ERIC Number: ED440259
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2000-Mar
Pages: 70
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Opportunity Knocks: Training the Commonwealth's Workers for the New Economy.
Donahue, John D.; Lynch, Lisa M.; Whitehead, Ralph, Jr.
The current situation regarding training Massachusetts' workers for the new economy was reviewed. Special attention was paid to the following topics: Massachusetts and the skill-centered economy; opportunities for workforce system reform; skills demanded in the new economy; ways other states are building workers' skills; and the fragile setting for system building. Among the review's main findings were the following: (1) the income gap between high-end professional/technical workers and less-skilled workers is increasing; (2) businesses' competitive advantages are eroding because critical positions are going unfilled; (3) the current boom cannot be sustained without adequate supplies of skilled labor; and (4) Massachusetts's weak suit (compared with that of other states) is providing skill-building opportunities for lower-middle-class and working-class adults. The following seven recommendations for improving the state's work force development system were formulated: (1) focus on measurable performance outcomes, and hold elements of the system accountable for results; (2) encourage business and labor support, and invite business and labor pressure; (3) build the nation's best work force information system; (4) build a work force development system that provides training opportunities to a broad spectrum of workers, not just the unemployed; (5) take consolidation and customer choice seriously but gradually; (6) fund the workforce development system at a level that reflects its growing importance to the state's shared prosperity; and (7) Provide the bipartisan leadership vital to the effort's success. (Includes 13 tables and figures.) (MN)
Descriptors: Adult Education, College Graduates, Comparative Analysis, Delivery Systems, Economic Change, Economic Climate, Education Work Relationship, Educational Change, Educational Environment, Educational Needs, Educational Opportunities, Educational Policy, Educational Trends, Elementary Secondary Education, Employment Opportunities, Employment Patterns, Employment Projections, Futures (of Society), Government School Relationship, High School Graduates, Higher Education, Job Skills, Job Training, Labor Force Development, Labor Market, Labor Needs, Lifelong Learning, Needs Assessment, Outcomes of Education, Policy Formation, Salary Wage Differentials, School Business Relationship, Sex Differences, Skill Development, State of the Art Reviews, Statewide Planning, Strategic Planning, Systems Approach, Trend Analysis, Vocational Education, Work Experience Programs
Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, 177 Tremont Street, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111-1020 ($17). Tel: 617-338-8900, ext. 125. For full text: http://www.massinc.org.
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A