared to the national rate of 7.2%.

It's another creative response to the combined challenges of 1) overloaded technology systems to processing unemployment claims, and 2) the fact that many people want face-to-face, personal assistance in times of need.

Do you know of similar efforts in other states?

Tennessee to begin in-person mass unemployment claim sessions

Starting tomorrow, January 29, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development will begin holding mass unemployment claim sessions at 22 career centers throughout the state. According to the state website,

During the meetings claimants will complete their required forms.  They will be prepared to certify their eligibility on a weekly basis, either online or by phone, which is required as long as they are receiving unemployment benefits.  Staff will then approve and process the claims onsite.

These sessions are temporary, and are designed to reduce strain on the state's overloaded phone system. In many states, computer and telephone systems for unemployment have failed in recent weeks as unprecedented numbers of people have filed for unemployment across the country.

Tennessee offers an online slideshow tutorial on how to prepare to file an unemployment claim. You'll also find text information on the site about what's required to qualify for unemployment, and what papers to bring to the claim session.

Based on what I'm hearing from workforce development professionals here in California and from comments on this blog by people in other states, I think this is a smart move. Failing technology is taking a toll, and people need the financial help sooner rather than later. The personal touch could really help.

Even in cases where the best way to file for unemployment is online or by phone, many people want a real live human to help them out. They want to feel like they're being heard. Perhaps the Tennessee Career Centers could also have other social service providers on hand at these sessions to meet needs that the Labor agency can't, like food banks and mental health professionals.

Could this approach work in your state?

Do you know of other states that are trying this or other innovative models for employment services?

Stimulus bill moves in the Senate

Today the Senate took up S.1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It was introduced in the House ten days ago.

The Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees each marked up portions of the bill. It passed by a 21-9 vote out of Appropriations.

The text of the bill hasn't been issued, but the Workforce Alliance is doing a great job of keeping members informed about what funds are included for workforce development and job training. They report that the Senate version includes $3.8 billion for workforce development and employment services. That compares to $4.5 billion in the House version.

Rumor has it that the full House may begin floor debate on their version (H.R. 1) later today and could vote on it as early as tonight or tomorrow.

Stay tuned. To get a final bill to President Obama's desk by February 20, this one is going to keep moving fast.

Monster.com hacked (again), job seeker info stolen

If you're a registered user of Monster.com or USAJobs.com (which is run by Monster), change your password now. Change it to a password you don't use anywhere else online.

Next, be on the lookout for phishing emails trying to get you to click through and give your personal information.

On Friday the giant job search company announced it had been attacked and information from registered users was stolen, including names, passwords, email addresses and telephone numbers. USAJobs posted this announcement.

Monster was hacked previously in 2007 (click here for a techie explanation at Symantec), and job seeker information stolen.

Monster at first announced it would not send emails to users to let them know of the problem. The company later changed its mind. Either way, if you're a registered Monster user and you get an email telling you about the problem, the safest thing to do is do not click any links in the email. Close your email and use your browser to go directly to Monster.com and change your password there.

Thanks to Chris Russell at Secrets of the Job Hunt, where I first learned about the problem.

When I did a Google news search to learn more, I found another problem. This is being covered almost exclusively by techie publications and blogs like PCWorld, ComputerWorld and ReadWriteWeb. The only general interest mainstream coverage I found was a brief at the New Hampshire Union Leader.

In other words, if you don't read technology publications - and most of us don't - you might never know about the problem at Monster and USAJobs.

State unemployment systems struggle to keep up with claims

 If you're having trouble filing for unemployment, you're not alone.

State systems across the country are struggling to handle the rapid rise in claims. In some cases, the problem is aging technology. In others, it's insufficient staff.

Last week the Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims have reached their highest level since 1982. Each state handles unemployment claims through its own system, and each state is struggling with its own set of problems:

• As I reported earlier, computer systems have crashed in New York, North Carolina and Ohio.
• In California, overloaded phone systems are sending callers to recorded messages or hanging up on them.
• Florida's phone and computer filing systems are failing.
  
• Indiana, Maine and Wisconsin are adding staff to process claims, while Michigan plans to double their staff. Other states have been delayed or are unable to take on new staff to help because of statewide hiring freezes.

This is a good example of why cutbacks and belt-tightening aren't always the best or the only answer to tough economic times. Nor are they necessarily the best thing to do when times are good. Any organization - business, government or nonprofit - needs to have enough staff on hand to meet the needs of their clients and customers. The pressure to cut costs has to be balanced against what it takes to meet those needs.

If spending a little extra is what it takes to hire the staff needed to make sure unemployed workers get the help they need, then right now is the time to spend it.

And when the economy gets back on its feet, invest in better computer systems.

Verdugo Jobs Center photo by Reuters

Have you seen the new White House website?

