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The secular increase over the past several decades in the number of families where both the husband and wife work in the paid labor force, coupled with the surge in labor force participation of single mothers in the 1990s, has heightened policy focus on child care options for working parents; federal and state governments are now major players in the provision of child care in the United States. The purpose of this report is to provide a selective survey of the literature on the economic consequences of child care for recipient families, and to relate the results to families residing in Kentucky using data from the Annual Social and Economic Study in the Current Population Survey. The survey is selective both because of its exclusive focus on child care research by economists and because the literature is vast even within economics such that only articles deemed to be important contributions to the labor supply and child care literature are included. The literature review reveals that in the domain of child care the economics profession has focused primarily on the labor-market consequences of child care subsidies, particularly the effect of subsidies on the decision to work, on total hours of work conditional on being employed, on hourly wages, and on whether to use formal child care. There is less extensive evidence on the effects of child care subsidies on welfare participation, on school attendance, and job satisfaction, and no direct evidence on the issue of the anti-poverty effectiveness of child care subsidies. Most of the papers reviewed contain estimated elasticities of employment with respect to the price of child care, indicating labor-market participation responsiveness to any given change in the price of child care. (Contains 11 footnotes and 5 tables.) [Additional financial support for this report was provided by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.]

Proposition 49, which voters passed in 2002, guaranteed more than a three-fold increase in state funding for after school programs, although rollout was dependent on the state budget meeting specific conditions. In 2006-07, the budget met those conditions and the legislation implementing the proposition was passed. Subsequently, an additional $550 million per year began to flow into new and expanded after school programs that were funded through the After School Education and Safety Program. This unprecedented expansion of programs over a few months presented many challenges. Primary among them was the ability to hire new staff, which has strained the state's after school infrastructure at all levels, from administration by the California Department of Education to program staffing at local schools. This policy brief covers the state's challenges in meeting staffing needs for its publicly-funded after school programs and recommends guidelines that may help after school programs reach larger applicant pools, achieve improved candidate diversity and lessen the stress associated with starting up new programs. (Contains 1 footnote.) [Additional funding for this report was provided by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.]

This paper seeks to solve the labor shortage in the public accounting profession. It examines why people want to become CPAs, the influence of generational differences on career choices and considers methods to attract and retain CPAs that focus on attracting students, work-life balance issues and alternative work arrangements through career integration. A learning community model integrates employers' and employees' needs and roles. It is suggested that the model can be applied to other professions. (Contains 1 figure.)

Canonical human capital theories posit that education, by enhancing worker skills, reduces the likelihood that a worker will be laid-off during times of economic change. Yet, this has not been demonstrated causally. We link administrative education records from 1987 through 2002 to nationally representative surveys conducted before and after COVID-19 onset in Barbados to explore the causal impact of improved education on job loss during this period. Using a regression discontinuity (RD) design, Beuermann and Jackson (2020) show that females (but not males) who score just above the admission threshold for more selective schools in Barbados attain more years of education than those that scored just below (essentially holding initial ability fixed). Here, in follow-up data, we show that these same females (but not males) are much less likely to have lost a job after the onset of COVID-19. We show that these effects are not driven by sectoral changes, or changes in labor supply. Because employers observe incumbent worker productivity, these patterns are inconsistent with pure education signalling, and suggest that education enhances worker skill.

Recent news articles and studies have generated concern among New England policy makers and others that the region's supply of young, highly educated professionals is disappearing. The fear is that comparatively high housing and other costs may be driving away many within this highly mobile group. This paper explores trends in the stocks and flows of young professionals, defined as people 25 to 39 with at least a bachelor's degree. The goal is to help policy makers better understand this important demographic story, giving them the facts about how various factors, including migration, are affecting the region's supply of young, educated labor. The story about young professionals turns out to be much more nuanced than headlines suggest. The region has a strong base of young professionals. As of 2005, New England had the largest population of young professionals of any U.S. region, relative to its population of young people and its total household population. At the same time, New England should not take this strong base of young professionals for granted. While the region's young professional population is holding steady, this cohort is growing in all other regions. Many articles and reports conflate young people and young professionals. While it is true that fewer people between 25 and 39 live in New England today than at any time during the past 15 years, the number of those in the specific category of young professionals has not declined, thanks to steady increases in the share of young people who complete college. Additionally, while this decline in young people is often attributed to out-migration, it is due, at least in part, to a large number of individuals who are aging out of the cohort, rather than leaving the region. Finally, stories about out-migration from New England generally consider only domestic migration. While it is true that New England is losing more young professionals to the rest of the nation than it receives domestically, this domestic outflow of young professionals may be offset by young professionals moving to New England from abroad. Though the net number of international immigrants is not available, New England would have to retain only half of those who arrive from abroad in order to replace the flow of young professionals moving to other parts of the nation. In short, a careful analysis of the data indicates that reports of a major "brain drain" from the region are overstated. However, this does not mean that policy makers should take for granted that the region will continue to retain a solid base of young, educated professionals. (Contains 4 footnotes, 4 figures and 3 tables.)

