This report discusses findings from a descriptive and cost study of the Bridges from School to Work (Bridges) program. The program helps young adults with disabilities find and maintain competitive employment. It is part of the Next Generation of Enhanced Employment Strategies (NextGen) Project, which seeks to rigorously evaluate employment…

This guide is a result of the 2018-2019 National Governors Association (NGA) Chair's initiative, "Good Jobs for All Americans," led by Montana Governor Steve Bullock. This initiative aimed to understand the changing world of work and the factors that affect an individual's ability to connect to a good job and for businesses to access the…

Skills have long been associated with productivity and economic well-being. A large body of evidence shows the value of academic and technical skills in the workplace. And in recent years, soft skills--skills that make for an effective employee, such as time management and communication--have also become increasingly valued in the workplace.…

The retail industry is a huge and growing sector of the U.S. economy, accounting for about 10 percent of the nation's jobs in 2013 and projected to increase by 7 percent between 2012 and 2022. The sheer size of the industry and the number of employment opportunities it affords low-skilled workers led MDRC to explore the potential of the retail…

Adult non-formal education and training (NFET) in South Africa was adopted in 1990 to address the problem of unemployment of non-educated and unskilled adults. Public and private NFET centres aim to meet the training needs of adults who were deprived of formal education that would foster access to opportunities for employment. The paper reports on…

WorkAdvance is a sectoral workforce development program designed to meet the needs of workers and employers alike. For unemployed and low-wage working adults, the program provides skills training in targeted sectors that have good-quality job openings with room for advancement within established career pathways. For employers in those sectors,…

This revised report was prepared for the Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN) and the thirteen-member provincial and territorial literacy coalitions. The purpose of the report is: (1) To provide background information on the labour market transfers from the Federal Government to the provincial and territorial governments; (2) To outline…

This article describes one assessment that provides a college- and career-ready individual for employers. In Illinois, workNet is the state's primary online workforce development Web site and resource for Workforce Investment Act services. With help from NOCTI, workNet offers assessments that identify the skills and interests of participants,…

The three projects examined in this paper are the Work Link/Project R.E.S.P.E.C.T. program in St. Louis and Seattle's Individualized Placement efforts and Office Occupations sector project. These are programs that have focused their efforts on the difficult goal of high retention. All have managed to place and keep between half and about…

Vocational education plays a significant role in the nation's economic development in terms of its capacity to make individuals more employable. It can respond to specific regional needs by producing the skilled workers for a rapidly growing industry. If, however, the industries of a region do not utilize the skills of the existing labor force, it…

It's a truism of the workforce field that getting a job is much easier than keeping one. The advantages of retention are fairly straightforward to both job seekers and employers: for workers, staying on the job leads to greater opportunities for wage gains and promotions at work as well as increased overall stability in their lives, while…

The purpose of this experimental and demonstration project was to provide work experience to unemployed, low-income clients to improve their employability so they can be moved into permanent, unsubsidized employment. Changes of attitudes and motivations as a result of project experience were studied. Study findings indicated that the post-project…

This document is the first in a series of two reports on demand-led strategies to support welfare-to-work clients. The authors believe employment retention programs that demonstrate they can meet the needs of employers for effective employees follow a demand-led approach, which has the potential to expand the opportunities available to welfare…

This paper assesses the youth employment situation from a policymaking perspective. The first of three main sections provides a largely statistical overview of the current youth labor market. The 1980s recession is said to be a depression for youth, especially minority youth. Increases in teenage unemployment are documented, and asserted to be the…

This report deals with the absorptive capacity of Vermont's private and public sectors to accommodate welfare clients into gainful employment. Detailed attention is given to estimating the immediate and projected job vacancies in the state. When seeking these jobs, the client must not only compete against other unemployed persons, but also has to…