Narrative: III. a. 2. D.

Priority 2: Industry

Industry input to the plan has been clear: workforce is critical, and it continues to be challenging to hire and retain skilled employees. Industry has demonstrated the urgency by developing training and upskilling programs in-house to supplement the work of the workforce system.  Industry would prefer to use the workforce system where possible, but the urgency often requires industry move faster than the traditional speed of the system.  A strong and stable workforce is critical to Washington’s economic health and future success. Workers must be able to access high-wage, quality jobs to support families and communities. Employers need skilled workers to stay competitive, expand and grow in a global economy.

For many years, Washington employers have consistently listed workforce challenges as one of their top concerns. Workforce challenges are often listed as the No. 2 concern in surveys from the Association of Washington Business, topped only by issues like inflation, Covid-19, or supply chains. This concern is noted across the state, in urban and rural communities. Recent surveys and outreach associated with the TAP Plan development confirm this finding. For many employers, they report that it’s difficult to hire – and retain – the workers needed to help industry expand and grow.

Over the next four years, the impacts of our work will focus in the following three areas:

• Support sustainable, equitable industry growth. 
• Build and expand career pathways for critical industries. 
• Expand definition of workforce development system support.

The state’s ongoing work to double the number of women and minority-owned manufacturing firms over the next decade is an outstanding example of equitable industry growth. This targeted effort to support small businesses – and more living wage jobs in marginalized communities – can be replicated with other industries, including clean energy, construction and more.

Washington would also benefit from additional career pathways in critical industries such as long-term care, information technology, aerospace and others. Many employers report a mismatch between the jobs they need to fill, and the skills of those who apply. This issue is compounded by an overall workforce shortage nationwide. And some employers have begun their own internal training programs.

Workers and employers also face new challenges in recent years that have sparked discussion about the definition of workforce support. Many workers face logistical challenges around affordable housing, child care, long-term care and transportation that keep them out of the workforce. A recent report from the Washington Child Care Collaborative Task Force estimates the state economy loses $6.5 billion a year due to employee turnover, missed work, and lost productivity and opportunity.

Washington’s overall economy is relatively healthy, but this success depends on a strong workforce. Focusing on these strategies over the next four years will support a robust foundation for all communities to thrive.

Career Connected Washington Example

An example of addressing these challenges include Career Connect Washington (CCW)  Sector Leaders engage employers and provide strategic guidance to career connected learning efforts in 10 high demand industries in Washington, ensuring industry voice guides workforce investments and that employers play the lead role in developing talent training solutions. For additional information on CCW, please see Appendix A for more details in IV. Coordination with State Plan Programs.

Economic Overview  

Washington’s economy has been ranked as the best or among the best in the nation in recent years by U.S. News and World Report and CNBC. The state ranked No. 10 in the nation for employment growth in 2022, adding 145,800 jobs over a year. Washington ranked No. 7 in the nation for per capita personal income in 2021 at $71,889. And exports per capita ranked fifth in the nation, reflecting the Evergreen State’s long history as an international trading partner.

This success was built on a strong foundation over many years, especially in areas of natural resources, agriculture and manufacturing,

The forest products industry is the state’s third largest manufacturing industry, the state Department of Commerce reports. This sector supports 42,000 workers and generates $36 billion a year in business income. Notably, 25 percent of the nation’s log and lumber exports come from Washington, which is the second largest producer of lumber in the United States. The forestry and wood products sector supports 1,700 businesses and more than 102,000 workers, generating nearly $6 billion in wages annually. This industry also provides mitigation and adaption to climate change, including:  

• Carbon sequestration
• Renewable energy
• Alternative to energy-intensive building materials
• Preventing deforestation
• Contributing to a circular economy / industrial symbiosis
• Further developing the cross-laminated timber industry

Agriculture also plays a pivotal role in the state economy. More than 300 crops are grown in Washington, home to a diverse range of crops and livestock, from tulips, berries and dairy herds in Western Washington to beef cattle, apples, wheat and hops in Eastern Washington.

More than one-third of Washington crops are exported all over the world, the Commerce Department reports. And food manufacturing, including potato and onion processing in Central Washington, is a $12 billion industry. Agriculture employs more than 144,000 Washingtonians with average wages of $55,000 per year. The agriculture and food processing industries generated $8.8 billion in earnings and $17 billion to the state’s Gross Regional Product in 2022.

Manufacturing also plays a key role in the state and regional economy. The Boeing Co. hired 10,000 workers nationally in 2023, including many in Washington, as the company increases jetliner production. More than 60,000 Washingtonians worked at Boeing at the end of 2022. Boeing also supports many suppliers and contractors throughout the state and region. Many of these are small, family-owned firms that create jobs, generate tax revenue and generally support the communities where they are based. There were nearly 266,000 manufacturing workers in Washington in 2022, the state Employment Security Department reports. The average annual salary was $88,402.

The information technology sector has also made extraordinary contributions to the state. Washington’s technology industry ranked No. 1 in the nation for both median wages and share of total employment in 2021, according to the CompTIA: Cyberstates 2021 report.

Many other Washington-based companies have made impacts on the national and world economy, including Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco and others. These high-profile firms, in addition to a strong base of small businesses in each of the state’s 39 counties, have contributed greatly to the state’s overall positive trajectory in recent years.