This report is the third in a series of measure reports that examine the economic, civic, and social development of the state by its systems of higher education. This report measures degrees awarded in selected areas of employment against workforce demand. The report found: (1) California's postsecondary schools are not producing enough graduates with baccalaureate degrees to meet a growing demand by employers of workers with computer-related professional skills; (2) Overall there appears to be enough engineering degree graduates, but an increase in bachelor's degree level learners might help employers meet the need for entry-level workers; (3) State efforts to expand the number of college educated nurses, doctors and other health professionals appear to be helping to relieve shortages in these occupations, but California needs to maintain its commitment to such initiatives in order to avoid future labor shortages as the demand continues to grow for healthcare workers; (4) Workforce projections for attorneys suggest that the state's current capacity to train lawyers is adequate; and (5) California continues to face serious shortages of fully qualified teachers. K-12 schools with the neediest students often lack the resources or incentives to attract fully qualified teachers, undercutting the ability of California to provide an adequate education to all students. Based on this assessment, the Commission concludes that California's postsecondary education system is not producing enough graduates to meet the State's economic needs. California's employers are forced to import college graduates and pay inflated wage premiums in order to attract and retain the college educated workforce they need. The Commission sees a need to continue and strengthen efforts to expand degree earning in several occupational fields including: computer-related jobs; engineering professions; nursing and other health-related professions; and teaching. The Commission believes greater emphasis should be placed on tracking occupational outcomes for students and supports linking student data-bases with employment-wage data maintained by the state and federal government. (Contains 10 footnotes and 4 figures.)

Despite many accomplishments and a widely-praised system, there remain significant challenges to address in higher education in Virginia: (1) Although the state performs well in six-year graduation rates for bachelor degree programs, graduation rates at specific four-year institutions range from the very high end of the spectrum to the very low; (2) Growing burdens placed on students from the lowest income levels due to rising tuition charges is a public policy matter of great concern; (3) Statewide remediation rates of 18-21% for college freshmen indicate that improvement is needed in the P-12 system; (4) Rising enrollment demands risk loss of students to the public college system, with accompanying loss of access to higher education opportunity; (5) Lack of progress in advancing Virginia's national standing in research; and (6) Continued skill shortages, especially in nursing, teaching, engineering and technology. The intent of this plan is to establish clarity about state priorities, to inform a coordinated system of higher education within which distinctive institutions may operate with a high degree of autonomy, and to serve state and national needs at a high level of quality by focusing on access, alignment and investment. Twelve goals and accompanying strategies are articulated: (1) Enhance Access Through P-16 Curricular Alignment; (2) Enhance Access Through Improved Coordination of Information; (3) Enhance Affordability Through Financial Aid Advocacy; (4) Enhance Affordability Through Education and Investment Incentives; (5) Improve College Readiness Through Strengthened P-16 Cooperation and Communication; (6) Strengthen P-16 Coordination Through Expanded Data Collection and Analysis; (7) Support State Workforce Needs Through Strengthened Participation in Post-Secondary Education; (8) Conduct a Comprehensive Economic Impact Study of Higher Education; (9) Improve Alignment Between Higher Education and the Commonwealth's Workforce Needs; (10) Strengthen Academic Program Quality and Accountability Through Assessment; (11) Enhance Research Through Investment in Targeted Consortia; and (12) Enhance Research Through Investment in Infrastructure.

