Laura Dresser

1
The Wisconsin Idea How a University Can Work
with Communities to Build Better Jobs
Laura Dresser University of Wisconsin-Madison Cent
er on Wisconsin Strategy prepared for
presentation at Future 2000August 13,
1999Chicago IL Center on Wisconsin Strategy
University of Wisconsin-Madison ? 1180
Observatory Drive ? 7122 Social Science ?
Madison, WI 53706 TEL [phone] ? FAX 608
262-9046 ? WEBSITE http//www.cows.org/
k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 1
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National Trends in Production, Wages, Welfare
1970 - 96
1.4
1.2
GDP Per Employee
1
Median Wage
Minimum Wage
0.8
0.6
Average AFDC Benefit
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 2
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Getting to Living Wage Jobs

• Entry-level employment that prepares workers for
  and connects them to future opportunities
• Reliable and understood methods of access to
  decent paying sectors
• Routine career advancement through incremental
  moves

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 3
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Why is that so Hard these Days?

• Changes in work organization outsourcing,
  contingent/temporary work, cellular production,
  etc.
• Shift to smaller firm size and more service
  sector work
• Deregulation, privatization, de-unionization

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 4
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In Other Words...
Old World
New World
k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 5
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Building Systems to Overcome the Problems

• Look for sectors with family supporting wages.
  Consider age of workforce, not only growth.
• Work to get employers, unions and the public
  sector coordinating on incumbent worker training
  issues.
• Develop clear information about demand, entry
  level skills and training needs in that sector.
• Use that information as a basis for programs
  which can connect disadvantaged workers to family
  supporting jobs.

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 6
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High Performance Partnerships Provide the
Foundation

• High performance partnerships bring management
  and labor together to support advanced work
  organization and industry-wide solutions to
  common modernization needs and human resource
  problems.

• High Performance Partnerships
• Help overcome free rider problems in training
• Produce economies of scale and scope in
  development of training, curricula, and
  benchmarks
• Provide improved information and coordination in
  the industry
• Send the public sector clearer and more
  representative industry signals, while providing
  leverage for public efforts

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 9
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Advantages to the Partnership Approach

• Collaborative work on shared problems opens new
  opportunities for cross site learning
• Firms begin to speak more clearly as an industry
  as they work together.
• Creation of systems that single firms cant build
  alone
• Better labor market information

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 10
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Three Projects that Work

• Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership
• 46 manufacturing firms in metro-Milwaukee
• Incumbent worker, future workforce and
  modernization programs
• Milwaukee Jobs Initiative
• Has placed more than 400 central city workers in
  local industries
• Average wage is 11.50 per hour
• Jobs With a Future
• Health care, manufacturing, and finance
  insurance partnerships
• More than 60 students have advanced in new career
  pathways
• Upward Mobility Program to connect poverty-wage
  workers with better jobs

k/presentations/jwf/master-partnerships.ppt Slide
68
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Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership Dual Focus

• Incumbent Worker Training Systems
• Labor and management partnerships work with
  management and labor to increase funding for
  front-line training
• Work with public sector to improve available
  curricula
• Develop workplace education centers and peer
  advisor networks to improve take-up on training
• Programs for Disadvantaged Workers
• Recruit labor and management to WRTP/MJI system
• Improve training and supports to prepare
  entry-level workers for union jobs
• Train peer advisors to provide support to new
  workers

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 21
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Milwaukee Jobs Initiative

• One of six cities selected by the Annie E. Casey
  Foundation to implement their Jobs Initiative
• A seven year initiative to connect low-income,
  central city residents to family-supporting
  employment
• Governed by a nine member board of directors,
  composed equally of business, labor and community
  representatives

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 15
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The Milwaukee Jobs Initiative

• Sectorally-based
• We concentrate on specific industries that need
  trained workers and will pay good wages to get
  them.
• Employment-linked
• Rather than wasting participants' time with
  irrelevant training, we train workers for
  specific, guaranteed jobs.
• Client-focused
• We identify and provide the precise combination
  of soft- and hard-skills training and services
  that will enable workers to obtain and keep
  family-supporting jobs.
• Career-directed
• We establish systems to keep workers employed,
  including peer mentoring and career ladders.

