Industry Partnership Talking Points
Industry Partnership Talking Points
In This Recession it’s Time to Speed-Up, Not Slow-Down PA’s Workforce Initiatives and Training for the Future
· Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships (IPs) are working—connecting workforce education and training programs to the critical needs of industry.
o IPs identify collective industry skill needs and communicate those needs to training partners, including colleges and high schools.
o More than 6,300 businesses are actively involved in IPs with more than 73,000 workers being trained since 2005.
o 84 percent of businesses reported IPs and training have helped them significantly increase their productivity.
· IPs deliver a high return-on-investment from all public and private funds spent on education and training.
o Small state investments in IPs (now less than a penny per worker per day) help ensure that the much larger amounts the private and public sectors spend on education and training is responsive to industry needs, increasing ROI.
o IPs encourage more businesses to provide internships for students and collaborate with Educator in the Workplace programs for teachers. This hands-on career experience leads to more effective teachers and to more students with the entry-level skills businesses need.
o With its IP funding the commonwealth has leveraged more than $9 million in private funds from industry leaders and more than $30 million in in-kind contributions—concrete evidence that industry recognizes that IPs add value.
o A higher ROI on all human capital investments means more competitive businesses, more opportunity for workers, and a stronger Pennsylvania economy.
o In our increasingly knowledge-based economy, businesses and workers need to work together to ensure a ready workforce. Since businesses are constantly changing to adapt to the competitive global economy, workers need to be constantly learning as well. For example, workers must be able to operate industry-specific technology that is rapidly evolving in areas from nursing to green building. The best way to ensure this ready talent pipeline is to build industry-led partnerships that bring together multiple employers in the same industry to identify common talent needs and train workers to fill these needs.
· A recession is an opportunity to upgrade worker skills and better position businesses for the future economy—a time to sharpen our competitive edge.
o IPs help to offset expensive training costs, which enables companies to sustain employee training in a slow economy.
o Top companies such as Southwest Airlines and Dell survived the last recession due in part to their renewed emphasis on training, efficiency and smart management. (“Recession Survivors,” TD magazine, October 2003).
o Nearly six out of 10 unemployed workers in Pennsylvania lack any education beyond high school. Pennsylvania ranks low (43rd) for its share of adults with more than a high school education (Current Population Survey).
o Today 70% of jobs are skilled compared to just 27% of jobs in 1950. Consequently, citizens need more education and skills-based training to keep up with the needs of the marketplace.
· Temporary American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding does not provide the foundational funds that sustains state-funded Industry Partnerships and their incumbent worker training.
-ARRA funds are restricted to unemployed and dislocated workers, youth summer employment, and low-income Pennsylvanians.
-IP training dollars are the only funding available for incumbent workers—people already employed. Without these funds, businesses that seek to stay competitive by upgrading their technology or diversifying their product markets will be unable to train their workforce to meet future human capital demands.
-IP funds provide the much-needed involvement of the business community in the workforce development system. Without these Partnerships, the system will revert back to training for jobs that don't exist, while skilled positions go unfilled.
· Pennsylvania needs a dedicated source of funding to sustain Industry Partnerships for the long term.
-Pennsylvania is one of only a few states to recognize Industry Partnerships as the foundation of a more effective workforce system that delivers for businesses and for employees.
-State funding for Industry Partnerships decreased significantly in 2010-11, falling to $7.6 million from $20 million previously.
-Pennsylvania needs a dedicated funding source to insulate Industry Partnerships from the annual budget process and to sustain them for the long haul.