Exports are also a critical component to the state, and nation’s, economic strength. Washington ranked No. 8 in total value of exports among the states in 2022, totaling more than $61 billion. Transportation equipment came in first at $17.7 billion, followed by agricultural products at $17.5 billion.

Additionally, Washington’s state budget has benefitted greatly from this economic expansion. The state operating budget went from about $35 billion in 2013 to $76 billion in 2023. A strong economy creates more opportunities for a well-balanced workforce system.

Washington clearly has outstanding opportunities for workers, employers and investors. However, ongoing workforce shortages and turnover in a variety of industries pose significant challenges for continuing this progress.

Challenges

Several converging challenges have emerged in recent years to pose major barriers for a well-balanced workforce for Washington.

First, there appear to be missed opportunities between the publicly funded workforce system and employers. A significant portion of Washington employers remain disengaged with the workforce system. This system offers many services to help employers succeed. Examples include job fairs that match job seekers and employers; job marketing and recruitment services; access to labor market data and forecasts; tax incentives; worker training; programs that help avoid layoffs and help companies remain competitive; research so employers can offer competitive wages; help writing job postings; and information about apprenticeships and internships.

Second, it is clear that many Washingtonians are left out of the economy, encountering structural hurdles along traditional pathways to career success.  The resulting economic disparities across population groups are fully depicted in the Workforce Demographics section of the plan. The state’s workforce development system is well-suited to helping employers access these untapped labor pools. This includes robust and multi-faceted tuition support system, deemed the most generous in the U.S., customized training options, and a network of service providers that offer needed wrap-around supports.

Additionally, employers and job seekers are faced with these basic questions as Washington’s economy expands: Where will the workforce live? Who will take care of young children, the elderly and those that need extra care? And crucially, how will people get to work? The state’s workforce development system is most often viewed as a skill-development and labor matching system. Over the years, the system has had to broaden its scope, usually through organizational partnerships, to offer a wide variety of needed wrap-around support services. A holistic view is clearly needed to achieve long-term, equitable and inclusive economic success for Washington’s people, businesses, and communities. The workforce development system must be brought into partnership with the state’s other agencies that are struggling to address business and community needs.

Artificial intelligence may also disrupt the labor market in the coming years. Washington would be best served by a strategic approach to this challenge, as discussed earlier in this document.

Additionally, Early retirements, an aging workforce, low migration, new business starts and a lack of childcare also impact the nation’s workforce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports. Washington had 77 available workers for every 100 open jobs in Sept. 2023, the chamber reports. The state’s labor force participation rate was 64.6% and the unemployment rate was 3.6%. Even if all unemployed Washingtonians filled open jobs, a significant labor shortage would still exist.

There are several factors keeping workers on the sidelines:

Child care has emerged as a major challenge for Washington workers and employers. Child care shortages cost Washington’s economy $6.5 billion annually due to employee turnover, absences, lost productivity and missed opportunities for business and consumer spending according to the Washington Child Care Collaborative Task Force. Washington has 5 percent fewer childcare slots today than in 2014 even as Washington’s overall population and economic growth have expanded significantly over the past nine years. The industry faces a 43% annual turnover rate. These factors helped Washington’s childcare costs increase by 220% since 1990, outpacing inflation, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The average yearly cost of sending a toddler to daycare in Washington is more than $14,000, Axios reported in July 2023 -- more than a year’s tuition at the University of Washington. Those costs can approach $30,000 per year in Seattle.

Long-term care also poses challenges for working families. Washington’s age 65 and older population will grow 30% by 2030, compared to just 5% for the state overall. And more than half of these seniors will need paid long-term care for an average of 3.2 years, a recent Workforce Board report shows. These services will cost from $1,700-$9,000 a month. Like child care, long-term care responsibilities drive many working people to drop out of the labor force and transition to caring for family members. The long-term care workforce also faces its own challenges. Turnover averages 50% a year for direct care workers, and nearly half of home care workers received public assistance in 2020.

Despite the challenges, Long-Term Care (LTC) offers a chance to make a real difference in the lives of Washington's growing senior population. With the need for LTC workers projected to rise significantly according to the Workforce Training Board's 2023 Direct Care Workforce report these in-demand jobs provide a stable career path.  The Washington State Multi-Sector Plan on Aging, due in 2025, is expected to further solidify LTC's role in the state's future.  LTC employees across Washington can find opportunities with benefits like union representation, healthcare coverage, retirement plans, and paid training programs that allow you to earn while you learn.  These positions require dedication and compassion, but also offer the chance to develop valuable medical skills and gain relevant credentials.

Employers, workers and policymakers have also highlighted housing as a workforce challenge. Washington housing prices have appreciated 6.3% per year on average over the past 25 years, the second highest in the country, according to federal data cited in the 2023 AWB Competitiveness Redbook. The statewide median home price was $654,900 in the second quarter of 2023, according to the University of Washington’s Center for Real Estate Research. In King County, home prices averaged $913,200.

Washington’s Housing Affordability Index (available online) was recorded at 57.2 in the second quarter of 2023, which means housing affordability continues to decline. The index, tracked by the Center for Real Estate Research, measures the ability of a middle-income family to make mortgage payments on a median priced home. A score of 100 means a household pays 25% of its income to principal and interest. A state and national housing shortage also impacts renters. An estimated 23.5% of renters spent 50% or more of their income on housing in 2022, Census data shows.