In a word - WOW! New design, new content - check it out at WhiteHouse.gov. They're blogging over there on the Potomac, and you can subscribe to the RSS feed.
 
The Department of Labor site has been redesigned, but the content is still the same. I've heard rumors of upcoming changes to the site that will make it easier for citizens to navigate and more interactive. I'm looking forward to that.

There's been a lot of online (and offline) chatter about an emerging "government 2.0" era where government agencies use social media to connect with citizens while making more raw data available to us for mashups and file sharing. Perhaps we're seeing the first stages of that. I hope so.

I also hope this will inspire government agencies at the federal, state and local level to rethink their websites and how they can use technology to more effectively inform and provide services to citizens.

What information do you need - from the Department of Labor or from other government agencies?

UPDATE: Click here for a history of 12 years of White House websites, from Rick Turczy at ReadWriteWeb.

Taking Youth Programs Multimedia - workshop followup

My thanks to everyone who participated in our workshop on Taking Youth Programs Multimedia at the California Workforce Association's Youth Conference. To download a copy of the handouts, click here.

The website with that amazing list of text messaging shorthand is right here. Warning: not all of it is G-rated.

Thanks also to my terrific fellow presenters at the workshop from Project YES in Ceres, California:

Dustin Pack Program Manager
Anna Hernandez Youth Participant
Gabriela Vargas Youth Participant

The rest of the conference has been great too. I have a couple of blog posts in the works where I'll share what I'm learning. Look for them soon.

What will it cost to get 11.1 million Americans back to work?

On Friday I reported that the stimulus bill introduced in Congress last week contains $4.5 billion to help people get back to work and asked whether that is enough to meet current needs.

The short, basic math answer is no. Here's why.

While $4.5 billion may seem like a lot of money, it's a drop in the bucket when compared to the number of people likely to need assistance and the level of assistance they'll need to get back to work in this economy.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Stats show 11.1 million Americans out of work at the end of 2008 (7.2% unemployment). Even if only one-third of them need help getting back to work, that's a total of 3.7 million people. Suddenly $4.5 billion becomes only $1,216 per person. While that might be enough to help someone update their resume and take a short course on job interviewing, it's not enough to retrain someone for a career in a new industry.

What's more, the people who only need a little help reworking their resumes are likely to land a job on their own without seeking assistance from their local One-Stop Career Center. The people who come through our doors will need more help, which costs more in staff time and other resources.

And this doesn't begin to touch the needs of underemployed workers.

There are some exciting elements in the bill, like the $750 million in new funds for worker training, with two-thirds of it set aside for green jobs.

Is $4.5 billion enough to help Americans get back to work? The more complex answer will emerge as we read and analyze the language in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in more detail to find out exactly what funds are authorized and how they will be spent.

What questions do you have about the bill?

Photo credit: Puget Sound Electrical Apprenticeship and Training Trust

Job training funds in the stimulus bill: is $4.5 billion enough?

The Workforce Alliance is reporting that the stimulus bill introduced in Congress yesterday includes $4.5 billion in new funds for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and Employment Services (ES). This is rather less than the $12.5 billion over two years for job training that TWA has been advocating for.

Here's how TWA reports the breakdown:

1) WIA Formula Funding: $2.7 billion

• Adults: $500 million
• Youth: $1.2 billion
• Dislocated Workers: $1 billion

2) WIA Discretionary funding: $1.3 billion

• High Growth and Emerging Industry Sectors: $750 million for a new program of competitive grants for worker training, of which $500 million is designated for projects that prepare workers for careers in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries specified in the Green Jobs Act of 2007. Priority consideration for the balance of funds will be given to projects that prepare workers for careers in the health care sector.
• Dislocated Workers Assistance National Reserve: $500 million in national emergency grants to provide income and support services for individuals to participate in job training, with an emphasis on areas of high unemployment or poverty.
• YouthBuild: $50 million in supplemental awards to existing programs and an expansion of a current competition to allow at-risk youth to gain education and occupational credentials while constructing or rehabilitating affordable housing.

3) State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Service Operations (ES): $500 million

4) No less than $250 million will be used to provide reemployment services for Unemployment Insurance claimants.

Thanks to TWA for their analysis. We'll be hearing more as this stimulus bill and others make their way through the Congressional process, which as you'll remember goes something like this:

(Click here if you don't see the classic How A Bill Becomes A Law video from Schoolhouse Rock.)

$825 billion stimulus plan is on the move

The first stimulus proposal was introduced yesterday in Congress by House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. David Obey (D-Wisconsin). The Senate is expected to introduce its own stimulus bill soon, and we're likely to see plenty of input into the discussion from the incoming Obama administration. That's on top of all the behind-the-scenes lobbying taking place right now in DC.

