THE OHIO JOB TRAINING INITIATIVE: THE PROBLEM

Poor Coordination Wastes Money, Creates Confusion & Fails to Help Workers and Businesses

Workers Lack Skills, Businesses Lack Skilled Workers

Workers succeed when they have the skills for which businesses are hiring, and businesses succeed when they have skilled workers who can help them perform their missions. Therefore, aligning workforce training programs with the demands of the marketplace is equally essential for businesses and workers. However:

• According to a Wright State University report, 58 percent of Ohio businesses say their workers’ skills are unsuited to their needs.1

Ohio’s Workforce Training System is a Bureaucratic Nightmare

Approximately 8-10 different agencies support more than 50 different workforce training programs in Ohio. Unfortunately, there is no single entity with the authority to fully coordinate, direct and evaluate the work of these various efforts, nor is there a common system for setting policy or budgets. This lack of coordination results in a disjointed and fragmented system that fails to adequately and efficiently help workers and businesses.

Not Surprisingly, Ohio’s Workforce Training System is Under-Utilized

With multiple agencies providing multiple programs, it is no surprise that Ohio businesses have trouble navigating the system and rarely make use of Ohio’s workforce training programs. Furthermore, research reveals that many businesses are reluctant to take advantage of Ohio’s workforce development system because they view it as a welfare program for low-income Ohioans, not a resource designed for businesses2. As a result, it is estimated that:

• Only 15 percent of small firms and 17 percent of mid-sized firms use public job training programs 1
• 73 percent of businesses are not aware of the resources available to them at county one-stop career centers.1

Inflexible Rules Hurt Workers

The surest way to be eligible for workforce training now is to lose your job. Unfortunately, limited resources exist to prevent joblessness by helping incumbent workers and businesses upgrade their skills to improve productivity and remain competitive. A system that only reacts to problems instead of trying to prevent them simply makes no sense and fails those it is designed to help.

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1 Wright State University’s Center for Urban and Public Affairs, “Employer Views of Ohio’s Workforce and the Publicly Funded Workforce Development System,” 2008.
2 US Chamber of Commerce, “Rising to the Challenge: Business Voices on the Public Workforce Development System. A Special Report on Five Midwestern States.”

THE OHIO JOB TRAINING INITIATIVE: THE SOLUTION

Making Workforce Training Work—for Workers and Businesses

GOAL: To help workers improve their skills so they can keep their jobs and get better ones, and help businesses have access to the skilled workforce they need in order to be competitive and succeed.

PRINCIPLES

• Create a Workforce That Helps Ohio Grow: Help businesses and workers access training for the skills both need to compete and succeed.
• Improve Customer Service: The current complex and redundant job training system is difficult to use, wastes money, and fails to provide the training businesses and workers need, thereby holding Ohio back. It should train the people who need training, be easy to access, and minimize overlap and duplication.
• Increase Accountability throughout the Job Training System: Set high standards for outcomes, help training providers succeed, measure results, and find alternative solutions if a program doesn’t work.
• Align Training and Workforce Development with the Needs of Business: Make use of the full range of Ohio’s training resources: vocational education, adult career centers, career colleges, community colleges and universities.

ACTIONS

• Create a New Training Voucher That Can Prevent Problems, Not Just React to Them: Current policies essentially require workers to lose their jobs before they can get workforce training. That is because only $11 million of Ohio’s $150 million job training budget can be used to train incumbent workers. John Kasich will use revenue from casino license fees to boost funding for incumbent worker training and work with businesses to identify and provide the training they need before crises or job losses occur so workers can keep or upgrade their jobs and businesses can compete.
• Set Policy and Write Budgets Once, Not 50 Times: The Governor’s Workforce Policy Advisory Board will be eliminated and replaced with a new substantive policy-making body reporting to the governor which has the authority to set policy and write budgets for Ohio’s workforce training system. This consistent approach will eliminate the duplication and fragmentation that currently plagues Ohio’s approximately 50 workforce training programs.
• Create Easy-to-Access Systems for Businesses: Due to its complexity, only 33 percent of Ohio businesses currently use Ohio’s job training system. A single online portal will be created that makes it easy for businesses to access workforce training resources offered by different agencies. Similarly, Ohio’s 20 regional job training systems will be branded in a unified manner to eliminate confusion for businesses working across the state.
• Set High Standards and Expect Results: All state and local workforce programs and centers will be held to high standards. Failing programs will be replaced with effective solutions.
• Push Washington for Reform: As governor, John Kasich will seek meaningful changes to rigid federal laws that currently prevent states from using their federal funds to respond to their unique needs.