An aging transportation infrastructure and transportation policy decisions have contributed to challenges for the workforce. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area had the 9^th worst average commute times in the country at 29.2 minutes, according to Census data highlighted in the 2023 Redbook report. State and local policymakers have invested heavily in road maintenance, planning and public transportation in recent years. But for 80% of commuters in the Seattle metro area, a single occupancy vehicle – often on Interstate 5 – is how they get to work. Washington workforce development leaders have highlighted other transportation challenges. Some employment experts have noticed a lack of viable public transit options between high poverty, high unemployment areas and manufacturing centers. Others noted public transportation routes that prioritized retail centers and urban cores over routes between residential areas and employers, including manufacturers that provide quality jobs. These experts stressed the need for local transportation authorities, including county governments, to adjust transportation routes to be more inclusive of working people who need to travel to employment centers for a variety of shifts. Others noted a lack of public transit options in many parts of Eastern Washington.

Opportunities

There are numerous opportunities to address these challenges, which impact millions of Washingtonians.

President Biden and the Congress have passed historic legislation to rebuild our country’s aging infrastructure and invest in the future. The American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act represent an extraordinary opportunity for Washington state, and our nation.

Our infrastructure needs are well-documented in Washington. In 2017 the Association of Washington Business, Washington State Association of Counties, Association of Washington Cities and Washington Public Ports Association commissioned a report on the state’s infrastructure. Key findings include:

• Infrastructure is the foundation of a strong, competitive economy and thriving communities.
• Washington’s diverse economy makes it uniquely situated to leverage federal investments.
• Washington’s trade driven economy contributes more than $300 billion a year to the U.S. economy.
• The state’s total infrastructure needs were estimated at more than $222 billion. This investment would create more than 700,000 jobs.

Recent federal investments are already making an impact. Washington will receive more than $8.2 billion for transportation, clean energy, climate change, clean water, broadband, energy and healthcare projects, the White House reports. Additionally, private companies have announced investments of $2 billion for semiconductor, electric vehicle, manufacturing and clean power projects.

Many of these projects will create high-paying union jobs. Many other jobs will be created across the workforce as a result of these major investments.

Focusing Washington’s workforce development system on these once-in-a-generation opportunities stands out as one of the top priorities for the 2024-28 TAP plan. We recommend strong partnerships focused on better alignment between the state workforce system and the state and federal agencies associated with these projects, including agencies focused on transportation, commerce, labor, education and more.

Notably, several recent Washington success stories offer insights and best practices as we move forward.

Career Connect Washington helps students and younger workers access classroom learning and on-the-job training to successfully launch new careers. This program has reached more than 16,000 young people since 2019.

Registered apprenticeships continue to serve as an outstanding example of good workforce investments. Research shows 21,506 participants in 2021-22. The employment rate for those that completed the program was 92%, with median annual earnings of $104.600. Notably, the 10-year economic impact was projected at $4.9 billion, for a taxpayer return on investment of $7.80 to $1.

The Workforce Board continues to research challenges and opportunities in the state’s healthcare and long-term care workforce, and make policy recommendations to take action to support this critical sector of our economy.

Finally, Washington continues to offer outstanding postsecondary education and training options, including 34 community and technical colleges, for example. Washington also offers generous financial aid and other supports for students to access their education.

Additionally, Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington Legislature have also made significant investments in transportation, housing reform, child care and long-term care needs in recent years. These investments represent tremendous progress, but challenges remain.

Recommendations for Action:

Increase the number of industry-recognized credential programs with stackable credentials.  Programs that allow people to earn while they learn have shown great potential to create more skilled employees, and have those employees achieve quality jobs. These programs can also reach people experiencing barriers to receiving the training by collaborating with local CTE educators and utilizing existing local resources such as local schools, libraries, and businesses. This aligns closely with the credential strategic priority detailed later in the document.

Encourage the development of more housing options, as well as programs that help people access stable housing. This includes additional investments in the Washington State Housing Trust Fund; homelessness prevention; foreclosure fairness and mobile and manufactured home relocation assistance. Other strategies worth exploring include more support for missing middle housing; backyard cottages; splitting home lots to make way for new housing; more dense housing around public transit; single room occupancy apartments; rent stabilization and parking requirements for new apartments.

Explore the nation’s first-ever long-term care payroll tax, and how this program can be improved. Consider additional subsidies and grants for child care providers; subsidies for working families; and accelerated training and education programs for workers seeking to enter this field.

Create additional apprenticeships and training programs designed to address key industry shortages. An example to follow is the establishment of a new licensed practical nurse apprenticeship by the Workforce Board that will ease the workforce shortage by increasing the supply of critical healthcare workers, and also create new career opportunities for frontline workers in this industry.

Invest in transportation infrastructure. In Washington’s trade-driven economy, trucks need efficient access to ports; workers need access to jobsites and students need access to campus to improve their education and training. Increased road maintenance, alternative routes, public transit including buses, light rails and ferries, as well as incentives to walk and bike to work remain worthwhile investments of tax dollars. The addition of a few bus lines between high-unemployment areas and manufacturing firms would have a tremendous impact on both jobseekers and industry. The state should continue to work with local transportation providers to support new options for working families and bring in local workforce development boards to support their analysis and solution-finding.