I've only had time to take a quick look. Here's a brief summary of how the money is allocated:

• $54 billion for energy spending
• $16 billion for science and broadband access
• $90 billion for roads, bridges, transit and waterways
• $142 billion for education
• $111 billion for health care
• $102 billion to support laid off workers through unemployment, help with COBRA costs and food stamps
• $4 billion for law enforcement

The remaining ~$275 billion (1/3 of the total) will go toward tax cuts. (Too much? Too little? Take the poll here.)

You can read the full text of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (258 pp), or a 76 page summary of the bill. You'll find two shorter summaries here and here.

For media coverage, check out the New York Times, Reuters or the Associated Press. 

Now that we're starting to see real, concrete proposals, what do you think? On the right track? Any missing pieces? How do you think the money should be spent?

Jobs in workforce development - new online resource

If you're a long-time reader of Workforce Developments, you might know I started a workforce development job listing page back in 2007. It turned out to be a whole lot of work and fell by the wayside quickly.

Fast-forward to 2009. I've recently launched a new Workforce Development Job Board using Job-a-Matic. It lists workforce development jobs around the country, primarily in government and nonprofit organizations.

For job seekers: Boomark this site and return to it regularly. It's constantly being updated.

For employers: Posting a job listing is automated. There is a fee, but I'm offering discounts to all my clients.

I expect to see an increase in workforce development job openings as the Obama stimulus package is implemented and Americans start training for their new careers. Especially if it includes the kind of investments in job training being promoted by The Workforce Alliance. So stay tuned.

If you have any questions about the job board or listings on it, drop me a line. And please share this resource with friends and colleagues who might find it useful.

Speak now or forever hold your peace: NAICS codes revisions

If you're like me and your heart goes pitter-patter when you hear someone say "NAICS codes," keep reading.

If you're in workforce or economic development and you don't know what NAICS (rhymes with "snakes") stands for, take a moment to find out now.

It's the North American Industry Classification System, and it's what the feds use to classify all businesses in the country. Using those classifications, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, your state labor market information agency and others calculate how many of what kinds of businesses are in your neighborhood.

By extension, that data is used in workforce development to figure out what jobs in what industries are in high demand nationally, by state and at the local level. You can connect up this data with Standard Occupational Codes (SOC) data to develop career ladders and other useful tools (click here to learn how). This information is very useful for deciding what kinds of advice to give job seekers and what kinds of job training programs to invest in.

If you've been around the system for a while, you may remember the old Standard Industrial Classification (SIC codes) system. NAICS replaced that in 1997.

Like any data, NAICS is only as useful as the codes are accurate. As the economy and businesses change, they need to be updated periodically, which is about to happen again. Your chance for input into the process is going on right now.

The federal Office of Management and Budget's Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC) is open for public input. This won't be a wholesale reopening of the NAICS system; they specifically are seeking comments in the following areas:

• The advisability and desirability of reducing national industry detail in the manufacturing sector;
• Proposals for new and emerging industries;
• Classification of distribution centers, logistics service providers, and sales offices of publishers; and
• Suggestions to clarify the classification of establishments that outsource manufacturing transformation activities and provide manufacturing services in the market given the increasing specialization and globalization of business activities in the economy.

If you have an opinion, jump right in, although you have some time to craft just the right comment. You're encouraged to send in both a hard copy and an email or fax version. Deadline to file comments is April 7.

Photo by Marek Szczepanek

Obama stimulus plan - take the poll

Last week I wrote about rising concerns that the Obama stimulus plan may focus too much on tax cuts at the expense of investing in job creation. A few days later, the Obama team issued this report saying their plan will create three to four million new jobs (or watch the video summary here).

What do you think? Should the Obama stimulus plan invest more in job creation, or more in tax cuts? Take the poll right here.

NYC legal community works to enhance employment for formerly incarcerated

The New York City Bar Association released a report in March 2008 entitled "Legal Employers Taking the Lead: Enhancing Employment Opportunities for the Formerly Incarcerated." It's worth taking a look at today.

The Bar Association formed a Taskforce on Employment Opportunities for the Formerly Incarcerated to identify the barriers facing individuals seeking employment in the legal field and elsewhere, as well as ways to overcome them.

The Taskforce highlighted the importance of their goal with the following statistics:

Numerous studies have shown that an individual’s likelihood of committing a crime is correlated with his or her work status. A survey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics in 1997 disclosed that between 21 and 38 percent of prisoners were unemployed just prior being incarcerated, depending on their level of educational attainment.... The vast majority (89%) of individuals who violate the terms of their probation are unemployed at the time of the violation.

