Workforce Monitor - September 12, 2021 - Manufacturing & Healthcare, CTE, Measuring Skills

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, manufacturing and healthcare are among the biggest major industry sector employers. Together, the two sectors account for one-fifth of the total American workforce. Over the next ten years, public/private policy and technological innovations impacting these sectors have the potential to spur significant changes in workforce training systems throughout the country.

Schools across the country are gearing up for an unprecedented influx of funding, thanks to the American Rescue Plan. Funding will be earmarked to combat learning loss and mend the tremendous social and emotional trauma kids have endured over the past year. But, there is another long-time challenge facing these students that is now coming to a head and has been exacerbated by the pandemic: the lack of equal and modernized access to career-focused education.

Businesses are constantly faced with ensuring their employees’ skills are up to date and relevant. Human resource departments are changing how they filter through new job candidates and internal levels of employee productivity by looking more closely at human skills as opposed to relying too heavily on traditional resumes, educational credentials, and other outdated skill-validation measures.

The hidden transfer barrier. At the beginning of the transfer process, students encounter a hidden barrier that initially strikes most as tedious: migrating their academic records from one institution to another. However, this part of the transfer process forms a crucial bottleneck in the higher education system – one that could heavily influence whether a student completes their credential.

The world is in the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, which is what the World Economic Forum describes as a new era that extends the impact of digitization in new and unanticipated ways.

A new national survey finds that 4 percent of American adults say they are enrolled in a tech bootcamp. Experts on the field say that’s absurdly high—and a sign of widespread public confusion about tech training options and the jobs they open up.

Indiana and Washington show how states can support workforce training that directly connects residents to better jobs and further education.

Neuroscientist David Eagleman has a lot to say about the brain, and he’s done so in a lot of places.

Jess Lupo loves Orlando, and not just because of the warm, sunny climate. It’s her old college town, and that means lots of friends from her days at the University of Central Florida are nearby.

From higher salaries to more benefits and purpose, employees want it all. Companies have an opportunity to transform work and meet their business goals.

How graph technology can offer next level HR people analytics.

We take a look at job and training opportunities in five states that are providing pathways to employment for residents.

Educating America’s workers will build a more equitable and innovative future.

PPIC research fellow Shannon McConville and an expert panel discuss how training programs could be designed to help more students complete credentials and advance in their careers.

This new field guide serves as an overview of key words and concepts related to workers and workforce development.