JobsFirstNYC is a co-chair of the Invest in Skills NY coalition alongside the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP). Leveraging Opportunity, Meeting Demand: A Blueprint for Building New York State’s Workforce Development System is the Invest In Skills NY’s first policy blueprint outlining strategies for New York State to build a modern workforce development system.

The challenges facing New York’s economy are clear. There is not enough skilled talent to meet the current and future needs of the labor market. By the same token, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers lack the skills necessary to secure family-sustaining employment. This disconnect reveals the need for a more coordinated strategy to connect untapped labor supply with labor demand. In response to this crisis, the Invest In Skills NY Coalition organized and worked with policymakers to secure several to several early wins in 2018, including a commitment by Governor Cuomo and the state legislature to:

• Invest $175 million of state resources in workforce development activities managed through a new Consolidated Funding Application (CFA).
• Establish a state-level Office of Workforce Development.
• Build a robust data system.
• Create a one-stop-shop online platform for job seekers and employers.

This brief provides state policymakers with a framework and strategy for taking advantage of this opportunity to build a responsive workforce development system in New York State. The key recommendations are:

Empower leadership. Set state goals. Develop a plan.

• Restructure and empower the State Workforce Development Board.
• Set statewide goals to connect labor supply with labor demand.
• Develop a statewide plan leveraging the 2019 WIOA re-write.

Build a career pathways system.

• Mandate government agencies to develop an integrated workforce development system.
• Create a mechanism to fund activities and programs across the continuum of workforce development.
• Foster continuous improvement and innovation.

Build a 21st century data infrastructure.

• Use labor market information.
• Measure performance outcomes.
• Evaluate programs.

Staffed by JobsFirstNYC and the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP), and working in partnership with more than 300 supporters (including employers, postsecondary institutions, and economic and workforce development leaders), Invest in Skills NY has worked with Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to make a skilled workforce a budget and policy priority.

For more information, visit: https://www.investinskillsny.org/