New Report Reveals Employers Struggling With Poorly Prepared Workforce

In any economy, a skilled workforce is crucial for companies to grow and be successful. A recently released report, the Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce, Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, finds that many U.S employers are struggling with workers without the necessary skill sets for the jobs available. The results of this report are based on the Workforce Readiness Training survey, conducted by Corporate Voices for Working Families, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), The Conference Board, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and was conducted during the second quarter of 2008. Out of 217 U.S employers surveyed, more than 200 responded.

Respondents commented on three types of training provided for newly hired entrants: workforce readiness (training in skills that new entrants should have when hired), job-specific (training in skills that needed to perform a specific function in the organization), and career development training (training that supports employees' career development or promotional opportunities). According to the report, new hires lack crucial basic and applied skills and employer-provided workforce readiness training programs are not successfully correcting the deficiency. They also found that almost half of employer respondents provide workforce readiness training. Among the respondents who offer work readiness training, less than 20 percent of this group rate their companies' work readiness or remedial programs as "very successful" in raising workers' skill level from "deficient" to "adequate" or from "adequate" to "excellent".

By examining five case studies of model programs, this report points out some possible directions companies may take to ensure that new entrants to the workforce are ready to work. These case studies are thought to exemplify workforce readiness programs and include: Bank of America's partnership with Year Up, a nonprofit organization; CVS Caremark-TJX Companies joint initiative; Harper Industries; Northrop Grumman's Apprenticeship School; and YUM! Brands. In summary, the case studies find that workforce readiness training will achieve some positive results when employers incorporate:

• A culture committed to training and thorough job-readiness screening;
• Strategic partnerships with local colleges, and a focus on integrating training with job-specific skills and career development;
• Constantly re-evaluation to align with company needs.

The report also suggests that employers should track the cost and quality of their training programs. Otherwise, it's impossible to assess the true costs of an ill-prepared workforce to their own, or the economy's, bottom line.

The full report is available at www.cvworkingfamilies.org.

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