Director's Corner
We hope your 2014 is going well so far! This year will be an important year for the
Dislocated Worker program, and many other workforce development programs: we expect to see a rewritten Workforce One
case management system launch this coming summer! In this issue, you’ll see a note from Annie
Tietema encouraging you to check out its features. I’d like to add my own encouragement: by
accessing and exploring the “sandbox” NOW, you can save yourself a great deal
of learning curve time down the road.
State legislative session begins soon. Our unit has not put forward any major
changes to the program; we feel the statute that supports our work and that of
our partners is sound. We also recognize
the substantial changes we’ve all gone through over the past several years –
recovery from the Great Recession, use of federal stimulus dollars, higher
National Emergency Grant activity, the evolution of co-enrollment practices
with Trade Adjustment Assistance, and last year’s decision by the Job Skills
Partnership to widen the independent grantee field. We hope that for the next few months, the
Dislocated Worker program and partners can focus on continuing to do tremendous
work for Minnesota’s job seekers and employers; we all have goals to meet, and
a federal incentive grant at stake.
There will be some minor policy developments ahead. We are looking more closely at long-term
enrollment practices; we’re analyzing data timeliness trends; and we’re
continuing to discover better ways to track key metrics like the attainment of
a credential. As we make any policy in
those or any other matters, we will continue to consult with our partners and
colleagues. Our shared goal is the
development of the best possible career opportunities for our job seeking
customers, and we look forward to ongoing success with all of you!
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Corner On The Market:
National Job Outlook to 2022
With Rachel Vilsack
A New Year often means a new jobs outlook! The Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) released its employment projections to 2022 in December and
Minnesota’s Labor Market Information Office will follow suit this spring. For
now, here is an overview of the national outlook.
The BLS reports that total
employment in the U.S. is projected to increase 10.8 percent, or 15.6 million
new jobs, between 2012 and 2022. Two industry sectors will see annual job
growth of 2.6 percent: healthcare
and social assistance and construction. Not
surprisingly, of the 30 occupations
projected to have the largest growth rate, 14 are related to health
care and five are related to construction.
Some other fast growing jobs include:
More than half of the 30 fastest-growing occupations will
require some form of postsecondary education for entry. In fact, jobs requiring
postsecondary education will grow faster (14 percent) than jobs that typically
require a high school diploma or less (nine percent).
Of course, many more jobs will be available as people retire
or otherwise leave their profession. In total, it’s estimated that there will
be over 50 million job openings across the nation between 2012 and 2022.
For more on the 2022 national job outlook for individual
occupations, check out the BLS Occupational
Outlook Handbook, an online career information resource.
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Grant Modifications
NEG Updates
The U.S. Department of Labor approved the time extension
request for the Minnesota 2012 Flood NEG and the Andersen Windows NEG. The new
end date for both grants is June 30, 2014.
The next NEG quarterly reports for the period ending
December 31, 2013 are due to DOL on February 14, 2014. Project operators’ data
will be due to DEED on Tuesday,
February 04th.
For questions about NEGs , e-mail our NEG team at DEED.NEG@state.mn.us.
Success Story: Ali Knoll, served by Rural Minnesota
CEP
“When the store I managed closed due to economic downturn, I
was laid off with limited options. What I thought would be a lifetime career,
was suddenly gone. There I was, 30 years old, unemployed without a
college degree and an infant constantly attached to my hip. Not having my
degree had always been a sore spot for me. I had dropped out of college
twice after high school because I was unable to manage going to school
full-time and earning enough money to support myself on my own.
So when this major upheaval to my career happened, I decided
to take action. I registered for the accounting program at M State and
contacted Rural Minnesota CEP to find out if I qualified for dislocated worker
funding. Pam was an absolute dream! After my first semester back in
college, CEP came through with funding for my program.
I was a fully online student and when my husband’s job took
us out of state, I was able to continue my schooling with Pam there to help and
coach me along the way. When I was struggling with balancing school and
life at home with a toddler, she offered encouragement and support to keep me
pushing towards my degree. When I had to go back to work full-time to
make ends meet, Pam was there to help in any way she could. It was like
having a personal cheerleader who was truly invested in my education and
encouraging me to succeed.
My road to graduation was difficult but having the financial
relief and emotional support that CEP provided was instrumental to receiving my
degree. Today, I’m just a few credits away from my second degree in Human
Resources and working full-time for the State of Wisconsin Department of Workforce
Development. I couldn't have done any of this without CEP and Pam
Chick and I am eternally grateful for their assistance and support.”
Policy and Performance Tips
Temporary jobs
through staffing agencies
We all know the ultimate goal of the Dislocated Worker
program is to help laid off workers find employment. Indeed, finding employment
is often the signal that participants no longer need program services. But in
the case of participants who find temporary work through a staffing agency,
some providers may choose to keep that participant enrolled until he or she has
found more permanent work. However, the line between permanent and temporary
work can become fuzzy. What if the temporary employer keep renewing a
short-term contract? That can go on for months or even years. That’s why DEED
recently decided on the following guidelines for keeping a temporarily-employed
participant enrolled in DW:
- The participant must be exited once he or she
has been in a series of temporary positions for one (1) year. This is to avoid
an inactive participant staying enrolled and slipping through the cracks.
- The participant’s IEP (or ISS) must be kept
updated to reflect his or her temporary employment.
- Providers may open a Holding activity for the
duration of the temporary employment. This means they do not need to establish
contact every 30 days, but do need to establish contact 30 days before the
scheduled end of the temporary employment, and resume 30-day contact after the
employment ends.
Providers should consider this practice if they think it
would best serve the employment goals of their participants, but it is entirely
optional.
Workforce One Rewrite
Sandbox
The Workforce One Rewrite is coming this year! Launch date
is planned for August, but you don’t have to wait till then to see what the new
site will look like. Log on
to the Workforce One Sandbox, create a fake customer, and see all of the
cool new features! Then send your feedback and questions to Annie Tietema, Product Manager for the Workforce
One Rewrite (Annie.Tietema@state.mn.us).
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