Develop predictive data tools to forecast labor market displacement resulting from disruptive technologies. The state uses technology to develop new models for forecasting changes in the state labor market resulting from adoption of automation and related technologies. States can partner with research institutions or industry to adjust existing models that use state and federal labor data (such as data derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). States can also focus targeted training and support on the sectors and geographies that data show are most likely to adopt advanced technologies.
State Program Examples
No examples to share at this time. Please check back later.
Build capacity in the state workforce to interpret data and create useful products. The state invests in its workforce by developing a state employee training program to teach skills to interpret data, identify the potential and limitations of data and create new products that can be deployed to serve constituents.
State Program Examples
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Multi-State
Indiana, Illinois and Missouri: The Coleridge Initiative
The Coleridge Initiative works with state agencies and academic partners to create and deliver Applied Data Analytics classes to government agency staff. It is a platform for multi-state data sharing and answering common research questions, mostly in the intersection of workforce and education. States can elect to contribute other data as well such as SNAP/TANF or corrections. These classes train participants in how to work with confidential data from multiple agencies to solve high priority problems identified by agency senior management. Indiana, Illinois and Missouri have partnered with Coleridge to increase statewide capacity to interpret local employment data, education outcomes, labor statistics, and more.
Pilot enhancements of unemployment insurance (UI) wage records to improve individual-level data on employment outcomes. States maintain flexibility in the information they require from employers on the wage records of their employees – as long as federal minimums are met. In recent years, there has been a growing movement to enhance UI wage records to include more data, including hours worked and occupational codes, to make the data more valuable for assessing labor market success. This enhanced information can help states transition from using data exclusively for UI evaluation, investigation and enforcement to determining if workforce training programs are effective, if those programs are meeting the job market demands, and if college graduates are finding employment. States interested in enhancing their UI wage data could begin by piloting an initiative to collect enhanced data within high-demand industries and those which are forecasted to be most impacted by technology. States might also consider assessing state laws and restrictive legal opinions that unnecessarily inhibit wage data access between interested users in order to make data more readily available to community colleges, researchers and policymakers.
State Program Examples
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Illinois
Requires Monthly Wage Recording
Rather than requiring employers to submit quarterly wage reports to the state (as part of the Unemployment Insurance Program), Illinois requires employers with more than 25 employees to submit monthly reports. This enhancement provides the state timelier economic analysis and outreach to state workforce participants. In developing its enhanced wage reporting requirements, Illinois inventoried state UI wage record requirements; identified wage data some states already collect in addition to SSN, name and wage; located uses of wage record data beyond administration of the UI program; surveyed other state UI agencies on their collection of UI wage records, and; surveyed payroll service and software companies to assess their capacity to collect and report additional data.
Build data systems capable of tracking education and workforce program accessibility and outcomes across race, gender and ethnicity. The state measures progress toward closing equity gaps in postsecondary education, workforce training, employment, adult education and English language proficiency by collecting disaggregated demographic information on nondegree credential attainment and certifications, including badges, licenses and registered and nonregistered apprenticeship certificates.
State Program Examples
No examples to share at this time. Please check back later.
Collect and report data on credentials and their value in the marketplace. Not all credentials are created equally, as some actually lead learners toward lower paying jobs. Currently, only about half of states collect information on many credentials such as certificates and industry certifications, and thus have limited data on which credentials are most effective for wage growth. Credential transparency is critical for policymakers to make data-informed decisions about workforce and education investments. Many states are spearheading efforts to identify and then promote credentials of value in the marketplace. With the help of labor market data, states can begin this process by building a cross-sector, priority industry-recognized credential list spanning the education and workforce system.
State Program Examples
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Connecticut
Requires Skill and Competency Attainment Transparency
In 2019, Connecticut Governor Lamont signed Executive Order No. 4 requiring the state to “bring transparency to credentials conferred by public higher education institutions by translating credentials wherever possible to the skills and competencies developed to attain those credentials”.
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Indiana
Developed A Statewide Credential Registry
Under Indiana Governor Holcomb’s leadership, Indiana has emerged as a leading state in the Credential Engine initiative to build a public registry of credentials in a linked, open-data format. To date, the state has published information from its public 2- and 4-year institutions and is expanding to include private institutions and non-credit providers. This new data resource will be the foundation for new state and national tools and applications designed to help individuals easily navigate educational opportunities aligned to their career aspirations.