This report looks at whether pre-apprenticeships increase the potential supply of tradespeople, with a special focus on electrotechnology, automotive and engineering students. It found that pre-apprenticeships have been used in Australia for many years and are widely regarded as a valuable strategy for increasing the supply and quality of potential apprentices. Pre-apprenticeships are favoured by employers because they weed out unsuitable candidates and improve retention, while apprentices see them as a useful way of gaining experience in the trade. (Contains 4 footnotes, 2 figures, and 6 tables.) [This work has been produced with funding provided through the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training. The author/project team was funded to undertake this research via a grant under the National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation (NVETRE) Program. For Support Document, see ED499703.]

In 2004 NCVER invited proposals from a consortia of researchers to address questions relating to changing work skill needs and work organisation arrangements and their implications for the vocational education and training sector. The National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, and the Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Melbourne, were selected to undertake a body of work in among other areas, the nature of future labour supply, including changing demographics, work patterns and educational levels. This is the focus of this report. The report's purpose is to: (1) set out some clear thinking on the meaning of the term "skill shortage"; (2) identify circumstances under which shortages are resolved naturally by market forces; and (3) provide a guide for when a shortage warrants action from public-policy interventions to assist the market. The report does not attempt to quantify any overall or particular shortage of skills. The report is directed at policy-makers, employers, industry bodies and training providers interested in understanding the nature of skill shortages. Appended is: a list of Skills Consortium publications. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) [This document was produced with funding provided through the Department of Education, Science and Training.]

This paper uses panel regressions to investigate the effects of innovation policies and framework factors on business R&D intensity and patenting for a sample of 20 OECD countries over the period 1982- 2001. Both sets of factors are found to matter; the main determinants of innovativeness appear to be the availability of scientists and engineers, research conducted in the public sector (including universities), business-academic links, the degree of product market competition, a high level of financial development and access to foreign inventions. The effect of direct public financial support for business R&D is generally positive but modest, though it may larger for cash-constrained firms. Intellectual property rights appear to increase patenting significantly, but have little impact on R&D spending. Finally, the paper takes a closer look at the labour market for researchers, estimating jointly equations for employment and wages. Although the supply of scientists and engineers is eventually responsive to wage differentials, both with other professions and across countries, the evidence suggests that it may difficult to raise significantly the real amount of domestic R&D in the short run because the supply of researchers is relatively inelastic. (Wage Schedule and Reduced Form Coefficient Derivations are appended. Contains 93 footnotes, 4 figures, 1 box and 8 tables.)

The primary purpose of this publication is to provide impartial measures of the strengths and weaknesses of community college programs from a labor market perspective. Information from surveys and administrative databases focuses on: graduates' employment, earnings and employer-provided benefits; skill sets; and employer satisfaction with graduates and the overall labor supply. Prospective students and community college administrators, as well as workforce and economic development professionals, are among potential beneficiaries of the information. Appended are: (1) Individual Community College Figures and Tables; (2) Community College Perspectives; (3) Transaction Activities and Industry Distribution; and (4) Project History, Data Sources, and Survey Process. A glossary is also included.

Once generally perceived as a service for working parents, child care is now recognized as an early education setting where children learn skills and behaviors for life. The child care and early education industry is also a powerful economic force that experienced significant growth in the past three decades in response to family, economic, and policy changes. The child care industry in Minneapolis, Minnesota, generates substantial revenue, creates and supports local jobs, and stimulates significant economic activity that ripples through the city economy. This report examines the economic impact of child care and early education businesses in Minneapolis, focusing on four main areas: (1) jobs and economic development; (2) providing key economic infrastructure; (3) supporting businesses and working parents; and investing in future workforce development. It is noted that because the report draws only on information available on licensed child care and early education providers, the total size and full economic impact of the industry is underrepresented because of the lack of data for informal care arrangements. Among the findings are the following: (1) for every $1 million spent on child care and early education in Minneapolis, child care and early education business spending supports $787,000 of additional economic activity; (2) total earnings for parents using child care and early education in Minneapolis is $224.4 million; and (3) parents who join the labor force with the help of child care and early education assistance earn $1.40 in new income for every $1.00 invested. The report then advocates improvement in the quality of early childhood care and education as an investment in future workforce development, and offers recommendations for strategic investment in early care and education at the business, city, county and state levels. The report concludes by detailing data sources for the report. (Contains 20 endnotes.) (HTH)