Consider supporting employers as their new hires transition from public assistance. These job seekers often face child care and transportation challenges, especially when beginning a new job. Notably, several employers have been highlighted in state and national media for creating their own internal programs to address these issues, including onsite health centers; onsite childcare facilities; childcare benefits to pay providers directly; internal training and apprenticeship programs; and more.

Build better relationships and communication channels between state government and private industry. For example, there may be a benefit to a single point of contact to act as a liaison between state agencies and employers. Small businesses are often communicating with several different state employees at the same time. One employer ambassador to help guide the business owner through various government incentives and regulations could help employers succeed and meet expectations.

Encourage Local Workforce Development Boards and employers to continue strong partnerships. In addition, consider expanding LWDBs and the state Workforce Board by adding more labor and business representatives.

Invest in the relationship between state government and the private sector. Solutions include more liaisons to manage relationships between employers and state agencies; liaisons that represent various programs, including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and other major funding streams; and better paid liaisons, similar to neighboring states. Business liaisons have more flexibility to connect job seekers with quality, living-wage jobs rather than low-paid work with limited career advancement.

Employers have also suggested better connections between industry and Washington’s schools and colleges. Business and industry liaisons at the high school level were previously funded. Restarting this program is worthy of exploration.

The next four years represent an opportunity to recreate the relationship between state government and Washington’s private sector employers. Washington’s economy is expanding, but a number of challenges may limit these opportunities for workers and employers. These challenges are significant enough to warrant new strategies, and a new approach to workforce development.

Timelines and Milestones

Year 1: Organize stakeholders to focus on industry challenges

• Establish an industry advisory committee to inform and help evaluate the direction of TAP implementation.
• Prioritize overall effort on new opportunities from federal infrastructure investments, and strengthen and create partnerships among the workforce system and state and federal agencies associated with new grant funding. The workforce needs are challenging now; new projects will amplify this concern.
• Define roles and scope, recruit members from industry, labor, state agencies, local workforce boards and small businesses. Prioritize challenges and opportunities for workers and employers.

Year 2: Launch pilot projects and advocate for policy changes

• Support business navigators to help more employers access workforce system. Business navigators are funded at the local level for two years. This presents a tremendous opportunity to learn about future employer outreach. Aim to increase employer participation in the workforce system by 25 percent.
• Launch business liaisons to serve as a single point of contact between state agencies and employers. Aim to connect twelve newly created business liaisons – one for each Washington region -- with 100 businesses each over the course of a year.
• Invite existing or create new employer groups as advisors to state and local workforce boards.
• Invest in additional marketing and outreach to advertise business services to employers in select markets.
• Support local governments to add new public transit routes along major employment corridors.
• Evaluate the success of employer sponsored child care.
• Advocate for additional affordable housing near employment centers.
• Advocate for additional long-term care support for Washington workers.

Year 3: Evaluate pilot project results.

• Evaluate success of business navigators and liaisons.
• Analyze marketing campaigns focused on services for employers.
• Analyze and make policy recommendations based on successful child care programs supported by employers.

Year 4: Expand successful initiatives and plan for next four-year plan.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

TITLE I: ADULT, DISLOCATED WORKER, AND YOUTH SERVICES

• The Title I program will continue to use funds to expand both engagement and participation of employers in the State’s workforce investment system through, but not limited to, the following business services:
• Develop, convene, or implement industry or sector partnerships
• Customized screening and referral of qualified participants in training services to employers
• Customized services to employers, employer associations, or other such organizations, on employment-related issues
• Customized recruitment/hiring events, job fairs, workshops and related services for employers (e.g., targeted hiring, new business openings, seasonal hiring, and safety training)
• Marketing on-line with the support of ESD’s Communications Office for occasions such as holiday hiring or major veterans hiring events
• Human resource consultation services (e.g., writing/reviewing job descriptions and employee handbooks; developing performance evaluation and personnel policies; creating orientation sessions for new workers; honing job interview techniques for efficiency and compliance; analyzing employee turnover; or explaining labor laws to help employers comply with wage/hour and safety/health regulations)
• Customized labor market information for specific employers, sectors, industries or clusters
• Increased coordination with WSATC, L&I, labor and business to support and develop pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship opportunities and providing customized assistance or referral for assistance in the development of registered apprenticeships
• Job order listings and applicant referrals through WorkSourceWA.com, the Monster-based state job matching system to provide a deeper pool of talent for employers to recruit
• Employer Needs Assessment
• Unemployment Insurance Access
• Access to Facilities
• Translation Services
• Developing and delivering innovative workforce investment services and strategies for area employers, e.g., career pathways, skills upgrading, skill standard development and certification for recognized postsecondary credentials or other employer use, apprenticeship, and other effective initiatives for meeting the workforce investment needs of area employers and workers
• Assistance in managing reductions in force in coordination with rapid response activities and with strategies for the aversion of layoffs, and the delivery of employment and training activities to address risk factors
• Assisting employers with accessing local, state, and federal tax credits, including Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) certification
• Local Veterans Employment Representatives outreach to businesses to connect or refer veterans to employers interested in attracting qualified veterans
• Recruiting and initial screening for participation in WIOA special projects to train for demand occupations, OJTs or customized training
• Increasing rapid response and pursuing National Dislocated Worker Grant funding to serve dislocated workers

First and foremost, Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDBs) are, by law, business led, which by definition provides an effective and enduring focus on the needs of local businesses.

