The Great Recession rapidly accelerated two long-term challenges facing American workers. The first challenge is that middle-class jobs are increasingly out of reach for workers who lack education and skills training beyond high school. The second challenge is that finding a job is no longer as easy as opening the classified ads or going to monster.com. Put together, these two challenges underscore why workers with low levels of human capital—such as education, skills, and peer and professional networks—are extremely disadvantaged in their efforts to achieve upward mobility in an increasingly knowledge-based economy.
In a new report, Louis Soares and Stephen Steigleder propose a plan to overhaul and reform the workforce training system. The plan drastically simplifies the workforce system in an effort to highlight its most important mission—human capital development.
Please join the Center for American Progress and leaders from the workforce development community to discuss the opportunities and challenges of reforming the U.S. workforce system.
Welcoming remarks:
Michael Ettlinger, Vice President for Economic Policy, Center for American Progress
Opening remarks:
Nick Pinchuk, Chief Executive Officer, Snap-On Incorporated
Featured presentation:
Stephen Steigleder, Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress
Featured panelists:
Anthony Carnevale, Director, Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce
Ray Uhalde, Vice President, Jobs for the Future
Evelyn Ganzglass, Director of Workforce Development, CLASP
Moderated by:
Stephen Steigleder, Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress