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This paper examines whether export participation matters for job training. The paper draws on longitudinal worker-firm data for Brazilian manufacturing, linked with detailed records on training activity from the main provider. The analysis uses industry-specific exchange rate movements to generate exogenous variation in export status at the firm-level. The findings indicate that export participation tends to increase the share of workers who receive technical upgrading. The results also reveal that technical upgrading has positive returns to trainees within exporting firms. These findings support the hypothesis that exporting requires skill upgrading, and suggest that this is partially achieved by training firms' existing workforce.

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This report was prepared with the primary objective of drawing insights on how Asian economic giants India and the People's Republic of China leveraged education and skills development to advance economic growth. The analysis presented similarities and differences in human capital development strategies and their outcomes that helped define development pathways between the two countries. It also outlined the prospects for human capital development in the sustainability of the two countries' economic growth. The report was completed in 2014 under the Development Partnership Program for South Asia: Innovative Strategies for Accelerated Human Resource Development in South Asia (TA-6337 REG).

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What are the causes of low participation among unemployed adults with the fewest qualifications or skills? What programs have been developed to assist the long-term unemployed throughout Europe and how are they evolving? What types of programs have succeeded in attracting unemployed adults with few skills and qualifications? What factors encourage participation? This book draws upon a range of materials to give an account of reported experience and views from the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe on the concept of motivation in relation to education and training for unemployed people. Show less

This article analyzes production models of the export-oriented maquila in Mexico, understood as the combinations between technological level and work organization system, labor relations flexibility, manpower characteristics, and business strategies, using for the first time the special module of the [Encuesta Nacional de Empleo, Salarios, Tecnologia y Capacitacion] ENESTYC representative survey and information resulting from field work in 200 establishments. This work proposes that the maquila crisis in Mexico at the beginning of this century was not only because of the economic recession in the United States and Chinese competition but also because of the structural limitations of the sector's main production models, which have contributed to a crisis in labor productivity growth.

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This study undertaken for the Association of Independent Trade Unions aims to map the opportunities and threats for the participation of trade unions in the system of apprenticeship education in the context of Industry 4.0 trends in the Czech Republic. The study particularly concerns specialized initial education, which prepares participants for professional life. Challenges also lie in the speed and depth of changes, demanding new skills, new skills combinations and rapid skill obsolescence. Therefore, a basic prerequisite of maintaining competitiveness for the future will also be the development of further education, particularly as participation in the Czech Republic is not at the level of advanced countries. Employers face a critical shortage of qualified workers and have to deal with the graduates who are insufficiently prepared for workplace practice. These factors highlight the importance of trade unions reflecting on and, if possible, getting actively involved in the processes that regulate the education system, particularly specialised education (both initial and continuing). Trade unions can bring a new aspect to the processes, helping to achieve a better balance between the interests of employers, school institutions, state authorities and employees or education participants themselves (students, apprentices and adult workers coming to education).

This study was based on a large research and secondary analysis of home and foreign literature as well as other resources, in particular topical research reports and data. It was augmented with the industry experience of the National Training Fund and consultation with industry stakeholders and education professionals about the possible role of trade unions. The report outlines a wide palette of opportunities for trade unions to participate, which have been identified on the basis of experience from abroad and reality from practice in the Czech Republic.

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This policy brief draws the attention of policy-makers and social partners in both developed and developing countries to the role of skills development in facilitating the transition to a greener economy and seizing the employment opportunities that the transition entails. It draws on policy-applied research and numerous case studies of country experiences and good practice conducted in collaboration with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) and the European Commission.

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For as long as we've all been at work, CEOs and boards have referred to people as their 'most important asset'. But rarely have they acted in concert with this claim. Now, and for the foreseeable future, this must change. Why? Because organisations today are caught at the nexus of 5 seismic forces: The complexity of business and work; The pace of change; Unprecedented demographic shifts; The need to compete through productivity; Changing relationship to work. Trace these seismic forces to their epicentre and what you find is an urgent need for large organisations to reskill the workforce - and to do so with a tangibly human approach. One that meets people where they are and then inspires and empowers them to achieve their own goals alongside those of the organization. This white paper pinpoints the seismic forces that are compelling large organisations to reinvent Learning and Talent with an empathetic eye on their people, and lists strategic actions required to align executive, [human resources] HR, and [learning and development] L&D leaders on the shared goal of reskilling the workforce to close the gap between current and future capability - before it's too late.

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There has been much talk recently about looming shortages in Canada's supply of individuals working in health occupations. To understand the degree to which the supply of workers in health occupations is meeting (and will meet) the health needs of Canadians, Health Canada - through the Advisory Committee on Health Delivery and Human Resources (ACHDHR) - contracted the Centre for Education Statistics at Statistics Canada to study the relationship between education and training and the supply of entrants into health occupations. Using major Statistics Canada data sources related to the education and training of Canadians, the intent of this second data report from the Health Human Resources and Education Project is to provide a jurisdictional view of the information already released at the national level, as well as to provide information (at the Canada and jurisdictional levels) on additional topics that were identified in the information needs outline that were not covered in the first data report, which was released in 2007. As such, this report reveals some important information about what happens before, during and after health education. It focuses on interest in health occupations, the number of students taking and graduating from postsecondary health programs along with their socio-demographic characteristics and those of the faculty teaching these programs, the labour market experiences of recent graduates from these programs - including their mobility after graduation - as well as the ongoing participation of health workers in formal and informal training.

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‘Breaking Through’ is a multi-year initiative of Jobs for the Future and the National Council for Workforce Education funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. ‘Breaking Through’ is helping community colleges identify and develop institutional strategies that can enable low-skilled adult students to enter into and succeed in occupational and technical degree programs at community colleges. As a major strand in the initiative, the Ford Foundation has funded research on ways to support these institutional strategies in state policy, as summarized in this overview.