Promote transparency for the employment outcomes of postsecondary programs, including wage data of graduates. As of 2019, only Maryland and Montana have taken action to gain access to wage data on current college students and graduates, no matter where they are working. More states can benefit from making their state’s income tax and wage data more available for data-sharing initiatives, including cross-state wage data exchanges, to measure the wage outcomes of postsecondary education and training programs.
State Program Examples
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Multi-State
All States: Participate in the State Wage Interchange System (SWIS)
As of January 2020, 52 states and territories participate in the State Wage Interchange System (SWIS), a data sharing tool jointly managed by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Education (ED). SWIS enables states to report and track the performance of workforce training and education programs, as well as the exchange of anonymized individual-level wage and employment data with other states. This enables states to (a) comply with federal WIOA reporting requirements; (b) research and/or evaluate WIOA programs and (c) assess the performance of training provider programs to determine their eligibility to receive WIOA funds. This new system also simplifies the query process for states and enables more states to report results of pilot workforce training and education programs with one another. Although states are not required to participate in SWIS, gaps in the employment and wage information can present challenges to states with a large percentage of their population working in another state.
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Montana
Developed MOUs with private colleges to share student wage data
Montana’s Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and the Department of Labor and Industry (MDLI) have maintained a long-standing data sharing agreement. Since 2017, the state has successfully incentivized enhanced collaboration between these institutions, and most recently, added student data from private colleges, including credentials received and student GPA, to measure the workforce outcomes of eighteen private colleges throughout Montana. To do this, Montana developed MOUs with private colleges in order to allow the data-sharing of public postsecondary institution data with state wage records. However, because Montana’s UI wage data exclude workers whose employers do not pay into the UI system, the Montana Department of Revenue also initiated an MOU with the MDLI in order to capture more comprehensive wage data on students, and track wage and employment outcomes of students who remain in Montana after graduation. According to a report on Montana’s application of data by the National Skills Coalition, “Chief Economist Barbara Wagner stated ‘We established the MOU with only a few phone calls, and the agreement was in place within weeks, not months. We could not have achieved such a quick turnaround without a pre-existing relationship and good understanding of what data they could provide.’”
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Maryland
Allow the Statewide Data Center to Receive Aggregate Wage Data to Measure Education Outcomes
In 2019, Maryland enacted HB 1206, allowing the Maryland Longitudinal Data Center System, the state’s education and workforce data hub, to receive from the Comptroller aggregate wage data about students. This law makes Maryland one of the only states enabled to access tax data to measure student employment outcomes.
Customize accountability metrics to address gaps in state industry-recognized career pathways needed for the future. The state includes in its federal education and workforce plans accountability metrics that communicate the value of multiple career pathways.
State Program Examples
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Delaware
Value Career Readiness in Accountability Metrics
Delaware includes in its federal education and workforce plans accountability metrics that communicate the value of multiple career pathways. In particular, Delaware's ESSA plan emphasizes college and career readiness as having equal value. The career readiness indicators include student attainment of state-approved industry-recognized credentials, dual enrollment (in a CTE pathway), and work-based learning. One interesting state-approved credential is the certificate of multi-literacy, which the state issues to recognize students who are fluent in English and another language. Further, the youth accountability model is consistent across federal programs (the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act, the Every Student Succeeds Act, and Perkins V) to encourage implementation of these key elements through a state-approved program of study.
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Multi-State
24 states: Industry-Recognized Credentials in ESSA Plans
24 states have introduced student attainment of industry-recognized credentials as indicators of college and career readiness within their ESSA plans.
Gather qualitative and quantitative data on how state and local education and training programs are meeting local and regional workforce needs. The state facilitates data collection at the state and local levels to close the delta between program performance and workforce needs. Essential metrics include completion rates, employment, wages and retention among workforce participants.
State Program Examples
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Washington
Workforce Training Results and Performance Accountability
Since its inception, the Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board (Workforce Board) has been charged in statute to evaluate the effectiveness of the state’s workforce programs. In an effort to gather qualitative and quantitative data on how state and local education and training programs are meeting local and regional workforce needs, Washington’s Workforce Board developed Workforce Core Measures - a common framework to measure workforce system progress. The system tracks the results and the taxpayer return on investment for 12 of the state’s largest workforce programs, accounting for over 98 percent of the federal and state dollars spent within the state workforce development system. Results WA, the states’ performance management system integrates performance management, continuous improvement, and cross-agency collaboration to achieve key goals and improve government effectiveness. In recent years, the Results WA has also held a Design Challenge as part of a broader statewide strategy to make government more user-centered.
