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Empowering Oregon’s Workforce: Strategies for Success

Explore key workforce policy questions on moving unemployed to jobs, upskilling low-income earners, & ensuring middle-income competitiveness. Dive into Oregon's workforce system, challenges, and opportunities for leveraging technical certificates. Learn about certificate relevance, labor market alignment, and policy considerations for a stronger workforce. Contact Agnes Balassa, Governor’s Workforce Policy Advisor, for insights and support.

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Empowering Oregon’s Workforce: Strategies for Success

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  1. The Middle 40 Certificates, Flexibility and Leverage August 23, 2012

  2. Key Workforce Policy Questions • How do you move the unemployed into jobs, low income earners into better jobs, and keep middle income earners competitive? • How do you assure that business have workers with the skills they need today and tomorrow? • How do you create systems and structures with the flexibility to serve working learners? • Where do you get the greatest return on investment?

  3. Oregon’s Workforce System • 200,000+ job seekers in 2011 • More individuals who have higher skills, lower skills, disabilities, minority status, lost their standing in the middle class, older and younger workers who can’t get a foot in the door, • About $180 million is federal and state resources • 40+ WorkSource Oregon sites • 40% of those assessed lack the math skills and 25% lack the reading skills to succeed in the majority of jobs. • Serve the 54% of the workforce of 2025 that is already working • These working learners will not access education in a linear fashion

  4. Fundamental changes in the market 1. Changing career pathways 2. Changing employer-employee relationship  3. Changing role of technology  4. Changing educational currency

  5. Technical Certificates • “cost-effective tool for increasing postsecondary educational attainment and gainful employment.” • effective on-ramp to college especially for low-income, minority and immigrants. • Help incumbent workers move up • Help the unemployed/underemployed to get a foot in the door. • Can make up for a lack of general academic preparation. • “often pay off more than two-year degrees and sometimes pay off more than four-year degrees.”

  6. Keys to certificates and labor market relevance • Getting a job in the field for which you were certified – job placement. • Getting certified in higher paying/higher demand areas – career counseling • Industry recognized – labor market research

  7. Policy questions/opportunities • Defining “certificate” • To include options like the NCRC, industry recognized credentials • Supporting flexible delivery mechanisms • Online (including “off the shelf” and business association developed) delivery • Learn and earn • Hybrid

  8. Agnes BalassaGovernor’s Workforce Policy Advisoragnes.balassa@state.or.us503.986.6630

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