WorkSource partnerships of program providers have become a network of support for business customers in league with our critical secondary and higher education partners. Our operations are retraining seasoned workers and preparing the next generation of skilled workers. We are succeeding in large part because of business, labor and government participation toward full employment for the state’s diverse communities. Connecting business and industry representatives so that they have a voice in directing WorkSource resources at the local board level contributes to a prepared, skilled workforce for employers and has the ultimate goal of creating jobs and careers for workers and a stronger economy.

Local boards, while adapted to varying local economic structures and conditions, commonly assign staff to conduct outreach to businesses. Their focus is to represent the local workforce development system and its resources before employers and to inquire about and respond to immediate employment needs that the WorkSource system might be able to fill. Local boards and business outreach staff in one-stop centers strive to build relationships with businesses, and groups of businesses within industry sectors, to assess skill requirements and find ways to quickly respond to labor shortages. WorkSource partners are cognizant of the need to coordinate business outreach within the system at the staff level.  At the local board level, the effort continues to coordinate education, economic development, community organizations and agencies to meet workforce needs. ESD state administrative staff provides tools, information, and resources to assist state workforce agency area directors, workforce development councils, and business services specialists to conduct effective labor exchange and affect workforce development.

Linked through the state’s WorkSource comprehensive web site are a vast array of local, state and federal workforce development and related resources for businesses and current and future jobseekers. Labor market information (LMI) is a particularly rich resource for employers needing workforce information and analysis. The Labor Market and Performance Analysis (LMPA) division of ESD conducts ongoing research and posts regular reports on employment showing which industries and occupations are high-growth and high-demand. Hiring trends, job vacancy rates, career opportunities within the occupations, and other demographic information are readily accessible and used widely.

Washington is committed to helping employers have easy access to workforce information and resources. Businesses, as well as current and future jobseekers, have access to the 24/7 self-service WorkSourceWA.com website. The Monster-powered website is a comprehensive, on-line job exchange system that guides employers through the process of posting current job openings, reviewing resumes, and contacting qualified jobseeker applicants and scheduling hiring events. ESD is currently in the progress of updating the Efforts to Outcomes (ETO) case management system with an update to the Labor Exchange to follow.

TITLE II: ADULT EDUCATION AND LITERACY (BASIC EDUCATION FOR ADULTS)

In collaboration with the community and technical college workforce programs, Basic Education for Adults works with their advisory boards in the development of I-BEST pathways and programming. Employers provide guidance on program development, implementation, and assessment. In addition, all colleges are required to work with employers on the development of all professional technical I-BEST pathways in order to have them approved by SBCTC for implementation.

Washington State’s Centers of Excellence link business, industry, labor and the state’s educational systems to create a highly skilled and readily available workforce critical to the state’s economic success. Each center is funded through the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and is housed at a community or technical college.

Centers of Excellence serve as statewide resources representing the needs and interests of a specific industry sector. Through an ongoing investment, Centers are charged with narrowing the gap between employer workforce needs and the colleges’ supply of work-ready graduates. They are a critical component of the state’s strategy of sustaining an innovative and vibrant economy. While Centers of Excellence are hosted at individual college campuses, they serve the sector needs of the entire state. 

SBCTC’s twelve Centers of Excellence are flagship institutions that build and sustain Washington’s competitive advantage through statewide leadership. Each Center focuses on a targeted industry that drives the state’s economy and is built upon a reputation for fast, flexible, quality education and training programs. A targeted industry is identified as one that is strategic to the economic growth of a region or state and all community and technical college programming has access to the research and business and employer information, data, and connections.

Centers are guided by industry representatives to lead collaborative and coordinated statewide education and training efforts to build a competitive workforce in a global economy.

Key roles of the Centers include:

• Maintain an institutional reputation for innovation and responsive education and training delivery to their targeted industry.
• Act as a broker of information and resources related to their targeted industry for industry representatives, community-based organizations, economic development organizations, community and technical colleges, secondary education institutions, and four-year colleges and universities.
• Translate industry research into best practices.
• Provide system coordination, coaching, and mentoring to assist in building seamless educational and work-related systems.
• Build a competitive workforce for driver industries in Washington State

Basic Education for Adults and the Washington State Center of Excellence for Careers in Education have collaborated over the past five years to provide professional development and training for basic skills, On-Ramp to I-BEST, and I-BEST teaching teams in order to support integrated, co-enrolled workforce and basic skills training programs that accelerate transition to post-secondary certificates and degrees and employment in high demand jobs. 

Coordination, alignment, and provision of services to employers are further aligned through I-BEST at Work Programming, I-BEST at Work, is based upon a partnership between a community college or community-based organization and an employer, in which the college or organization provides a basic skills instructor who team-teaches with a representative from the employer. It is part of the comprehensive I-BEST Pathway, designed to accelerate basic skills within the contest of work for incumbent workers.