Build the infrastructure necessary to track performance and align resources to meet labor market demand. The state invests in infrastructure, including human capital, to track data capable of determining and rewarding program performance.
State Program Examples
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Rhode Island
Executive Order for LeanRI Tools
On April 9, 2015, Governor Gina M. Raimondo issued Executive Order 15-09 directing state agencies to use Lean tools to improve processes and focus on value-added activities. LeanRI is a coordinated statewide government effort to support Lean activities focused on training, projects and leadership.
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Illinois
University of Chicago’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG)
DSSG developed a training provider outcomes toolkit that helps states to collect, analyze, and present information on employment outcomes from local training programs. The information sharing that this platform facilitates between training providers and the state helps states to meet WIOA reporting requirements and to have a better understanding of which training providers are meeting workforce needs and where they may be falling short. States can partner with institutions with significant research capacity, like universities, to compile and analyze cross-sector data that can inform decisions about where to allocate resources and can be shared with prospective students to guide them towards effective training programs.
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Maryland
Executive Order to Establish an Office of Performance Improvement
In 2015, Maryland Governor Hogan signed an Executive Order establishing the Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement to oversee efforts toward continuous improvement and outcomes-based funding, and improve customer experience of state government. This Office also operates the Maryland Open Data Portal, which allows the public to explore 300 data sets including state budgets, program outcomes, and investment breakdowns down to the county level.
Collect data on the career pathways of the state workforce to inform a resilient state workforce strategy. State employees are not immune to the impacts of technology in the workplace and are at risk of displacement as a result of innovations in state service delivery. States should consider new ways to collect department-level data on the wage and employment trajectories of state employees, future skills needs across state government, and the diffusion of technology to inform which departments and employees are most likely to be affected by technology. States can then use this data to inform program design, location, and investment decisions to build a resilient state workforce.
State Program Examples
No examples to share at this time. Please check back later.
Evaluate alternative approaches to financing lifelong learning that reduce cost to the individual. As technologies evolve and employers’ skills needs shift, workers will need help to close the affordability gap of additional training. In recent years, many states have introduced new financial aid programs including last-dollar scholarships for eligible students. Although the effects of these programs are not universal, states should gather data on the potential impacts of new financial aid programs to reduce costs for learners, and then use this information to inform new program design to better meet learners’ needs.
State Program Examples
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Michigan
Michigan Reconnect
In September 2020, following approval from a bipartisan committee of legislators, Governor Whitmer approved the FY2020 state budget which included $30M in state funding to support a new program called Michigan Reconnect. This program is the largest effort in Michigan’s history to ensure more than 4.1 million Michiganders age 25 or older without a college degree have an opportunity to earn a tuition-free associate degree or skills certificate. Michigan Reconnect pays the cost of tuition for eligible adults who want to pursue an associate degree or skills certificate at their in-district community college. A portion of the funding could also support training at one of more than 70 private training schools.
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Vermont
Adult CTE Scholarship
In 2020, Vermont Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Department of Labor recently announced a new scholarship for all Vermonters who have graduated high school and are eligible for employment in the state. The Adult Career Technical Education (CTE) Scholarship provides up to $1,000 for Vermonters to cover training and other costs associated with participating in a CTE certificate program that will enhance employability and support growth along a career path. A total of $162,000 is available for these scholarships, which are distributed on a first-come-first-served basis. To apply, individuals must complete a career consultation with a Vermont Department of Labor job specialist.
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Ohio
Individual Microcredential Assistance Program
The Individual Microcredential Assistance Program (IMAP) allows Ohioans who are low income, underemployed, or unemployed to participate in a training program and receive a short-term, industry-recognized, technology-focused credential at no cost. The Ohio Development Services Agency allocated up to $2.5M for FY2020 to distribute grants of up to $250,000 to training providers that offer eligible credentialling programs and demonstrate a commitment to providing opportunities for low-income, unemployed and underemployed individuals. Eligible providers include state institutions of higher education, Ohio technical centers, and private businesses or institutions that offer training to allow an individual to earn one or more microcredentials. The approved training providers will be reimbursed up to $3,000 for each technology-focused credential earned through the program. There are 11 IMAP training providers and more than half of the credentials offered can be completed virtually, meaning location is not a barrier.