A study examined information and communication technologies (ICT) job trends and the prospects for preservation and supply of high skilled professionals in the medium and longer term in candidate countries (CCs), for admission into the European Union, focusing on Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. Rapidly changing technology and growth of ICT-related activities in all sectors led to shortages of highly-qualified ICT professionals. Recruitment difficulties indicated imbalances between existing skills and company demands. ICT skills were obtained through formal education and training or more informally through using ICTs and gaining experience with them. High standards in mathematics, science, and informatics in most CCs were promising for the future supply of highly skilled professionals. The promising medium and longer-term supply of ICT professionals was associated with increasing numbers of young people in higher education and vocational schools. The rising number of students in ICT higher education had not led to a corresponding increase in numbers of teaching staff. Aging of academic staff increased concerns. Prospects for preserving and building ICT capabilities and skills in CCs was complicated by mobility of highly skilled professionals. Issues for policy and research were ICT skills mentoring, qualitative assessment of skills and their relation to company demands; partnerships; encouraging higher achievements in education; and creation of high quality opportunities, outsourcing, and production integration to prevent brain drain. (Contains 84 references.) (YLB)

A systems approach to changing labor market performance requires a substantial and enduring commitment to the task of change. A systems reform framework has been developed that is based on a dual-customer approach, with a focus on improving labor market outcomes for both low-income people and their employers. The objective is to change the labor market system so that low-income people find and hold good-paying jobs while employers efficiently find qualified workers to fill vacant jobs. This approach rests upon these four conceptual building blocks: the systemic nature of American labor markets, the drivers of labor market systems, the high-leverage strategies for changing the system's drivers, and a process for starting and sustaining systemic change at the local level. Seven strategies have been identified for changing drivers in labor markets--three that operate mainly on the supply-side of the market (increase public financial resources for upgrading work-related skills; restructure education so that it meets employer and student needs; integrate human services, income supports and workforce development) and four on the demand-side (change workplace practices to support low-income workers; restructure government financial incentives; develop portable credentials; create policy-influencing mechanisms for stakeholders). If labor markets are indeed systems, then the seven strategies provide compelling ways to leverage relatively small changes to big results. (Appendixes include11 references and 4 endnotes.) (YLB)

This paper is a response to the collective interests expressed by a network of the leadership of ten U.S. community college systems to better understand how community colleges can support emerging state cluster-based economic development strategies. The intent is to proved concrete applications of a cluster-based model that inform both workforce and economic development policy and decision makers, bringing together two agendas that states usually pursue separately. The paper presents an initial model of a cluster-based workforce delivery system based on: (1) college practices observed and studied in the U.S. and around the world; (2) direct experience with cluster building strategies; (3) emerging theories and innovations; and (4) the experience and wisdom of members of the network. According to the authors, industry clusters have become the new mantra for economic development policy. Regional technical institutions are best able to focus on and respond to regional economies. Therefore, the paper argues, these institutions would do well to practice institutional and system-wide cooperation in order to develop specific expertise that will help them to become a particular business cluster's center of excellence. The paper presents an assortment of special features that some colleges have added to address the needs of clusters. The choices colleges make should reflect industry and student needs; local availability of and access to programs, services, and budgets; and long-term development plans of the state and region. (Contains 13 references.) (NB)

This document contains an annual report and its addendum from the Economic and Workforce Development Program of California Community Colleges. The annual report provides an overview of the Program's evaluation processes, regional centers, short-term projects, legislation, strategic plan, etc. It also provides vital facts about the program such as how the program brings in additional resources to the community colleges including thirty one million dollars in direct match for grants provided by businesses and industries. It also includes a summary of various data for the 2001-2002 year including job placements, businesses served, and credit and non-credit courses developed and offered. According to the report, significant improvements have been made in the welfare to work job placements and number of students served since 2000-2001 academic year. Areas that need improvement are number of employees served and number of businesses served. This document also contains an addendum to the report. The addendum gives more information about the following areas: (1) results comparison between regional centers and industry-driven regional collaborative; (2) funds provided to each regional center; (3) funding for industry driven-regional collaborative; (4) regional centers-instructions services; (5) industry driven regional collaborative-instruction services; and (6) industry driven regional collaborative: job placements, businesses served, and employees served. (MZ)

