winning through skills: the power of work-ready communities
TRANSCRIPT
Cenla Work Ready Network 2012 Summit
February 16, 2012 Larry Good
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce [email protected]
Enormity of the skills gap
The stakes – economic prosperity
Why being a Work-Ready Community matters
What results can you achieve?
Skills are central in 21st Century global economy
Lumina Foundation Goal: 60% with 2-yr degree +
Today’s reality: Leading competitor nations: 50% now and increasing U.S. nationwide: 39% and holding Louisiana: 27%
Data is clear: those with credential beyond high
school are doing much better than those without
Employers across many industries competing based on skills – and facing skill shortages today
Core part of economic development strategy
Committed to increasing skills attainment
Sets baseline skills metrics and uses them
Focuses on industry-defined skill needs
Brings together employers and educators
Communicates work-readiness as economic development message
Georgia originated
Several other states/regions built own versions
ACT national Certified Work Ready Communities initiative just launched
National Career Readiness Certificate
Educational Attainment Levels
ACT Job Profiling
Industry Sector Partnerships
Based on WorkKeys assessment scores in: Applied Math Reading for Information Locating Information
Being used in 40+ states
Evidence-based credential
Reliable predictor of workplace success
High School graduation rates
Post-secondary degrees
Industry-valued certificates
Articulating the skills needed in specific jobs
ACT’s inventory broad & deep across industries and occupations
Provides a key part of common language
Bringing together employers within an industry in a region with education & workforce development to: Identify talent issues/needs Craft solutions
More than 1,000 partnerships nationally
A model that works – for employers, workers
Understand and express clearly skill needs Job Profiling Sector Partnerships
Gauge job applicants’ competencies
The ability to credibly promote the region as
a site for employers to grow in based on skills
Increasing educational attainment
Forging meaningful partnership with
employers
None of us can solve the skills gap alone Work-Ready Communities can be a unifying
idea that meaningfully links: ◦ Employers ◦ Educators ◦ Workforce Agencies ◦ Economic Developers
Georgia as biggest example so far: 250,000 Work Ready Certificates 19% earned Gold-level Certificates (ready for
90% of jobs) 205 Employers Completed Job Profiles 80% of Georgia high school students
graduated in 2010
Mutually committing to make Cenla a region that:
Leads in closing the skills gap Creates a clear understanding about skills
employers need and those job seekers have Integrates across silos to achieve these ends
Cenla has opportunity to become a globally
competitive place – based on skills