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Ohio
Choose Ohio First Scholarship
In 2008, the Choose Ohio First scholarship was created to significantly strengthen Ohio’s competitiveness within STEMM disciplines and STEMM education. Choose Ohio First funds bachelor’s degrees that will have the most impact on Ohio’s position in world markets such as aerospace, medicine, computer technology and alternative energy. Choose Ohio First programs are integrated with regional economies through partnerships with industry leaders and meet statewide educational needs. In December 2019, the State of Ohio announced a new Choose Ohio First scholarship that will boost Ohio’s efforts to strengthen the state’s workforce in Computer Science fields such as programming and cybersecurity. This scholarship will support an estimated 1,400 Ohio students from 35 colleges and universities across the state with a total of $20,580,770 in awards over the next five years.
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Maine
Competitive Skills Scholarship Program
The Competitive Skills Scholarship Program (CSSP) was established in 2007 to grow the productivity and competitiveness of Maine’s workforce in order to support employers’ success in a robust and changing economy through enabling low-income individuals to obtain relevant training credentials. Funded through assessments on employers that contribute to the unemployment trust fund, the CSSP allows eligible students to cover the cost of postsecondary education and training for industry-recognized credentials in high-demand industries as well as other supports like child care, transportation, books and supplies. Since its inception, CSSP has helped 3,107 low-income (<200% FPL) Mainers attain skills. CSSP paths provide opportunities for individual career choices, employer-driven training, and early college options for high school students. Eligible training is industry recognized and provides opportunity for employment in specific high-wage, in-demand jobs as identified by Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information (CWRI).
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Virginia
New Economy Workforce Program
The Virginia General Assembly passed HB 66 which established the New Economy Workforce Grant Program. This grant program is the first of its kind and provides a pay-for-performance model for funding noncredit workforce training that leads to a credential in a high demand field.
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Tennessee
Tennessee Promise Scholarship
The Tennessee Legislature passed the Tennessee Promise Scholarship Act in 2014. This legislation was in line with former Governor Bill Haslam’s goal of “making Tennessee the number one location in the southeast for high-quality jobs” by increasing postsecondary attainment in Tennessee to 55% by 2025. The Tennessee Promise offers a scholarship for students to attend South College in an approved program of study, tuition free for two years. The scholarship is to pay tuition and fees at not covered by other aid. This is a last-dollar scholarship, meaning that it covers the cost of tuition not covered by federal grants and other financial aid for eligible students.
Develop tools which help individuals gain access to labor market information (LMI), education and training programs and career advising. Many workers in the United States do not use traditional workforce centers to find employment and increasingly rely on internet tools to fulfill their job searches. While many state departments of labor host job sites, these resources often lack tools to guide users towards jobs with high-growth opportunity, or toward information about how to access training required to enter high-demand industries. To address these challenges, states can leverage relationships with employers and training providers to compile robust cross-sector data and invest in the development of user-friendly interfaces to interact with labor market information. States should also consider the critical role that career counseling and coaching can play in helping individuals navigate the labor market over their lifetimes. Several states have begun to develop more robust counseling programs to ensure that workers have the information they need to make decisions that will benefit their careers.
State Program Examples
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Texas
ADVi Virtual Advising
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) developed a virtual advising system, accessible by text message chatbot named ADVi – short for “adviser” – which uses artificial intelligence to provide on-demand support to Texans looking to attend or return to higher education. Through this platform, students or prospective students can ask questions about college 24/7 via text message, be connected to virtual support from advisors beyond what ADVi can provide, receive messages about key college access milestones and information to help with applications, planning and financial aid. The goal of the Virtual Advising Project is to help ensure more Texans have the information they need to access higher education and complete their certificates or degrees at Texas colleges and universities. This project supports THECB's goal of having 60% of adults aged 25-34 hold a postsecondary credential by 2030.
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Arkansas
Ready for Life
In January 2021, Governor Asa Hutchinson allocated $14.7M in federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Funds in support of Ready for Life, a partnership with the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the Division of Workforce Services, K-12, and institutions of higher education. The Ready for Life initiative is aimed at individuals who want to improve their skills or change careers and explore employment data. Through the Ready for Life online platform, users can explore careers, build a resume, view popular jobs in you’re their area, learn about local companies and take online training to learn high-demand skills. The goal is to make it easier for employees and employers to find each other, as well as offer business leaders a quick snapshot of the state of the employee pool in Arkansas as they recruit talent.
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Alabama
Dashboard for Alabamians to Visualize Income Determinations
The Office of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, launched a first-in-nation career tool that includes a benefits cliff calculator within the state workforce development career path planner. The Dashboard for Alabamians to Visualize Income Determinations (DAVID) will help individuals understand which career pathways will help them achieve self-sufficiency and overcome the potential loss of public assistance based on their income, region, occupation and family dynamics.
