When the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the economy back into recession in early 2020, it laid bare a fragile and profoundly inequitable labor market. The economic expansion that reigned from 2009 through 2019 brought historically low unemployment and inflation but failed to reduce income inequality or arrest the decline in the number of high-quality,…

Describes rural implementation of the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities program, which combines flexible long-term financing with strategic planning and performance benchmarking to empower impoverished communities to address structural problems comprehensively. Impressive 3-year results include job creation; improved community services;…

In March 1983, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) received $4 million in Federal funds to establish an emergency jobs program as authorized under the Emergency Jobs Act of 1983. Within 90 days, TVA found employment for 493 persons, and, by the end of June 1984, 1,183 persons had been employed by TVA. Of those employed, 14.9 percent were…

This report profiles three workforce organizations across the country--in Colorado, Georgia and New York--and explores the strategies they used to grow their programs locally. The report examines the dilemmas workforce organizations frequently face in meeting not only the needs of their dual customers--job seekers and employers--but also the needs…

The planning and implementation of vocational training in Singapore (training primarily intended for school-leavers) is highly directed toward serving labor force development objectives. This paper explains the vocational training infrastructure (a national system, the conduct of which is vested in the Vocational and Industrial Training Board),…

A study assessed the first two years of a three-year initiative to test the potential of extending sectoral employment strategies among 10 organizations, most of which were new to the sectoral employment field. Five organizations increasing low-income workers' access to good jobs were ARCH; PhAME; Training, Inc.; WIRE-Net; and Project QUEST. Five…

A study identified United States Department of Labor efforts to expand apprenticeship to new occupations and explained impediments to establishing apprenticeship programs in fields not traditionally apprenticed (e.g., high technology and biotechnology). Labor had not systematically identified new occupations suitable for apprenticeship programs…

Alaska's State Training and Employment Program (STEP) was designed with the primary objective of reducing current and future claims against Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits by providing training to those who are unemployed or facing unemployment. STEP is also charged with fostering growth of existing businesses and attracting new businesses to…

The performance of Alaska's State Training and Employment Program (STEP) in fiscal 2000 was evaluated by matching the records of participants of the following STEP subprograms with Alaska and Washington state unemployment insurance (UI) wage records and federal military and federal civilian payroll records. Data were collected for participants of…

This document contains 11 papers from a 2-day meeting on the principles, practice, and effectiveness of Jobrotation, which denotes a European Union program of investing in human capital by giving employees the opportunity to temporarily leave their posts for training without any major disturbance in the production process. The following papers are…