Title: Transforming New York Citys Emerging Workforce
1Transforming New York Citys Emerging Workforce
- WIRED Proposal for the New York City Region
-
- Marilyn Shea, New York City Workforce Investment
Board
- Stuart Schulman, Kingsborough Community College
- Presentation to the New York State Workforce
Investment Board
- April 5, 2007
2Agenda
- The New York City Region
- Labor Shortages in the Service Sector
- The Emerging Workforce
- Transformation Strategies in the Service Sector
- Information Collection, Analysis and
Dissemination
- Building Skills On-The-Job for the Emerging
Workforce
- Immigrant Entrepreneurship
- Curriculum Development and Community Engagement
- WIRED Projects and Lead Partners
- Outcomes and Deliverables
- Questions and Answers
3New York City Region
Within New York State, New York City is a
distinct economic region comprised of five
counties (or boroughs), which are interconnected
in terms of
Common sectors driving economic growth
Reliance on a common public transportation
system Availability and diversity of the workfor
ce
Mayor Bloombergs five-borough economic
development plan underscores that New York City
is one economic unit.
The success of New York Citys economy overall
depends on the economic growth of each borough.
4Labor Shortages in the Service Industry
- New York City has tremendous capacity to attract
talented workers, nationally and globally, for
high-skilled occupations in the financial
services, insurance, real estate and creative
services sectors. - However, labor shortages are predicted in New
York Citys service sector as older workers
retire and younger workers are ill-prepared to
take their place. - Service sector workers bolster the regional
economy by providing vital services that make New
York City a leading tourist destination and an
attractive place in which to live and work. - Without a strategy to address these labor
shortages in the service sector, New York City
could lose critical service workers who make the
City run and support the Citys overall economy.
By 2012, there will be 7,040 openings in retail
sales and 5,520 openings in food and beverage
service. - At the same time, the City will need to absorb
large populations of New Yorkers who, without
transformative workforce strategies, are not
adequately prepared to enter or succeed in the
labor market.
Chance of a Lifetime, Center for an Urban
Future, May 2006.
5Who Will Fill the Service Worker Gap?
- The Center for an Urban Future released a series
of reports that highlight youth and immigrants as
two populations that could fill labor shortages
in key sectors. - New York Citys WIRED proposal focuses on
preparing the Citys emerging workforce for jobs
in the service industry, while simultaneously
working with service industry employers to create
new advancement opportunities for emerging
workers. - The emerging worker populations targeted under
this proposal are
- Immigrants
- Youth/Young Adults
6Integrating Immigrants into the Workforce
- New York Citys foreign-born population grew 130
from 2000-2005, with immigrants driving the
Citys overall population growth
- New York City is home to 1.7 million immigrant
workers, representing 48 of the resident labor
force
- 1.2 million immigrants in New York City speak
English less than very well, presenting a
serious workforce challenge
- The severely limited availability of ESL
instruction in New York City (just 41,585 seats)
means that ESL instruction cannot be a standalone
strategy to prepare immigrant workers for the
workforce - New York City proposes a transformative strategy
that will help employers hire, retain and advance
immigrant workers
- A supporting strategy will help immigrant
entrepreneurs establish and grow their businesses
Source A World of Opportunity, Center for an
Urban Future, February 2007
Source Fiscal Policy Institute Presentation,
December 2005
7Connecting Youth and Young Adults
- Between 200,000 and 250,000 of New York Citys
16-24 year olds are disconnected.
- These disconnected youth are neither in school
nor working
- Disconnected youth are difficult to serve because
they are disengaged from the very institutions
that could help them
- New York City proposes a transformative strategy
to engage disconnected youth through work-focused
curriculum development that reaches youth in the
communities in which they live
Chance of a Lifetime, Center for an Urban
Future, July 2006.
8Transformation Strategies for the Emerging
Workforce
New York Citys WIRED proposal is comprised of
four complementary strategies to engage the
emerging workforce
- Develop capacity for collecting and analyzing
timely, relevant information on New York Citys
workforce and economy in order to inform policy
making and program design decisions - Provide the emerging workforce with mechanisms to
remain in the labor force and to successfully
advance
- Support immigrant-owned entrepreneurial
businesses, which frequently provide an important
first step into the labor market for immigrants
who do not speak English well. Engagement will
focus on the services sector, as many immigrant
businesses are concentrated in the sector - Reach disconnected youth and unemployed adults
within their communities by/through the
development of flexible occupational curricula
that can be adapted to different instructional
settings
9Transformation Strategy 1Information Collection,
Analysis and Dissemination
- Center for Labor Market and Economic Analysis
(WIB/CUNY)
- Establish a Center for Labor Market and Economic
Analysis at CUNY focused on the collection and
analysis of labor market and economic data
specific to the New York City region - Make data available for public use through a
web-based interface
- Commission studies on key sectors and provide
current economic and trend analysis
- Regional Real-Estate Development Project Database
(SBS/EDC)
- With the New York City Economic Development
Corporation (EDC), construct a database for
tracking upcoming real-estate development
projects, the stage of completion, potential
tenants and the communities impacted by the
project - Database construction affords an earlier
opportunity for SBS to engage with both
jobseekers and small businesses in the impacted
communities
10Transformation Strategy 2Building Skills
On-The-Job for the Emerging Workforce
- Customized Employee Retention Needs Assessment
(CERNA) and Customized
- Retention Plans
- Employment turnover rates are highest among young
workers. Additionally, average job tenure for
low-income workers (a category into which many
immigrants fall) is one-half of that of
middle-income workers - Retention Specialists will create a CERNA and
subsequently develop customized retention plans
for a diverse set of employers over three years