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Ohio
Ohio to Work
The Ohio to Work program is an innovative, multiagency effort is led by JobsOhio (Ohio’s economic development corporation), the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and Development Services Agency. Through Ohio to Work, JobsOhio invests in and implements technological enhancements in institutions that serve jobseekers, like OhioMeansJobs Centers. These investments increase staff capacity to provide one-on-one career coaching, advising and individualized assessment for jobseekers. Ohio to Work began as a pilot in Cleveland to target those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, including Black and Latino communities. To measure the success of this program, JobsOhio is tracking the total number of people served, the number of people enrolled in job training programs and the number of people who are placed in jobs with employers. JobsOhio will use information collected by the pilot to scale these jobseekers services in communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
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New Jersey
NJ Careers
The New Jersey Office of Innovation, in partnership with Rutgers University’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, launched NJ Careers, a digital coaching service that provides day to day job search strategy and in-platform practice of job search techniques, while also connecting job seekers with support services including health insurance, childcare, housing assistance, transportation, food assistance, and mental health care. To promote participation, the state launched an outreach campaign in partnership with community organizations, faith-based communities, and local governments.
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Virginia
Career Works Referral Portal
Underpinning the Virginia Career Works Referral Portal is the new Workforce Data Trust. This first in its kind, cloud-based technology solution forms a secure bridge across legacy case management systems, allowing applications and analysts to relate and access data from multiple agencies in real-time. This new capacity has revealed the full scale of the workforce system’s collective impact, catalyzing a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement across previously siloed operations. Virginia is a national leader in using new affordable technologies to connect Virginians to all the workforce serves they need. This is the second of two essential tools to enable the Commonwealth in the “age of disruption” to assist Virginians employed in vulnerable jobs respond to changing work patterns.
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Multi-State
Launch My Career
The American Institutes for Research (AIR), with funding from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, has developed Launch My Career, an interactive tool for states that individuals and institutions can use to learn about the return on investment of specific higher education degrees and programs. This tool helps individuals to understand the career opportunities in their state, as well as educational program information such as related skills, time to degree, and average first year wages for graduates.
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North Dakota
Labor Market Information Dashboard
The Job Service North Dakota features interactive dashboards that provide users with personalized labor market information that allows them to explore career prospects based on industry, geography, education and desired earnings. Through this tool users can find specific job openings that fit specified criteria or more general information on current and projected openings and earning potential within specific industries and occupations.
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North Carolina
Navigator Platform for Work-based Learning
North Carolina’s “Navigator” is a platform where employers post work-based learning opportunities that they provide for educators, counselors and job coaches to search. This tool was developed through a partnership with the Governor’s Office, Fidelity Investments and the North Carolina Business Committee for Education. The Navigator provides a central location for work-based learning information to help make students and workers of all ages aware of training opportunities and the types of skills that are in high-demand from local employers. States can provide digital spaces where employers and training providers can add up-to-date opportunities and where workers and students can easily search for opportunities that match their specific needs and interests.
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Arkansas
BeProBeProud Mobile Workforce Workshop
With nearly a quarter of the current skilled professionals are at or near retirement age in Arkansas, the BeProBeProud initiative was launched in 2016 by the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, the Arkansas Trucking Association and the Association of General Contractors to promote career opportunities in the skilled trades. The initiative now operates a Mobile Workforce Workshop from a 53-foot double trailer featuring simulated experiences from twelve occupations in high demand across Arkansas. Governor Hutchinson has noted that since the project began touring schools, technical centers, and employers to share information about industry training opportunities, the state’s high school graduation rate has increased. The initiative was started with philanthropic funds and now operates with support from private industry and from several state agencies. States could consider scaling this type of mobile program to help students in rural communities gain access to learning opportunities, in addition to sharing valuable labor market information about trade careers.
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Indiana
Markle Foundation’s Skillful Coaching Corps
In 2019, Markle launched the Skillful Coaching Corps program in Indiana, an 8-month training program which offers career coaching training to career counselors serving students, dislocated workers, veterans, and first-time job-seekers. Skillful is also working with Indiana employers to help them think beyond degrees and credentials to express and advertise for the skills and competencies they really want and need from potential employees. The Skillful Network invites states to invest in and create the infrastructure to provide targeted professional development for trusted leaders in their communities to gain the knowledge and skills that they need to provide their clients with high-quality, up-to-date labor and training information, including how technology may influence opportunities for growth over time. States interested in this model could facilitate similar training through community colleges, workforce centers or school districts.