State policymakers can harness the power of the community colleges to address the issues of economic growth and individual prosperity. To do so, they must address six key tasks. (1) Create a shared vision of the state’s economic future among key stakeholders in education, workforce development, and economic development - a vision that includes the reasons why increasing the number of adults with postsecondary credentials is crucial; (2) Set measurable goals for achieving the vision, including increasing postsecondary access for lower-skilled adults, and ensure that funding flows in ways that support progress toward those goals; (3) Track individual outcomes across workforce education services and into the labor market, in order to identify trouble spots and document successful approaches with an especially close look at outcomes for lower-skilled students; (4) Help community colleges connect in a broader, more strategic way with local employers, in order to link their needs to for-credit college offerings and to help lower-skilled adults get good jobs in demand in the local labor market; (5) Overhaul the content and delivery of adult education, English as a Second Language, and college remediation, in order to accelerate progress and connect these services closely to occupational pathways in the colleges; and (6) Create and expand more flexible and comprehensive financial aid strategies and more personalized career and academic counseling and support, in order to support postsecondary access and success for lower-income adults.

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'Investing in America's workforce' is a Federal Reserve System initiative in collaboration with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, the Ray Marshall Center of the Lyndon B. Johnson School at the University of Texas, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. How can well-structured and effective workforce programs and policies result in better economic outcomes for individuals, businesses, and communities? This book is part of a three-volume series that explores contemporary research, resources, and solutions on workforce development policy and practice. The three volumes are: 'Investing in workers', 'Investing in work', and 'Investing in systems for employment opportunity'. Within each volume are discrete sections made up of chapters that identify specific workforce development programs and policies that provide positive returns to society, to employers, and to job seekers. The policies and practices presented in the book are intended to spur innovative thinking that results in context-specific solutions. The perspectives are not intended as an endorsement from the Federal Reserve System or its partnering institutions. Volume two and volume three are available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 135.163 and TD/TNC 135.164 respectively. An earlier report was published in 2017 and is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 135.161.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website and publication.

The contributions to this volume investigate how job seekers, particularly workers facing challenges in the labour market, are viewed as assets that can drive innovation and build employers' competitiveness. The contents are as follows: Foreword: The evolving U.S. labor market / Patrick T. Harker; Introduction: Investing in America's workforce / Stuart Andreason, Todd Greene, Heath Prince, and Carl E. Van Horn. Part one, 'Building employer investment in workforce development', contains the following chapters: Leveraging evidence-based and practical strategies to reduce skills gaps / Anand Marri and Jennifer Schramm (pages 11-15); Turning the skills gap into opportunity for collaboration: case studies from New York and Puerto Rico / Anand Marri and Edison Reyes (pages 17-32); Bridging the talent gap through data insights and community action / Bridgett Strickler, Dan Ash, Hadass Sheffer, and Zachary Zimmerman (pages 33-50); Apprenticeship benefits and costs: a roadmap to measurement / Jessica Nicholson, Ryan Noonan, Susan Helper, and David Langdon (pages 51-66); Engaging manufacturers to promote skills development / Katherine McClelland (pages 67-80); Power skills for jobs of the future / Jeanne C. Meister (pages 81-91); Leadership development for a twenty-first century workplace / Henry G. 'Hank' Jackson (pages 93-99).

Part two, 'Investing in undervalued human capital', contains the following chapters: Programs to increase the supply of skilled workers / Alexander Ruder (pages 103-106); Adult learners: activating prior knowledge and acquiring new skills / E. Wilson Finch (pages 107-123); The challenges facing veteran workers / R. Jason Faberman and Thomas Haasl (pages 125-137); Narrowing gaps through educational investments for American Indians and Alaska Natives / Patrice H. Kunesh and Richard M. Todd (pages 139-155); The middle-skills gap: community-based solutions to meet employer demands / Maurice A. Jones (pages 157-169); Manufacturing Connect: teaching advanced manufacturing skills to inner-city students / Rick Mattoon and Susan Longworth (pages 171-186). Part three, 'Investing in Historically Black Colleges and Universities', contains: The critical role of Historically black colleges and universities in workforce development / Todd Greene and Ashley Bozarth (pages 189-193); HBCUs as pipelines for diversified intellect, creativity, and innovation / Ronald A. Johnson (pages 195-203); Assessing infrastructural health: optimizing return on investment in HBCUs / John Silvanus Wilson (pages 205-218); Promoting the health of communities for long-term benefits / Valerie Montgomery Rice and David Hefner (pages 219-230).

Part four, 'Investing in workers with different abilities', contains the following chapters: Creating economic opportunity through work and support / Kathy Krepcio (pages 233-237); Empowering workers with disabilities: a Philadelphia story / John Colborn, Stephanie Koch, and Laura Welder (pages 239-252); Philanthropy: building best practices in disability inclusion / James Emmett, Meg O'Connell, and Judith M. Smith (pages 253-266); Reducing job loss among workers with new health problems / Yonatan Ben-Shalom, Jennifer Christian, and David Stapleton (pages 267-288). Part five, 'Investing in workers of the future', contains: The workforce development pipeline from cradle to career / Rob Grunewald (pages 291-296); Early childhood investments: paving the way for the future workforce / Rob Grunewald (pages 297-314); Workforce policies and programs to end child poverty in Puerto Rico / Barbara Rivera-Batista, Amanda Rivera-Flores, Eduardo Carrera Morales, and Javier Silva (pages 315-328); Reintegrating the formerly incarcerated into the workforce / Emily Engel (pages 329-341). Show less