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 17
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Community-Employer Linked Training
Training
CBO1
Pool of Job Openings
Labor- Management Partnership
Community Coordination
CBO2
CBO3
Support Services

• Industry Side
• Specify quantity of entry level positions
• Describe performance and training requirements
  for these jobs
• Establish job-retention supports

• Community Side
• Identify potential workers in target community
• Assess these individuals for work readiness
• Supply soft skills and training necessary to
  perform target jobs
• Place individuals in pool of jobs supplied by
  industry side consortium
• Arrange for support services such as
  transportation and child care
• Track progress of clients placement, wages,
  retention, and progress through industry careers

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 19
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MJI Placements(From July 1997 December 1999)
Cumulative
Manufacturing 347 Printing 110 Construction 283
Hospitality 17 TOTAL 757 AVERAGE HOURLY
STARTING WAGE (cumulative) 11.03
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Focusing on Strengths

• Business and Labor
• Identify occupational shortages and job openings
• Describe performance and training requirements
• Establish job retention supports
• Community Colleges
• Identify training opportunities and coordinate
  with industry
• Supply training
• CBOs/One Stops
• Identify qualified applicants to fill job
  openings
• Provide supportive services, such as
  transportation and child care
• Track progress

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 20
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Focus on Solutions

• In almost any industry/sector, there are shared
  problems that can be solved with new
  collaborative projects.
• For Example
• Occupational shortages
• Recruitment and retention problems
• Lack of incumbent worker training systems
• Need for modernization, technology transfer, work
  reorganization
• Need for other supportive public polices
• Something else
• Any one of these is enough to start a
  conversation and build shared solutions with the
  industry.

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 25
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Benefits to Community Colleges

• What do Community Colleges Gain?
• comprehensive industry input and feedback
• new training opportunities
• modularized courses that support life-long
  learning
• Example Madison Area Technical College and Jobs
  with a Future Partnerships
• Developing New Programs Programmer Analyst
  Training
• Changing the Delivery of Training Phlebotomy
  Training
• Recruiting new course instructors Medical
  Transcription

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 27
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Benefits to Job Centers

• Job Centers/One Stops
• Information about good paying jobs
• Outreach and orientation
• Industry support on retention issues
• Example Dane County Job Center
• Upward Mobility Project (TANF Reinvestment)
• Staff work with Countys working poor to help
  them get information and support to move to
  family supporting jobs
• Jobs with a Future Resource Book
• Companies identify coming hiring positions and
  systems for advancement

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 28
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Benefits to School-to-Work

• School to Work
• Stronger employer input and support
• Improved visibility
• Support in development of new programs
• Example CESA 2 - Dane County School to Work
  Partnership
• Connections with industry
• Expanded name recognition with employers
• Development of connections for teacher externships

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 29
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Whats in it for New Workers?

• Good wages and benefits
• Opportunities for advancement
• Higher skills
• Better retention and supports on from co-workers
• Union membership

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 32
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Using Consortia to Build a More Effective Public
Sector Agenda

• Sectoral training consortia in leading regional
  industries could provide the building blocks for
  improved regional labor market administration.
• Consortia bring together enough firms to provide
  at-scale and representative labor market signals.
  
• Coordination of consortia, in turn, can develop
  the a coordinated agenda for integration and
  development of regional labor market systems.

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 42
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Partnerships to Improve Regional Labor Market
Administration
Economic Development
School-to-Work
Modernization
Training
Workforce Development
Board
Partnership
Tech. College
Representative
Representative
Partnership
Job Center
Representative
Representative
Partnership
Partnership
Representative
Representative
Partnership
Representative

• Provides coordinated public/private interface on
  regional labor market priorities and needs
• Ensures responsive responsible allocation of
  public resources

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 11
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Is it a Traditional Job Ladder?

• Some Traditional Elements
• Promotes workers and firms ability to see
  progression from entry level to more advanced
  work and skills
• Experience contributes to advancement options
• But Important Differences
• Not simple, linear progressions where this always
  and only leads to that
• Based in new labor market realities and attentive
  to growing need for flexibility in the workforce

k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 55
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Labor-Management Intermediaries
k/presentations/jwf/master-jwf.ppt Slide 71