This paper discusses the mission of the market-responsive community college. These colleges include mid- and high-level workforce training in their curriculum. Some of the characteristics of a market-responsive community college detailed here include: (1) allocating resources to develop training programs; (2) reaching out to businesses and other organizations; (3) responding rapidly to changes in local economic conditions and training needs; (4) recruiting faculty from among local experts in the field; and (5) partnering with other local educational institutions to deliver comprehensive training. Over 200 publications were reviewed for this report, and the 25 articles that contained the most relevant information, including descriptions of labor-market responsive behavior, were selected. The four methodologies used in preparing the articles that were selected were: (1) statistical analysis; (2) less formal data analysis; (3) literature reviews; and (4) anecdotal evidence. The conclusions of this review will be used as hypotheses to be thoroughly tested in the next phase of this initiative. A reading of the literature found that outsourced training expenditures for U.S. companies nearly doubled, from $9.9 billion to $19.3 billion annually, between 1994 and 2000. Includes brief outlines of specific community college programs and 25 annotated references to literature analyzed for the study. (NB)

This document contains the following papers: "Early Recognition of Skill Needs in Europe: European Conference, Berlin, 30/31 May 2002" (Susanne Liane Schmidt, Klaus Schomann, Manfred Tessaring); "Welcome and Opening of the European Conference 'Early Recognition of Skill Needs in Europe,' 30 May 2002, Social Sciences Research Center Berlin" (Manfred Kremer); "Early Recognition of Skill Requirements in Europe" (Stavros Stavrou); "Early Identification of Qualification Needs in Germany the FreQueNez Research Network" (Susanne Liane Schmidt); "Qualifications for the Future" (Mike Coles); "Developing Prospective Tools for the Observation of Skill Requirements in Spain" (Jordi Planas); "Network of National Surveys on Skill Needs in Italy" (Mario Gatti); "Labour Market Forecasting in the Netherlands: A Top-Down Approach" (Frank Corvers); "Industrial Maintenance in France: New and Traditional Skill Requirements" (Jean-Louis Kirsch); "Identifying Future Qualification Needs in the Transport Sector in the United Kingdom: Has the Scenarios Methodology a Role?" (Tom Leney); "Addressing the ICT (Information and Computer Technology) Skills Shortage in Europe" (Martin Curley); "New Skill Requirements in Logistics" (Kathrin Schnalzer, Gerd Gidion, Miriam Thum, Helmut Kuwan); "Skill Requirements in the Care of the Elderly the Swedish Example" (Gert Alaby); "Information System for Early Recognition of Sectoral Trends Results Obtained for the Construction Industry" (Norbert Bromberger, Helen Diedrich-Fuhs); "Forecasting Female Shares of Employment by Occupation in Ireland" (Gerard Hughes, Jerry J. Sexton); "Services in Complex Structures Trends in the Way Skills Are Developing in Low Skilled Work" (Beate Zeller); "Early Recognition of International Qualifications for SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises)" (Peter Wordelmann); "New Qualifications in SMEs for Societal and Technological Change Skilling of IT (Information Technology) Users" (Lothar Abicht, Rainer Werner); "A Note on the Evolution of Labour Supply in Spain and Its Implications at Regional Level" (Ferran Mane, Josep Oliver); "Qualitative versus Quantitative Methods of Anticipating Skill Needs: Perspective of a Country in Transition" (Olga Strietska-Ilina); "Skill Markets in a Learning Society: Transformation and Vocational Reforms in Hungary" (Pal Tamas); "A Demand-Side Analysis of SME Skills Needs in Regions of Five Candidate Countries" (Lewis Kerr); and "Identification of Future Skill Requirements. Activities and Approaches for European Cooperation" (Manfred Tessaring). Several papers contain substantial bibliographies. Lists of authors' addresses and abbreviations are appended. (MN)

Effective school leadership, in the form of a dedicated, skilled principal, is a key element in creating and maintaining high quality schools. Improving school leadership is particularly important for poorly performing schools. The passage of the federal "No Child Left Behind" legislation and Michigan's Education YES! School accreditation initiative has raised the stakes for schools and principals across Michigan. Each law calls for the removal of principals if their schools and students fail to meet new standards for adequate yearly progress (AYP). This focus on principals comes at a time when the pool of people ready and willing to serve as principals is shrinking. Teachers represent the vast majority of principal candidates, and fewer Michigan teachers are willing to take on the job. This phenomenon is not limited to Michigan. In a recent national study, sixty percent of superintendents say their district faces a shortage of qualified principal candidates. Another study of teachers who hold principal certification shows that fewer than half are willing to consider the job. To learn more about how this issue is playing out in Michigan, the author talked to superintendents or human relations directors, principals, and one administrative team. Other sources of data included Stephen's study (2002) of 25 small town principals in Michigan. He reports that there are positive steps that many districts have taken in order to fill this important position: (1) Active recruiting and induction; (2) Engaging in continuous training; and (3) Establishing realistic expectations. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)

