Building Community Partnerships to Serve Immigrant Workers Funded by the Ford Foundation Engaging Employers and Quality Career Pathways

Employer/Educator Disconnect  A newly released Gallup poll (sponsored by the Lumina Foundation) revealed that 14% of Americans and only 11% of business leaders – strongly agree that post secondary graduates have the skills and competencies to succeed in the workplace  College for America commissioned a study that finds the difficulty in finding well qualified applicants is a key challenge for 85% of HR and director-level respondents and it is across all sectors!!

Collaboration Between Employers and Job Training  Educators and community based organizations need to actively work with industry leaders to understand the skills gap and to truly understand the competencies and skills that employers want and need to achieve growth and prosperity  Only strong engagement and collaboration will lead to strong curricula that meets both business needs and ensures employment for program participants

Balancing Act  Employers are our Customers  they don’t always know what they need  and then they change their minds! LIKE A BEING ON A ROLLER COASTER

Balancing Act  It takes time and energy to get employers to identify their needs, then verify, then re-verify, and in a very short time frame down the road, re-examine and start all over again!  Constant verification with the real-time labor market data which is time-consuming, labor intensive yet absolutely necessary

Employer Engagement Strategies  Employer Engagement Strategy that is part of the Organization’s Strategic Plan  Who is responsible  What type of resources do they need to achieve success  What are the goals and expected outcomes  How will you measure success  Plan must include feedback loops to all member of the organization, particularly faculty engaged in training  Ongoing and continuous – “the cows need to be milked daily”

Employer Engagement Strategies  Collaboration and Partnerships with WIBS and Economic Development Agencies  Sector Strategy  Economic Development Strategy  Career Pathways  Include all partners in a gap analysis to understand needs versus supply pipeline  Partner to address identified skilled workforce shortages or sector strategies CONTINUOUS COMMUNICATION IS KEY!

Employer Engagement Strategies Strengthening Faculty and Employer Connections  Employer involvement in curriculum and program design  Bring employers into the classroom (panels, demonstrations, etc)  Faculty summer internships with employers

Employer Engagement Strategies  Employ Labor Market Data Tools  Burning Glass  Local WIB Data  LMI data must be used to drive programmatic decision making!

Quality Career Pathways

What is a Quality Career Pathway? Career Pathway: is a well-articulated sequence of quality education and training offerings and supportive services that enable educationally underprepared adults and youth to advance over time to successively higher levels of education and employment in a given industry, sector or occupation

Why Career Pathways  There are too many disconnects in education and training delivery systems  Oftentimes ESL and ABE are delivered out of the K-12 or WIA systems and not connected to higher education  Education and workforce systems lack structures to help students navigate the disconnects

Why Career Pathways  Education and workforce systems lack structures to help students navigate the disconnects  We know lower skilled adults and youth benefit from comprehensive support systems, yet these agencies can be disconnected

Why Career Pathways  Traditional basic skills tends to be linear and drawn-out with very few completers!  Quality career pathways lead to integration and contextualization  Also provide learners with the knowledge as to the career path, the entry- and exit-points, and the wages at each point

Why Career Pathways  Quality career pathways support low- skilled adults in making good education and training choices  Entry and exit points Short and long-term certificates  Wages and Employment Opportunities  Opportunities for advancement

Well Developed Quality Career Pathway

17 Recruiting Base GED students, ESL 4 Running Start, Adult High School The Trades Academy, Continuing Ed CAD Classes Dual Credit Articulation through PC3, The ACE Academy at Puyallup HS NWCTHS Students, Other Non-traditional Students Recruiting Base GED students, ESL 4 Running Start, Adult High School The Trades Academy, Continuing Ed CAD Classes Dual Credit Articulation through PC3, The ACE Academy at Puyallup HS NWCTHS Students, Other Non-traditional Students Associate Degree Architectural Engineering Design  AAT & AAS-T  Part-time and Full-time options  Day and evening Classes Associate Degree Architectural Engineering Design  AAT & AAS-T  Part-time and Full-time options  Day and evening Classes Bachelor’s Degree Technical Mgmt. – Embry Riddle Upside Down degree – TESC For other transfer opportunities, check with the receiving 4- year institution Bachelor’s Degree Technical Mgmt. – Embry Riddle Upside Down degree – TESC For other transfer opportunities, check with the receiving 4- year institution Drafting Technician $12.18 Entry level $15.34 Median Wage Drafting Technician $12.18 Entry level $15.34 Median Wage Advanced Certificate Option Civil Engineering Design  Evening Part-Time program  Appropriate for new students and incumbent workers Advanced Certificate Option Civil Engineering Design  Evening Part-Time program  Appropriate for new students and incumbent workers Architectural Drafter $15.82 Entry Level $22.21 Median Wage Architectural Drafter $15.82 Entry Level $22.21 Median Wage Civil Engineering Technician $16.98 Entry Level $23.82 Median Wage Civil Engineering Technician $16.98 Entry Level $23.82 Median Wage Entry PointExit to Career Entry Point Exit to Career Entry-level Certificate Option Architectural CAD Drafting  I -Best Program for ESL/ABE (100% applicable to degree)  3-quarter part-time program  May transition from Trades Academy (Integrated Basic Skills) Entry-level Certificate Option Architectural CAD Drafting  I -Best Program for ESL/ABE (100% applicable to degree)  3-quarter part-time program  May transition from Trades Academy (Integrated Basic Skills) Manager $27.59 Entry Level $46.98 Median Wage Architect $22.74 Entry Level $31.93 Median Wage Well Developed Quality Career Pathway