The report goes on to explore some of the barriers to employment, including laws barring ex-offenders from certain occupations and employers' reluctance to hire. The report cites a survey of 619 employers in the Los Angeles area who were asked whether they would definitely or probably hire an individual falling into one of the following categories, with the results showing that the formerly incarcerated fall at the bottom of the list:

Current or former welfare recipients ............93%

Recipients of a GED diploma ......................97%

Individuals unemployed for a year or more ......80%

Individuals with a spotty employment history ...66%

Ex-prisoners .........................................21%

Their final recommendations include encouraging law firms and other legal employers to be willing to hire and promote formerly incarcerated individuals, and to encourage their suppliers and subcontractors to do the same.  Furthermore, statutory and regulatory restrictions on hiring and licensing ex-offenders should be reviewed and modified. 

The Taskforce advocates enthusiastically for the use of workforce intermediaries to help individuals locate and retain employment, and for publicizing these resources since "[New York City] employers are virtually unaware of staffing resources in the form of intermediary organizations and transitional programs." [Emphasis added]

I recommend taking a closer look at this report. It includes several useful appendices, including a survey conducted with New York City law firms, a guide for employers on the proper use of criminal background checks, and information on programs in NYC that help the formerly incarcerated find employment and other resources.

I found it interesting although not surprising that the NYC legal community as employers were unaware of workforce development resources available to them. How is the awareness of services in your own community? Are there any organizations that you should reach out to and build relationships with to better help the formerly incarcerated stay out of prison and jail?

Unemployment claims rise; state unemployment systems fall

My thanks to reader Sheila who posted a link to a story headlined "State Unemployment Claim Systems Overwhelmed." The huge jump in unemployment filers have caused system crashes in New York, North Carolina and Ohio. Other states have seen technological glitches, and long, long waits for unemployed citizens seeking to file claims, or even find out what they're eligible for.

A longer version of the story includes this advice:

"Regardless of when you call, be prepared to wait and just hang on. Try not to get frustrated," said Howard Cosgrove, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, which boosted its staff of telephone operators by 25 percent last month to cope with a phone system that has been overloaded for weeks. "We sympathize, we're on their side, we're doing our best to help them out."

More unemployment bad news is expected on Friday.

Sheila, Katherine and Juli have been helping each other out in the comments, sharing info on what they're doing to figure out the system and file their claims. They've learned a lot in the process, and other readers might find it useful.

You can find links to your state unemployment agency here. If you have advice for others on how to work through the challenges in your state's system, please share them.

Obama's stimulus plan - already backsliding from workforce investments?

It's two weeks out from the Obama swearing-in, and already concerns are being raised that his promised jobs-generating stimulus plan is moving away from creating jobs and toward a broad middle class tax cut divided up into so many small portions that it won't amount to much for any single family. 

Economist Paul Krugman raised the issue yesterday on his blog. Today he offers the math. While Krugman says some amount of a tax cut is needed, it shouldn't be anywhere near 40% of the total $800 billion-plus projected for the Economic Recovery Plan. That's because putting people to work stimulates entire systems of businesses, directly and indirectly. Much of a tax cut will end up in people's bank accounts where it doesn't stimulate anything. That's where mine went last year.

The Workforce Alliance is raising another important issue related to the stimulus package: the likely shortage of skilled workers to fill all the jobs that will be created by it (more on that in a future post). TWA has called on the Obama administration to include a $12.5 billion investment in job training and education over the next two years as part of the Economic Recovery Plan. As TWA points out in their letter to the president-elect:

While some of these jobs can be filled by displaced workers already in the affected sectors, many more will be filled by workers dislocated from other sectors, as well as young persons entering the labor market for the first time and disadvantaged individuals who previously lacked the skills and opportunities for such good-paying jobs. We cannot expect such workers to simply show up at a worksite "shovel ready."

If we're going to make sure that the Economic Recovery Plan focuses on workers - both creating jobs for them and providing them with the training they need - we need to act now. Here are a few things you can do:

• Use TWA's website to send an email to your member of Congress asking them to make sure the stimulus plan focuses on employment and workers;
• Call your member of Congress with the same message;
• Write a letter to your local newspaper explaining why the stimulus package should invest in workers;
• Use the organizing tools on Obama's website to get together with friends and neighbors to talk about what should be included in the Economic Recovery Plan.

Welcome to 2009: upcoming workshops and presentations

Happy New Year!

I'm hitting the ground running this year with four presentations in three weeks, all about using web 2.0 to improve government and nonprofit services. Here's a quick rundown:

January 14: Southern California One-Stop Operators quarterly meeting

January 20: "Taking Youth Programs Multimedia" with Dustin Pack, Program Manager for Project YES in Ceres, CA. At the California Workforce Association's annual youth conference

January 23: "Web Fundraising and Marketing" for community- and faith-based organizations, through the City of Los Angeles' Capacity Builds L.A program

January 27: Regional managers meeting for the San Fernando/Antelope Valley-Ventura Region of the CA Employment Development Department

If you're interested in a workshop or presentation for your organization, please contact me.