TITLE III: WAGNER-PEYSER ACT

Title 1-B programs staff annually serve more than 20,000 businesses with over 1.5 million jobs listed on WorkSourceWA.com in March 2024. Thousands more have been served through ES business service desks helping to screen applicants and arrange hiring events to fill job openings. Yet the estimate is that only 8 percent of Washington businesses connect with WorkSource services. Washington State will establish a baseline and increase the number of businesses utilizing the workforce system. 

Services to agricultural employers are primarily organized in season by, or in coordination with, ES Migrant Seasonal Farm Worker (MSFW) staff. Coordination with section 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program staff is discussed in the Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP) included in this combined plan.

Coordinated Business Services is well-established WorkSource system policy inclusive of Wagner-Peyser (including ES-operated affiliated programs) and Title 1-B core programs (Policy 1014 rev. 1). The purpose is to ensure Washington’s WorkSource System provides business services that connect employers to WorkSource resources with the goal of strengthening and growing businesses, creating jobs and meeting the hiring needs of employers. LWDBs in Washington are responsible under this policy for the development and oversight of a locally-coordinated, focused and cost-effective business services strategy that aligns with state strategies. Underlying the need for coordination is simply the expectation businesses have that representatives who approach them under the WorkSource brand should be on the same page. Of course, because the WorkSource system is vast and control decentralized, this expectation is quite difficult to achieve with first impressions.

Given different programs operated by MOU partners, different management, and different grants and contracts to conduct various business service activities, coordination is easier required than accomplished. Increasingly businesses are also recruited to participate in employer/industry sector panels, career fairs or hiring events sponsored externally by agencies, colleges and universities, CBOs, private enterprises and industry associations that intersect with WorkSource business services. In most areas, however, WorkSource business services staffed by ES are being carried out with improved communication between partners, co-branded marketing and shared program staff. In the coming years, providing additional relevant and high quality business services may be easier to achieve than establishing statewide functional supervision of business outreach staff from multiple programs and entities. Coordination will continue with the Wagner-Peyser labor exchange helping to anchor job-driven business services efforts.

State strategies under WIOA potentially enlarge the system of service providers to employers and departs further from the more limited, traditional Wagner-Peyser job order and hiring fair approaches. Innovative linkages by local boards in some workforce development areas such as facilitating employer panels that bring together industry sector employers and current and future jobseekers to discuss particular employer needs and hiring practices are very successful at generating interest in career pathways and employment outcomes and are anticipated to engage more local Wagner-Peyser and education partners. Wagner-Peyser will broaden approaches to identify and develop new pools of labor that may not be using the American job center network—older youth, new immigrants, incumbent workers, discouraged workers, dislocated homemakers etc. This strategy is particularly necessary in areas of low unemployment and tight labor markets where employers are struggling to find job ready workers. The department will be focusing on industry sector relationship strategies just as LWDBs have been establishing for a number of years. Together core programs will seek to lead and coordinate employment and training assets not only at the local level but across economic regions of the state where career opportunities are growing with the clustering of industry sectors.

TITLE IV: DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR THE BLIND

WIOA continues to be an opportunity to reinvent and re-energize business engagement. By serving jobseekers and businesses, the workforce development system can be a catalyst for creating a strong and vibrant future workforce.

LWDBs will often play a lead role in business engagement, due to size and structure, but the DSB also is active in business engagement.

Business engagement occurs through the DSB adult residential training center work experiences, and our Pre-Employment Transition Career Exploration/Experience services for youth with a disability. We will be pursuing a model called Progressive Employment to develop low-risk ways for employers and job seekers with a visual disability to interact, with the job seeker gaining awareness of the needs of the workplace and the employer gaining comfort and confidence in the abilities of individuals with a disability.

DSB provides technical assistance on disability- and accessibility-related issues for employers.

The DSB will continue to work collaboratively with various regional LWDBs such as the Workforce SW and implementing a number of reverse job fair events for employers and job seekers with disabilities.

The DSB implemented a new customer management system that allows for documenting employer engagement activities.

The DSB will work towards the State’s strategy of increased Industry Engagement by developing the agency’s array of services that businesses may require or desire of us, thereby facilitating the employment of qualified individuals who are blind, low vision or deaf blind. The agency will deepen collaboration with core and partner programs in order to better connect our blind participants’ strengths and aptitudes to the skills training and business connection pathways that work best for business needs.

A DSB-offered array of services for business includes many components. One component is to increase awareness among business of the agency’s range of services, in order to provide an easy pathway for business to retain a talented employee whose work performance may be impacted due to a change in vision. Another aspect is the ability to fulfill business recruitment needs through connecting the business with the talents of job-ready and skilled agency participants, and to offer the ability to create individualized and low-risk opportunities for the business so that a participant might best showcase their ability and potential value to the workplace. The DSB will provide guidance on issues of disability in the workplace, including education around the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act; information on how to benefit from federal and local incentives for hiring of individuals with disabilities, and offer supports to the business for successfully meeting required mandates for hiring of individuals with disabilities. The DSB will offer workplace accommodation recommendations and supports, and education and guidance on making the workplace a disability-friendly and inclusive environment. The DSB will connect business to disability-related resources, training and/or education available in the community at large. The DSB will engage business in identifying supply chain needs, and will assist in establishing entrepreneurs and small businesses that might best fulfill that supply chain need.

