October 26, 2009
Initiative helping tens of thousands gain or retain employment
LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that a new report completed by the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth (attached below) shows that tens of thousands of No Worker Left Behind (NWLB) graduates have gained or retained employment as a result of the program. The NWLB Outcomes Report provides data covering 62,206 people who enrolled in training between August 2007 and February 2009.
"In 2007, we created No Worker Left Behind to help Michigan workers get the education and training they need to compete for 21st century jobs," Granholm said. "This report shows that the program is producing results by helping tens of thousands gain or retain jobs. With this data, it is no surprise that No Worker Left Behind has become a model for national workforce policy."
The data provides information about the duration and type of training participants receive, whether they have found jobs and whether those jobs are related to their training. Overall, 34,355 NWLB participants completed training, and of those who completed training, 72 percent or 24,699 either obtained or retained jobs. Another 9,656 were still looking for jobs.
During the period studied, the percentage of unemployed and underemployed workers enrolled in workforce training in Michigan was double the national average.
The core participants of NWLB are those workers who are unemployed and underemployed. Of those participants, 48 percent found new jobs despite double-digit unemployment rates across the state.
Eighty-six percent of those who found jobs acquired one related to their NWLB training, which is an indicator that NWLB is training workers for in-demand jobs and meeting employer needs.
Among those still enrolled in NWLB, 77 percent were in long-term training, which is more than triple the national percentage of people in long-term training. Long-term training allows workers to develop skills and credentials valued by employers, which dramatically increases their ability to find good-paying jobs.
"Economists agree that there is a strong correlation between higher education, higher employment, and higher wages," said Andy Levin, deputy director of DELEG. "The statistics demonstrate that NWLB is helping to create a culture of lifelong learning in Michigan."
Most of those who enrolled in No Worker Left Behind are either unemployed or underemployed workers seeking new jobs or employed workers being retrained to help ensure job retention. The rest are people trying to get off public assistance or customers of Michigan Rehabilitation Services.
Job-retention training helped 16,843 workers gain new skills needed to keep jobs or advance to new ones - while helping the 1,066 firms that employ them to diversify or otherwise transform their business and increase their ability to succeed.
As of February 2009, 7,856 NWLB participants who were seeking new jobs completed training and obtained employment. That baseline number will increase steadily and substantially in coming months as more NWLB participants graduate and find jobs. This 18-month snapshot of employment results shows the first set of people who reached success at the end of what will often be a one- to two-year journey.
To learn more about the No Worker Left Behind initiative, visit the NWLB website at www.michigan.gov/nwlb.
# # #
