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Putting Jobseekers Back to Work: Workforce Development Programs
Workforce development programs are an economic development approach aimed at enhancing the economic stability of an area by focusing on developing people, rather than businesses. It is a type of career development for a community as a whole, aiming to develop the careers of each individual person to raise the quality of life for specific groups, demographics, or areas of people. This includes training, apprenticeships, career counseling, adult education classes, as well as career coaching and job referrals.
Who Does Workforce Development Benefit?
Workforce development usually focuses on under-served or underemployed groups and demographics as a means of addressing socioeconomic inequality. In New York City, this includes many groups experiencing income disparity, including women, racial minorities, disabled or unskilled workers, and younger and uneducated or inexperienced workers entering the workforce.
Since the economic recession began a few years ago, wage gaps have widened substantially for many of these groups and have caused significant income disparity and disproportionate unemployment levels. At 7.9%, the unemployment rate in New York City has been dropping steadily, but there is still massive income disparity for many groups and a huge gap in wages between demographics. Many people are finding they have to change careers entirely mid-life as their field is decreasing in available jobs. For example, manufacturing lost 100,000 jobs in New York from 2007 to 2012; while the food prep and serving, sales and related; office and administrative support and healthcare sector jobs are increasing. To learn more about what high and middle and low wage job occupations are predicated to be on the rise, please visit New York State’s Department of Labor’s page outlining the Statewide Long-Term Occupational Employment Projections for years 2010 to 2020.
Government agencies have been taking actions to develop the workforce in New York City to combat the issues of the unemployment, underemployment, underserved communities and their training needs. There are a plethora of nonprofit organizations hired by government agencies to help train each potential worker for their careers. Their services include classes to give people skills they need to begin their careers, including interview preparation and basic computer skills training, as well as career counseling, and ESL classes for applicants who do not fluently speak English. This is where Hureco Maverick comes in, we work with nonprofit and government agencies to customize our career development service options to the demographics that require job skills training and more. Our instructional design and facilitation includes career development and workforce development workshops for both individuals and organizations involved in workforce planning and placement. We offer our Candidate Fitness Boot Camp™ which assist with resume writing workshops that can be fully customizable sessions to align with your needs.
At Hureco Maverick, we believe that every person has the ability and right to a well-paying career, and want to help even the playing field for previously disproportionately represented groups. We can also assist with recruiting and training for your nonprofit and government agencies teams to ensure that NYC’s jobseekers receive the best quality service in becoming an employee with a fulfilling career!
To learn more about our workforce development or nonprofit services nationwide, call us today to see how we can help you.
About the author
Tamsin is a senior manager at Hureco Maverick; she is also a coffee lover, cruciverbalist, altruist, and advocate for corporate social responsibility and volunteerism.