Due to the small size of the DSB customer base and agency staffing in comparison to other workforce partner programs, the agency and its eligible participants will benefit from the broader infrastructure that state plan partners develop and nurture towards increased business engagement. The DSB alone cannot fully provide the amount of skilled talent business requires, and the DSB as a separate entity cannot efficiently engage business statewide. The DSB will rely on active inclusion of its staff in the One-Stop Business Services Teams, and depend on the accessibility of workforce programs for agency participants, in order to meet the broader engagement of business in a manner that works best for business – through a seamless single point of contact. DSB counselors develop relationships with local business partners, and will guide those relationships (as applicable) into the greater workforce system in order to best fulfill the business needs.

TITLE IV: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES – DIVISION OF VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION

The vocational rehabilitation portion of the Combined State Plan describes in detail services to employers that the DSHS Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DSHS/DVR), as a core program, provides in conjunction with mandatory and optional one-stop partners. The activities conducted by DSHS/DVR focus on services to employers that assist in the recruitment, hiring, retention, and promotion of qualified individuals with disabilities, including employment and work-based learning opportunities for students and youth with disabilities.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Staff working with claimants and employers will have a basic understanding of UI eligibility requirements and will follow through to make sure only those meeting the qualifications the employer is looking for and is a good match will be referred. Follow up from the employers and claimants will be necessary to ensure those that are not following through as directed are referred to the claims center for adjudication of any issues that arise maintaining program integrity and a high-quality service to the employers. This can also include identifying employers in high wage high demand occupations and connecting them with claimants needing retraining with a cost break to employers willing to enter into these partnerships. Claimants receiving benefits will also be in a pool for random selection to review their job search activities involved in meeting the statutory requirements of RCW 50.20.240. Other programs/activities that could benefit employers and claimants alike:

• Shared Work: offers employers alternatives to laying off workers when facing a temporary decline in business allowing individuals to collect partial unemployment benefits to replace a portion of their lost wages.
• Senior Community Service Employment Programs: community service and work-based job training program for older individuals at least 55 years of age and a family income of no more than 125% of the poverty level.
• Work Opportunity Tax Credit:
  • Employers can reduce their federal business taxes by up to $2,400 for more eligible hires. Up to $9,000 over two years for each qualifying welfare recipient; $5,600 for most military veterans and up to $9,600 for hiring veterans who have a service-related disability.
  • Eligible workers, people who are on or who received public assistance within 18 months of being hired; needy or disabled veterans; felons hired within a year after leaving prison and those participating in work release; people in state or federal vocational rehabilitation programs that have an employment plan for employment within two years of being hired; adults under 40 who receive food assistance in the six months before being hired; anyone who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for any month in the 60 days before being hired.
• Bonding services: any person who has a barrier that could lead employers to question their reliability or honesty and deny them a job. This could be persons with a criminal background, WorkFirst participants, dishonorably discharged veterans, recovering substance abusers (alcohol & drugs), individuals with a poor credit history or economically disadvantaged persons who lack a work history. In general, anybody who needs bonding and can’t get bonded through a commercial bonding company would qualify for the fidelity bond as long as they are not self-employed.
• On the Job Training Programs (OJT) can help reduce employers cost with OJT that helps employers find qualified workers and pays part of their wages during the training period
• H2A (Foreign certification for agricultural jobs) and H2B (Foreign certification for non-agricultural jobs) programs help employers to actively recruit available US workers employed in similar jobs.
• Migrant Seasonal Farmworkers staff coordinate farmworkers between farms to meet growers needs:
• Employers are contacted about their needs and to recruit workers
• Workers are contacted where they gather or live to conduct outreach to recruit and refer qualified individuals
• Rapid response: The Rapid Response unit is responsible for contacting employers and worker representatives to offer transitional services to workers affected by mass layoffs or plant closures. When the unit receives notice, either through the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, public information or another source, it activates teams of staff to offer assistance with unemployment insurance information, Dislocated Worker Program services, job seeker services available at the local WorkSource and re-training services available through the community college system. Services can be offered on-site or at the local WorkSource office.
• Employers get confidential assistance with planning transition needs for their workers.
• Workers get customized services to meet their specific needs about being laid off including information about unemployment benefits.

JOBS FOR VETERANS STATE GRANTS

LVERs work directly with employers and business groups to meet specific employer needs. They assist employers in interpreting qualifications of veterans, TSMs, and eligible spouses, as they apply to the employer’s requirements. LVERs coordinate job development activities for veterans, TSMs and eligible spouses to meet business needs. They also conduct workshops and employer functions to assist employers in understanding the advantage of hiring veterans in their workforce. Lastly LVERs plan, coordinate and implement hiring events of all sizes, to assist employers in finding veterans, TSMs and eligible spouses to meet their needs.  

The YesVets Campaign is part of a state-wide initiative to increase employment for veterans by recognizing employers who actively hire veterans, and encouraging and enabling other employers to do the same. Registered employers will receive a YesVets window decal to proudly show their community that they hire veterans. Each year that they continue to employ or hire more veterans, the business will receive a new year decal to add to the collection. Created by HB 2040 during the 2015 Legislative Session, YesVets is a partnership between Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), Employment Security Department (ESD), Department of Commerce, the Military Transition Council, and local Chambers of Commerce across the state.

