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ERIC Number: ED425346
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1998
Pages: 68
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Workforce Training. Supply, Demand, and Gaps.
Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, Olympia.
A study identified the gaps between supply and demand for training in Washington State and recommended strategies for reducing them. The study considered the perspectives of both employers and workers and separately analyzed the needs of three groups: youth, adults, and adults with barriers to employment. The study found the following: (1) there is a shortage of skilled workers that has been getting worse, with the most severe shortage being of workers with a postsecondary vocational diploma or certificate; (2) the shortage of skilled labor is affecting the state's opportunity for further economic growth; (3) there is also a gap in meeting employer and worker demand for upgrading current workers' skills; (4) although there are more than 250,000 economically disadvantaged adults in Washington State, only about one-third of them receive some training or postsecondary education during a year; (5) at least 200,000 Washington adults are deficient at the most basic skill levels; and (6) only 10 percent of employers provide even 4 hours of basic skills instruction per year. The following strategies to reduce the gaps in needed skills and trained workers were identified: continuing education reform, especially school-to-work transition, and vocational education; increasing the availability of secondary and postsecondary vocational-technical education; compressing adult vocational training; funding customized training linked to specific job openings; creating one-stop career centers; increasing training through the Job Training Partnership Act for adults who need basic skills; integrating basic skills with work and vocational training; and adding basic skills training in community and technical colleges. (KC)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, Olympia.
Identifiers - Location: Washington
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A