Overview

Every year, millions of workers lose their jobs because of layoffs, business closures, or other economic reasons. These job losses touch individuals at all education and skill levels, affect diverse industries, and tend to worsen when the economy slows.

Low-wage workers - a large and growing segment of the workforce - are also drawing increased attention from policymakers, the business community, and officials at all levels of government. With labor market demand for low-wage earners continuing to grow, policymakers are trying to develop responses to a major challenge: how to raise household income for this group of workers in ways that are consistent with employers' needs and labor market realities.

Although much of the responsibility for training lies with employers and workers, government has a major interest in expanding training opportunities for all workers, particularly those in low-skill, low-wage jobs who are at risk of unemployment. Forty-eight states operate state-funded programs to assist firms in providing training for their employees.