Targeting Higher-Wage Employment: Sectoral Employment Intervention

• What it is and why it works
• Approaches
• State and federal legislation
• Resources pertaining to this strategy

What it is and why it works

A targeting high-wage job strategy, Sectoral Employment Intervention identifies well-paying jobs in growth sectors that lack trained workers, determines the wage needed by a worker to sustain her/his family (using the Self-Sufficiency Standard) and analyzes the job training and support services infrastructure necessary to move these individuals into these jobs.

Key components include engaging industry representatives, targeting training for specific jobs, and developing sensible outcome standards. Because this approach looks at labor market issues from both supply and demand perspectives, it helps communities strengthen their local economies while reinvesting in families and neighborhoods.

• Targeted training is necessary to help low-income clients access high-demand, high-wage jobs.
• Workforce development boards should establish and fund occupational information systems based on local- and regional-labor-market-specific data from which to select high-wage, high-demand jobs.
• By responding to business' specific labor needs, a high-wage job targeting strategy will improve a region's ability to attract and keep industries and to support a more thriving business climate.

Approaches

Several of the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Project partners are currently engaged in sectoral strategies.

• In Delaware County, PA, the Pennsylvania Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Project (PAFESS) project is working with the National Economic Development and Law Center, Delaware County Legal Assistance and the Delaware County Office of Workforce Development (formerly Office of Employment and Training), to target job training dollars toward occupations that will meet employers' needs for workers and workers' need for jobs with career ladders and the potential to pay self-sufficiency wages. Contact Carol Goertzel, Women's Association for Women's Alternatives, (610) 543-5022 or cgoertzel@womensassoc.org; or Tse Ming Tam, National Economic Development & Law Center, (510) 251-2600 or tseming@nedlc.org

• The Massachusetts Project for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency is building support and resources for a pilot project to promote quality improvements to workforce development programs using the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Workforce Investment Act Program Improvement Project will:
  1. help Massachusetts residents who are working but not yet earning enough to support their families pursue employment, education and training to move up career ladders, and
  2. assist Massachusetts firms who are experiencing shortages of workers through promoting incumbent worker education, development of career ladders, and targeted skills training. Contact Elizabeth Zarrella, Women's Educational and Industrial Union, (617) 536-5651, ext. 143 or ezarrella@weiu.org.

• The National Economic Development & Law Center and WOW hosted a Sector Training Institute to prepare a cadre of workforce development practitioners and intermediaries from around the country to facilitate sectoral employment projects. This team of certified trainers is now available to help groups of community-based organizations, employment and job training agencies and others understand the concepts and process involved in a sector project—from the research phase through program planning and implementation.

  In addition, NED&LC has started The National Network of Sector Practitioners (NNSP) to expand the use and effectiveness of sectoral interventions to improve employment and economic development opportunities for low income individuals, families and communities. The NNSP has three goals:

  1. to extend knowledge nationally about sectoral interventions;
  2. to increase the commitment of both public and private resources to sectoral interventions; and
  3. to increase the number and skill base of practitioners using sectoral interventions in their employment and economic development work.

  The National Network of Sector Practitioners (NNSP) is staffed by the National Economic Development & Law Center. It is guided by a diverse national organizing committee of practitioners working in the field, national organization and foundation leaders supporting sector strategies. Co-Chairs of the NNSP Organizing Committee are Denise Fairchild of the Community Development Technologies Center in Los Angeles, California and Don Harker of Mountain Association for Community Economic Development in Berea, Kentucky. NED&LC leaders James Head and Tse Ming Tam are key staff leaders of the effort. Contact Tse Ming Tam, National Economic Development & Law Center, (510) 251-2600 or tseming@nedlc.org.