The Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center recently published its first report, which identifies barriers to employment and recommendations to the Wolf Administration, the General Assembly, and the private sector for supporting workforce development.
Gov. Tom Wolf created the public-private partnership last February.
“I challenged the Command Center to find innovative solutions so workers can get the skills to compete for good jobs and industry has the workforce to succeed in the global economy,” Wolf said. “The Command Center has outlined a series of recommendations. I commend them for their efforts and pledge to continue working with the legislature and the private sector to put these recommendations into action.”
In its first report, the Command Center identified five barriers keeping people from working and employers from hiring workers: access to affordable childcare, job training or transportation, occupational licensing requirements, and challenges for those re-entering the workforce from the criminal justice system.
The Command Center provided 42 recommendations for the Wolf Administration, the General Assembly, and the private sector to address employment barriers. The report recommends, for example, that the Wolf Administration uses federal workforce development funds to address transportation, child care, and other barriers to employment. It recommended that the General Assembly evaluate the public and private funding model for child care to increase access. It also recommended that the private sector expand cost-sharing programs between employers and employees to expand access to transportation, child care, and job training.
“Pennsylvania’s workforce continues to be a major concern for the business community – in fact, for the second year in a row, employers ranked it as their top of mind issue in the PA Chamber’s Annual Economic Survey,” said Gene Barr, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and member of the Command Center’s leadership team. “It’s a problem that stretches across all industry sectors in every region of the state. We’re pleased to continue our work with the Governor’s Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center and legislative leadership to raise awareness of the concerns and needs of the business community in the state’s evolving jobs market and identify innovative solutions to addressing the jobs skills gap and removing barriers to work.”
Wolf’s budget includes $14 million to support the Command Center’s recommendations.