15.06.2010
Policy Points
A recent study by the Center on Wisconsin Strategies proposed a framework for using a national skills credentialing system to grow a workforce capable of succeeding in a clean energy economy. From the study …
We will never be able to clean up the general mess of the American labor market or the specific confusion in green or greener jobs without a stronger and broader commitment to credentials and a system of common standards that support them. In fact, some general system of skill standards is essential not just as a product, but a prod to, systemic training reform. Done right, everyone benefits.
—
In the green context, the development and certification of standardized competencies can nudge energy efficiency and renewable energy industries onto the high road by guaranteeing both quality jobs and quality work. The former is essential to realizing the equity promise of the new energy economy, the latter critical to demonstrating and capturing the benefits of green technologies. One way to get at job quality is to define, and where possible require, a certified workforce, which can command better wages in the labor market. The additional advantage — and critical value-added, really — of a certified labor force is that it offers some guarantee on quality of work. This is more than a question of individual return on investment. Every time a poorly trained worker bungles the installation of, say, solar panels or even attic insulation, the public loses confidence in “green” innovation, eroding the country’s already tenuous political will to invest in low-carbon strategies.
14.06.2010
Policy Points
Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:
14.06.2010
Policy Points
In a recent publication, the National Employment Law Project summarized national data about long-term unemployment. From the report …
Over the course of the two-year period following the onset of the recession, many demographic groups experienced a three- to five-fold increase among their ranks of long-term unemployed. Men, for example, saw their long-term unemployment numbers increase five-fold. The number of long-term unemployed workers older than 45 has increased nearly five-fold between 2007 and 2009, reflecting the difficulty this group faces when seeking employment in an anemic jobs market where competition for jobs is stiff and a lower probability of retirement translates into fewer job openings. Long-term unemployment among unemployed workers with some college education grew by a factor of 5.3, while those with a college degree increased their level of long-term unemployment by a factor of 5. Other groups, such as Hispanics, saw their long-term unemployed ranks increase by 5.6 over this two-year period.
14.06.2010
Policy Points
A post at macroblog, the blog of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, offers insights into the relative contributions of structural and cyclical factors to the current unemployment situation. Conclude the post:
This most recent recession was especially deep, and the large share of unemployed workers reporting they were permanently separated from their employers suggests that many of those jobs in all likelihood will not come back. If new jobs come with different skill requirements, then skill mismatch could become a significant factor once labor demand increases. However, the relatively disappointing May private-sector payroll jobs numbers released last Friday and the improving but low level of job openings reported in the JOLTS data for April are reminders that weak labor demand is still the dominant factor inhibiting the overall employment recovery.
11.06.2010
Policy Points
Economic policy reports, blog postings, and media stories of interest:
Email Sign-Up
RSS Feed