Keeping the existing information technology (IT) workforce viable and rapidly increasing the number of these workers presents a United States public policy workforce development (WD) challenge at all government levels. Public policy human capital investments have been undertaken to address the IT workforce supply and demand mismatch. States seem to be best positioned to be the pivotal public policy creators and implementers in the high-skill, high-tech economy. States' education systems are their primary public policy levers. The National Governors Association's activities show high-tech clusters and ITWD are high on states' public policy debate agendas. The state-managed college/university system supporting ITWD is inadequate to meet IT labor and skills demands. To supplement existing higher education systems, states are pursuing new ITWD public policies. Three significant state ITWD approaches are improving ITWD in their existing state-managed education system; implementing the "cluster" as the new vehicle to support improved ITWD; and dividing major cities into groups to encourage cooperative ITWD efforts. City ITWD efforts are most effective as part of state or federal programs. The fundamental federal role in ITWD has been to monitor and report on IT workforce needs and to facilitate states in dealing with their individual IT workforce needs. National ITWD public policy examples are the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act and Workforce Investment Act. (Contains 30 references.) (YLB)

This five-section paper describes how the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system, the largest system of higher education in the state, determines what degree programs will be created, based on needs for workers in various occupations in the state. The paper begins by discussing why connecting demographic trends, learner segments, and labor market information become crucial not only in helping to decide which new program ideas to implement, but also to assist in balancing the competing demands for a regional and statewide new program development strategy. The next section of the paper describes briefly a potential new program approval process that considers a supply and demand analysis in the approval of new program ideas solicited from MnSCU institutions. By refining the supply and demand analysis described in Appendix B, a more precise estimate for the total number of additional graduates that would potentially result from implementing the new program approval process is also estimated. The last two sections provide preliminary results from the analysis, and conclusions and implications are drawn about why MnSCU in particular, but all postsecondary institutions in general, must understand how labor market information could contribute to mediating the conflicting and competing interests of stakeholders in the area of new program development strategies. MnSCU serves 225,000 students annually in credit courses and nearly 95,000 students in non-credit courses. The system includes 7 state universities and 27 community, technical, and consolidated colleges located on 53 campuses across Minnesota. (KC)

This document is the first in a series of two reports on demand-led strategies to support welfare-to-work clients. The authors believe employment retention programs that demonstrate they can meet the needs of employers for effective employees follow a demand-led approach, which has the potential to expand the opportunities available to welfare recipients and others working toward economic self-sufficiency. Strategies for implementing demand-led retention approaches by local and regional program providers, such as cultivating relationships with employers in order to assess their employee needs, are the focus of the first half of the report. The second half, in the form of three appendices, presents principles of demand-led programs, guidelines for assessing barriers to employment, and case studies of welfare-to-work programs focused on employment outcomes. The document contains seven website resources and 31 references. (AJ)

Surveys by the Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) of German firms' job openings have been combined with job registry data from the Bundesanstalt fur Arbeit on an annual basis since 1989 in order to determine the scope and structure of the aggregate national supply of job openings. The surveys also indicated problems encountered by companies in filling positions, highlighted company responses to such problems, and provided additional knowledge related to barriers to economic activities of companies. Results of the surveys confirmed the widespread conjecture that only a minor portion of all available job openings are registered with job exchanges--about 1/3 of the total supply. Additional findings included these: (1) eastern German registry offices were more involved in the efforts of firms to recruit staff; (2) job openings at western German firms were more affected by economic shifts; and (3) the demand for white-collar workers rose in western Germany. It was concluded that apart from stated complaints from firms, most companies were relatively unaffected by a labor shortage. Different measures to alleviate the problem were used by those affected, such as overtime and special shifts, streamlining, and hiring temporary workers. (There are two figures. The bibliography lists eight references.) (AJ)

