Decade Decline in Federal Job Training Could Leave New Jobs Unfilled Amidst Record Unemployment; Report Underscores President’s State of the Union Call
Washington, DC– President Obama urged Congress to “revitalize our community colleges” in the 2010 State of the Union address, citing them as an important career pathway for many workers. These community colleges would provide training for thousands of middle-skill jobs that are unfilled in the U.S. because potential workers lack technical skills, according to a new report released today by the Institute for America’s Future and the National Skills Coalition.
The report finds that 52 percent of jobs in the U.S. are middle-skill, requiring a credential beyond high school, but not a four-year degree. At the same time, there’s a shortage of middle-skill workers, with only 42 percent of the labor force in the U.S. credentialed to fill available middle-skill jobs.
A Business Roundtable survey from July affirms the report’s findings. During a month when the economy lost 250,000 jobs, more than 60 percent of employers reported difficulty finding qualified applicants to fill current vacancies.
The House recently passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which would provide more than $10 billion to community colleges and worker training partnerships. The president urged the Senate to pass the House initiative in this week’s State of the Union; it would reform our nation’s community colleges and helping the nation meet the goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
Federal funding for key education and training programs under the U.S. Labor Department dropped more than 25 percent in inflation-adjusted terms between 2001 and 2009, according to the report.
Campaign for College Affordability coordinator Robert Brandon highlighted the importance of several Obama administration initiatives to reverse this trend. He said the administration included a $4 billion boost in Labor Department training programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the President has proposed a $12 billion investment in community colleges to modernize skills training.
“Young people need training, low-skilled workers need new skills and many laid-off workers need retraining in order to get good jobs and to compete in the global economy,” said Brandon. “Congress should embrace the investment in community colleges contained in the House-passed Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, vote to extend the temporary training programs from the fiscal stimulus package and reauthorize and strengthen the Workforce Investment Act.”
The report notes that additional support for training is needed, and such investments could be sustained by promoting collaboration between business, labor and educational institutions.
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