From
1997 through 2007, WINs worked with local employer organizations across
the country that are on the cutting edge of workforce development, testing the
proposition that they can play a unique intermediary role in achieving a dual
goal:
- Improving the economic
prospects of disadvantaged job-seekers and workers; and
- Meeting the needs of
their member firms for employees at the entry-level and above.
In
2006 and 2007, the WINs partnership is disseminating the lessons learned over the
initiative’s eight years. The partners are publishing these lessons in a
variety of media, taking part in conference sessions across the nation, and
engaging in various other outreach strategies.
Rationale
Efforts
to help individuals succeed must provide education and training that meet
employer needs for knowledge and high skills. Similarly,
individuals—particularly those with low education and skill levels—will not
succeed in gaining family-sustaining employment unless they acquire the skills
necessary to perform in today's complex work environment.
Goals
- Build the capacity of
employer organizations to broker and support employer involvement in local
workforce development systems
- Design collaborations
between employers and other stakeholders to undertake innovative strategies
that promote the retention and advancement of low-skilled employees while
meeting employer needs for skilled workers
JFF's Approach
Between
1997 and 2002, WINs laid the groundwork for involving employers and
their organizations in the public workforce development system. The WINs
partners began by exploring the concept of the "employer
intermediary," and then tested it in nine demonstration sites. WINs
also promoted its ideas to the members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the
National Association of Manufacturers, as well as to other employer
organizations, policymakers, and the public.
With
funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training
Administration, the WINs partners applied the lessons they learned in
two major ways from 2002 through 2005:
Jobs
for the Future has completed the WINs multi-year effort to accelerate
the development and expansion of demand-driven workforce strategies by working
with four exemplary programs across the country. Jobs for the Future created
strategic partnerships with New Century Careers, the Skillpoint Alliance, the
Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, and WorkSource Partners, with a
primary focus on approaches that advance lower-skilled individuals into
better-paying jobs while meeting the needs of employers.
Partners
Funders
A Toolkit for Employer Associations: How to Become a Workforce Intermediary 