Lacking the resources of larger organizations, small businesses are often unable to find skilled workers to fill immediate employment needs and to identify strategies to meet their future workforce needs. In some communities, business and trade organizations, community colleges, and other public and private organizations have partnered to create workforce development networks, often called workforce consortia. A study was conducted of four of these consortia in order to determine the following: (1) what prompted communities to establish them; (2) what activities they offer to small business; (3) what consortia partners view as the key principles behind the consortia; and (4) what is known about the outcomes of such collaboratives. Data were collected through consultation with experts in workforce development and officials from consortia, a literature review, and site visits to workforce consortia in Austin, Texas; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The study found that consortia identified these four important principles critical to their operation: (1) they focused on business' workforce needs and were organized around key industry standards in their community; (2) they provided leadership and sustained ongoing, positive working relationships among members; (3) they made activities accessible to both businesses and prospective workers; and (4) they used incentives to make participation in activities attractive to small businesses. Limited information was available on the outcomes of consortia operations. (KC)

This document reports a study of the possibility of making indicators of demand and supply of high skilled labor based on the Labor Force Survey (LFS), a data source available in all European countries. Part 1 is a summary of a pilot study of three countries: United Kingdom (UK), Netherlands, and Norway. It concludes LFS is a limited data source for stock and flow variables. Part 2, the UK report, describes a pilot study of possibilities in the under-explored area of labor mobility research and its relation to innovation and competitiveness in the UK. It outlines possible data sources, published sources, and case study materials that can be used in a national systems framework for future work in mobility and human capital allocation and formation. Part 3, the Norwegian study, has two aims: to study development of high tech sectors in terms of labor mobility and supply of training and to use and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Norway's register data and LFS. Part 4, the Dutch study of supply and demand for high technology skills, examines skills in the high tech sectors of the Dutch economy. After a literature review, the study looks at trends in the economy as a whole to delineate more general trends in the Dutch economy from the more specific development of the chosen high tech sectors; distribution of training in the Dutch labor market; and mobility of highly skilled persons in the Dutch economy. (YLB)

Project QUEST (Quality Employment through Skills Training) was begun in 1992 to provide unemployed and working poor residents of San Antonio, Texas, with employment training and job placement services. The program provides tuition subsidies and ancillary support services to low-income San Antonio residents enrolled in two-year associate's degree and one-year certificate programs at local community colleges. Project QUEST underwrites occupation-specific degrees in fields that are in high demand in the San Antonio labor market and offer family-supporting wages. Project QUEST is based on a case management approach in which counselors/case managers work with participants to develop a package of "wrap-around" services to help them get through training and transition to work. Project QUEST's initiatives include a work force development academy, basic education training, and customized training and mobility programs. Project QUEST has developed a sophisticated management information system to track program-related and participant-related outcomes and information. In 1998-1999, Project QUEST spent an average of $8,094 per graduate and $6,847 per placement. In 1999, 72.4% of program graduates were placed in jobs at an average placement wage of $8.97/hour. Project QUEST has demonstrated that sectoral strategies are highly effective when used to inform regional approaches to work force development. (Contains 14 tables/figures.) (MN)

Current evidence suggests emerging shortages of nurses available or willing to fill some vacant positions in hospitals, nursing homes, and home care. Total employment of registered nurses (RNs) per capita and the national unemployment rate for RNs have declined, and providers from around the country report growing difficulty recruiting and retaining the number of nurses needed in a range of settings. Current problems with the recruitment and retention of nurses are related to multiple factors. The nurse work force is aging, and fewer new nurses are entering the profession to replace those who are retiring or leaving. Nurses report unhappiness with these aspects of the work environment: staffing levels, heavy workloads, increased use of overtime, lack of sufficient support staff, and adequate wages. In many cases, this growing dissatisfaction affects decisions to remain in nursing. A serious shortage of nurses is expected in the future as pressures are exerted on demand and supply. Demand is expected to increase dramatically when the baby boomers reach their 60s, 70s, and beyond. During the same period, the number of women aged 25-54, who have traditionally formed the core of the nurse work force, is expected to remain relatively unchanged. Efforts to improve the workplace environment may both reduce the likelihood of nurses leaving the field and encourage more young people to enter the nursing profession. (YLB)