TRADE ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE

Often, Trade Act counselors work closely with employers who are certified for a Trade Act petition. This can include writing the petition request, holding employee orientations on-site and assisting the employer in determining how best to proceed with layoff process.

Trade Act offers on-the-job training programs where the employer, counselor and participant work closely together to create a training program that will meet both the employer’s and participant’s needs. This benefit offers participants the chance to obtain a job they might not have been eligible for. The employer has the opportunity to train the employee for a set period of time while receiving reimbursement for a portion of the participant’s wages.

COMMUNITY SERVICES BLOCK GRANT

CSBG activities support services to eligible individuals and households at or below or below 125% of FPL. These services are not directly applicable to employers.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT

The state Community Development Block Grant program administered by the state Department of Commerce awards funds to rural local governments for locally-prioritized activities. If a rural local government applies for and receives CDBG funding for a job creation activity, the business will be required to coordinate job recruitment and hiring with the regional WorkSource/one-stop center.

SENIOR COMMUNITY SERVICES EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM

Grantees or their representatives will meet and strategize with local workforce development and economic development councils, in coordination with local WorkSource Centers to participate in building a unified regional approach to developing and maintaining successful employer partnerships and ensure performance-based successful placements that meet community needs. In addition, grantees will also ensure support for the SCSEP follow-up and satisfaction survey process. Consistent and ongoing communication and follow-up with partners will provide sub-grantees with feedback and understanding on how to better serve both participants and community partners. Participation in a regional approach will provide increased opportunities for recognition and participation in future activities thereby establishing more long-term relationships.

TANF (WorkFirst)/SNAP E&T (BFET) Programs

DSHS will collaborate with workforce development partners to help ensure a coordinated, intentional effort to engage businesses and provide services is developed and executed. To best serve employers and current and future jobseekers, partner agencies must work to streamline communication and relationship building efforts with business and provide support, technical assistance, and a supply of job-ready and qualified workers without alienating employers through a haphazard or redundant approach which is often the result of each workforce development partner in a given region conducting individual as opposed to collaborative job development and relationship building. Employment placement services will require working with employers to determine which jobs are currently available, which jobs are projected to become available, and what the skill requirements are for available jobs. Engaging employers and sharing labor market trend data will better inform curriculum development, support work-integrated activities, enhance program offerings, and assist in evaluating the effectiveness of the program in meeting industry need. In addition, the workforce system must work to inform both industry and postsecondary education about labor market trends, wage expectations, incumbent worker training opportunities, and retention strategies. Staff must be able to engage business as equal partners in the service delivery process.

CARL D. PERKINS ACT SECONDARY AND POSTSECONDARY PROGRAMS

At the secondary level, Perkins V and further integration with Washington’s workforce system and vision for economic development will be fueled by the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Process. The purpose of the CLNA is to support data-driven decision-making and more closely align planning, spending and accountability activities under Perkins V. The results of the local needs assessment must form the foundation of the local application, and drive local spending decisions. Local workforce development councils have been added as a required consulting party for the development of local CLNAs, ensuring a connection between local applicants and their nearest workforce development council, which in turn can provide valuable economic information and business connection to inform CLNA development.

While schools and colleges have advisory committees for their CTE programs to help inform program development, labor market analysis has not commonly been employed in local funding decisions for Perkins expenditures. The Workforce Board is recognized for their expertise in providing labor data analysis and is making strides to package the data necessary to complete an effective CLNA in a user-friendly, dashboard format that will also be accessible to CTE professionals around Washington to deep-dive into the workforce composition in each county of the state. By providing this information in a user-friendly format, it ensures that all Perkins planners have equal access to the data.

In addition, Washington’s Community and Technical College system plays a critical role in the development of a well-educated citizenry essential to a growing knowledge based economy. Community and technical colleges are expanding capacity consistent with the state’s strategic industries to:

• Increase and retool workforce education programs, especially for anchor occupations, high demand occupations and strategic industries.
• Develop new mechanisms for business and industry partnerships and expand customized training.
• Use Centers of Excellence to strengthen programs, share best practices, and develop transitions and pathways for working people.
• Increase participation in and contribution to state and local economic development strategies, focused on providing skilled and knowledge workers for the economy.
• Leverage resources and coordinate initiatives with local and regional economic development efforts.
• Leverage resources and coordinate initiatives with state level economic development plans.
• Serve more adults by identifying and mitigating access barriers for adults, especially for underserved populations such as people of color, people with disabilities, children leaving foster care, low wage workers and other working adults.
• Offer educational and career building blocks with multiple entry, re-entry, and exit points.
• Ensure all courses lead to diplomas, certificates and degrees, and all associate degrees lead to bachelor’s degrees, including Tech Prep-like pathways that transition students into certificate programs and applied bachelor’s degrees.
• Expand integrated instruction models. Increase I‑BEST and develop more models for integrating basic and professional/technical skills. Expand models that integrate college level academic and professional/technical education.
• Provide a system for recognizing prior learning credit (e.g., for competencies, military training experiences, foreign degrees or certifications, and skills) gained from professional development and continuing education courses.
• Enhance student success through retention and transition strategies aimed at targeted groups of students, including working adults, low-income adults, first generation college students, people without high school diplomas, and adults with limited English fluency.
• Integrate instruction and student services efforts that increase flexibility for students to customize their education.