Jobs and Skills Publications

Created in 1996, Jobs With a Future (JWF) brings together leading stakeholders in South Central Wisconsin — including the City of Madison, Dane County, Madison Area Technical College (MATC), the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin (WDBSCW), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison — to build and pursue a strategic vision for workforce development in the region.

The Industry Partnerships Project, a project funded by a $1.14 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin, is examined in this article by COWS.

The Industry Partnerships Project has three main goals:

1- To provide training to incumbent workers that would enable them to take on new responsibilities and/or advance beyond entry-level positions in health care and manufacturing,

2- To improve employment opportunities for the growing number of dislocated workers in the region,

3- To build and strengthen relationships between employers and institutional partners.

COWS has five observations regarding the Industry Partnerships Projects with respect to the Wisconsin economy:

1- With the right infrastructure and relationships in place, a large and timely public investment in training can pay off in significant and lasting ways for workers, employers, and the public sector,

2- When an industry experiences a labor or skills shortage, as health care did during the course of this project, employers will actively participate in workforce training, especially training that involves intensive and technical skills. (However, the cost of technical training may be prohibitive for some firms, once public funding disappears),

3- Even when an industry is suffering substantial setbacks, as manufacturing was during the period of this project, employers will participate actively, especially in training that is geared toward leadership and communication skills development,

4- Dislocated workers benefit from training programs designed for incumbent workers by developing the skills local employers need. To better serve dislocated workers, however, training must be delivered differently than it is to those with jobs,

5- A limited-term, publicly funded investment in worker training can help build long-term relationships between employers and public partners.

COWS’ State of Working Wisconsin Update, is a bi-annual report providing a thorough review of jobs, wages, poverty, income, and job quality in the state.

A Working Paper and project, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Studies.
The Industry Studies program, launched in 1990 and completed in 2010, aimed to promote high quality scholarship about particular industries through encouraging close interaction between academics and industry practitioners.

The State of Working Wisconsin offers an analysis of unemployment and underemployment in the state.
Documents below offer Full Report and Executive Summary.

Wisconsin’s Job Centers were created in the 1980’s to serve as facilities where job seekers and employers can “one-stop shop” for a range of employment-related services. Budget cuts have strained these facilities’ abilities to provide resources to the workers and employers of the state. This report looks at the impact shrinking budgets have on the job centers and consequently on Wisconsin’s workforce development.

Wisconsin has been home to a series of interrelated partnerships between labor and employers that have built institutions to support high-road business practice around quality, worker training, innovation, and cooperation. COWS has been pivotal in these experiments.

Chapter 8 in editors Julius G. Getman and Ray Marshall’s The Future of Labor Unions: Organized Labor in the 21st Century.
Why progressives in America, especially included in the labor force, are politically week during the George W. Bush. era. The US labor force carries much weight and can inevitably propel the move from the “low road” to the “high road” of economic prosperity.

Wisconsin has been home to a series of interrelated partnerships between labor and employers that have built institutions to support high-road business practice around quality, worker training, innovation, and cooperation. COWS has been pivotal in these experiments.