in order to determine common retention strategies
to be used by the workforce investment system - Retention Specialists will particularly seek to
work with businesses that have large numbers of
immigrant and youth workers that move in and out
of the labor force. These will most likely be in
the service sector (retail, food service,
hospitality) - Customized Training Grants
- Employers in the service sector where most
immigrant and youth workers are employed operate
on a low profit margin and are hesitant to divert
resources to training - Employers would apply for and receive training
grants for up to 50 of training costs for a
cohort of workers
Holzer, Harry and Martinson, Karen. Focus,
Volume 24, No.2 Spring/Summer 2006
11Transformation Strategy 3Immigrant
Entrepreneurship
- NYC Business Solutions Center Immigrant Outreach
Through Community Networks
- SBSs reach has been impeded by cultural and
logistical barriers which complicate access to
and relationship-building within ethnic
populations - SBS will lead an immigrant outreach pilot focused
on accessing previously underserved populations
- SBS will facilitate communications with small
business owners through its existing
relationships with community-based organizations
- Information obtained from this pilot would
provide a tremendous knowledge cache for engaging
with immigrant entrepreneurs and would support
replication efforts - Given that 49 of the self-employed population of
New York City are immigrants, future replication
efforts have the potential to significantly
impact small business growth throughout the
region - Pilot will focus on the Mandarin-speaking
community of Flushing, Queens
- Interventions will include courses and seminars,
business counseling, financial assistance and
government facilitation (e.g., assistance with
licensing)
12Transformation Strategy 4Curriculum Development
and Community Engagement
- Content Councils
- Create four "Content Councils" that will be
initiated and convened by Kingsborough Community
College faculty engaging faculty across CUNYs 21
institutions, employers, community-based
organizations and K-12 educational institutions - Content Councils will focus on designing
employment skill-building curricula that can
travel the curricula could be delivered at a
high school, at multiple locations in the CUNY
system, at community-based organizations, or by
an employer - Each Content Council will focus on a different
industry within the service sector, ensuring that
industries in which labor shortages are predicted
are prioritized - Curricula would be disseminated to the intended
recipients through a combination of existing
workforce investment system networks, CUNY
networks and new outreach partnerships such as
with the Youth Development Institute at the Fund
for the City of New York
13Curriculum Development and Community Engagement,
Contd
Potential Impact of Content Council Curriculum
Development
Stakeholder Engagement
Faculty
CBOs
K 12 Education
Employers
Tourism
Retail
CURRICULA
Hospitality
Food Service
CUNY Networks
Workforce Investment System Networks
New Partner Networks
Credit Students
NYC Business Solutions Business Outreach Team
Alternative High Schools
Non-Credit Students
Immigrant Outreach Partners
Workforce1 Community Partner Network
High Schools Community Partners
Young Adult Borough Centers
Employers
Community-Based Organizations
14WIRED Projects and Lead Partners
Regional Workforce and Economic Data Tools
NYC Labor Market Analysis Center
Real Estate Development Database
New York City WIB and The City University of New
York (CUNY)
NYC Economic Development Corporation and
NYC Department of Small Business Services
Emerging Workforce Projects
Business Solutions Center for Immigrant
Entrepreneurs
Customized Employee Retention Needs Assessment
NYC Department of Small Business Services
NYC Department of Small Business Services
Customized Training
Service Industry Content Councils
NYC Department of Small Business Services
Kingsborough Community College (CUNY)
Youth Work Curricula
Youth Development Institute (FCNY)
15Outcomes and Deliverables
The five-borough WIRED proposal has two sets of
anticipated outcomes/deliverables for the
projects Capacity-building and pilot program
outcomes
- Center for Labor Market and Economic Analysis
Capacity Building
- Creation of a Center for Labor Market Economic
Analysis housed at CUNY
- Creation of a public use mechanism through a
web-based application
- Real-Estate Development Project Database
Capacity Building
- Creation of a database system to track
large-scale economic development projects and
connect to workforce development efforts
- Examples of potential impact The Gateway project
Bronx Terminal Market 2,100 jobs, Spring 2009
East 125th St Development Project 1,000 to
2,000 jobs, Fall 2009 - Retention Assessment and Planning Capacity
Building and Pilot Outcomes
- Creation of a Customized Employer Retention Needs
Assessment (CERNA) to be used across the
workforce investment system
- Increase the percentage of target emerging
workforce retained through interventions in
comparison to an employers prior retention rate
- Increase in number of hours employees in pilot
sites are working
16Outcomes and Deliverables (contd)
- Customized Training for the Emerging Workforce
Capacity Building and Pilot Outcomes
- Wage increase up to 20, in keeping with the
outcomes weve seen from the NYC Business
Solutions Training Grant in the past
- Increase in the education/literacy (both math and
written) skills of immigrant and youth
employees
- Increase in transferable skills in these
employees, including customer service skills,
cash handling/finance skills, and
managerial/supervisory skills - Provide skills upgrade to 630 incumbent workers
- Business Solutions Immigrant Outreach Capacity
Building and Pilot Outcomes
- Create a replicable model for engaging immigrant
communities through existing community-based
organizations
- Serve 500 businesses in Flushing, Queens, largely
in the service sector
- Content Councils Capacity Building and Pilot
Outcomes
- Create four occupationally-based curricula
informed by business, labor market analysis, CUNY
faculty and community-based organizations
engaging with immigrants and youth - Pilot curricula with at least 10 sites to refine
and tailor to different populations
- Place at least 160 trainees with whom the
curricula was piloted
17Vision for Next Stage of Transformation
- The New York City region will sustain the
proposed transformation by
- Expanding emerging workforce initiatives to focus
on other sectors
- Engaging new partners and additional workforce
investment system stakeholders
- Fully integrating the strategies across the
regions workforce investment system
- Bringing pilot sites to scale
18Q A