July 20, 2021 at 10:42 a.m.
Evers directs $130 million in pandemic funds toward workforce development
But business group says initiative will do little to attract and retain workers
Evers directs $130 million in pandemic funds toward workforce development
The Evers administration said the funds will be invested in three programs to support connecting unemployed or underemployed workers with new opportunities while incentivizing innovative solutions to regional workforce challenges that the pandemic exacerbated.
Under the plan, $100 million will be allocated to the Workforce Innovation grant program to encourage regions and communities to develop leading-edge, long-term solutions to workforce challenges; $20 million will be put toward a Worker Advancement Initiative, which will offer subsidized employment and skills training opportunities with local employers; and $10 million will flow to a Worker Connection Program that will provide workforce career coaches who will connect with individuals attempting to reengage in the workforce post-pandemic.
"I'm proud of our work to ensure Wisconsin's economy can continue to recover, and that's why it's critically important that we invest in our workforce," Evers said. "We've heard from unemployed workers, business, and community leaders across the state about the workforce challenges they face, and recognize there's no one-size-fits-all solution to meeting these needs. These programs will allow us to invest in regional solutions, help businesses find workers, and provide support to our friends and neighbors who are getting back on their feet."
Department of Workforce Development (DWD) secretary-designee Amy Pechacek said that helping employers expand their candidate pools and tackling barriers to employment will make a significant and lasting impact on communities, while Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), said the new grants will give communities and industries the flexibility to respond to their specific workforce challenges.
"A region could address child care or transit issues - whatever they know as their top priority to respond to the continuing workforce impacts of COVID-19," Hughes said. "Another region might invest in and encourage apprenticeships, while another may develop strategies to attract or retain talent. The idea is to reward creativity, promote regional collaboration, and foster local accountability and participation."
More specifically, WEDC, DWD, and the state Department of Administration will together administer the Workforce Innovation program, which will offer up to $10 million in grants to at least 10 local and regional collaborations. Those collaborations will seek to leverage existing infrastructures to connect the dots for post-pandemic workforce solutions, according to the governor's office.
The program will fund initiatives to help businesses find workers and workers connect to better, higher quality and more family-sustaining jobs, the governor's office states. Grant funds could be used to meet local workforce needs resulting from or exacerbated by the pandemic, such as child care, transit, worker attraction and retention, or housing, and may be used to support initiatives like training, planning, marketing, or developing pilot programs that can be applied in other communities.
The Worker Advancement Initiative will offer subsidized employment and skills training opportunities with local employers to those whose previous employment has not come back post-pandemic, as well as those who were not attached to or were not successful in the labor market prior to the pandemic.
The program will launch a new, statewide effort to provide subsidized work opportunities to around 2,000 individuals, and DWD will administer the program through local workforce development boards in partnership with community-based organizations.
Finally, the Worker Connection Program will offer individuals who are attempting to reengage in the workforce career coaches who will connect them with the information and support necessary to overcome any barriers that may prevent their full participation in the labor force. The program will also offer individuals local training opportunities that are focused on in-demand sector and employer needs.
Two regions of the state will be selected for the program.
Criticism
But the state's largest business association, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), called the governor's approach fragmented, and said the plan ignores Wisconsin's biggest challenges and provides little oversight to ensure that the state attracts and retains a talented workforce.
Instead of relying on what it called a bureaucratic proposal, WMC urged Evers to provide funding for a coordinated statewide effort, including ending the $300 federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits, fully funding a statewide talent attraction campaign, and investing targeted funds in STEM education and technical training for Wisconsin's youth.
WMC cited a new Morning Consult poll showing that nearly 2 million people would reenter the workforce nationwide if the expanded unemployment benefits were eliminated. WMC also called for expanding the state's talent attraction campaign, and said Wisconsin needs to better prepare students for the jobs available in the state by ensuring they have the proper skills to pursue those careers - not just a four-year college degree.
"Wisconsin's business community appreciates that the governor has acknowledged our state has a workforce shortage," said WMC president & CEO Kurt Bauer. "But Gov. Evers must also understand that this disjointed plan will spend a lot of federal funds without solving our short- and long-term challenges."
WMC also renewed its call for Evers to meet with its members to talk about solutions to the workforce shortage.
"Instead of complicating matters with this proposal, the governor should take a simple and coordinated approach to attracting and retaining talent," Bauer said. "First, we must end the federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits. Then we must reinstate the talent attraction campaign to show off our state's high quality of life and invest further in preparing our next generation for the family-supporting careers we have in Wisconsin."
Meanwhile, Assembly speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate majority leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said the governor had waited too long to act.
"The governor finally connected the dots and acknowledged there is a workforce crisis in our state," the lawmakers said in a statement. "Since his one-size-fits-all emergency order, employers have struggled for over a year to stay open and find workers. Now, 500 days later, he finally acknowledges the dire challenges small businesses are facing."
Vos and LeMahieu said Evers had engaged in a year-long pattern of failed leadership in managing the [unemployment insurance] disaster for displaced workers and now desperate employers fighting for survival. They also criticized the governor's veto of the bill to end enhanced federal unemployment payments.
"Republicans proposed a fix to the workforce shortage crisis that would have saved taxpayers funds and rapidly helped solve the problem," the lawmakers said. "Now two weeks after vetoing our bill, Gov. Evers predictably chose a path that spends more money, takes more time, and grows government."
Vos and LeMahieu said Evers has a personal piggy bank of federal COVID stimulus dollars and that he thinks spending $130 million on even more government programs will be enough incentive to get people to come back to work.
"We already have many programs in place to help people get back in the workforce," they said. "This workforce shortage is a problem created by government, not solved by it. We need to remove the clear barriers preventing people from a full return to work before more Wisconsin businesses are lost forever."
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