Publications on Job Mobility, Training

This report discusses the contribution of immigrants to Maryland's workforce, trends in the workforce between 2000 and 2006, and recommendations for educating and training immigrant workers. Rapid growth in the number and share of immigrant workers in the state do not appear to have come at the expense of native-born workers, who saw their labor force participation grow over this six year period. Maryland's immigrant workers are unusually diverse, highly educated and work in key skilled industries such as healthcare, information technology and the sciences.

Low-wage adult workers have trouble getting and keeping higher-paying jobs. Most lack the basic skills and education needed to move up, but certain kinds of assistance might give some the edge they need to break the pattern. In this essay, Holzer and Martinson recommend competitive federal matching block grants that reward states for developing new advancement systems which are linked to state workforce development structures. They would also require partnerships with employers and training providers, including community colleges.

This paper is a response to New Safety Net Paper 7, "Enabling Families to Weather Emergencies and Develop: The Role of Assets," by Signe-Mary McKernan and Caroline Ratcliffe.

Low-wage adult workers have trouble getting and keeping higher-paying jobs. Most lack the basic skills and education needed to move up, but certain kinds of assistance might give some the edge they need to break the pattern. In this summary, Holzer and Martinson recommend competitive federal matching block grants that reward states for developing new advancement systems which are linked to state workforce development structures. They would also require partnerships with employers and training providers, including community colleges.

This paper is a response to New Safety Net Paper 4, "Helping Poor Working Parents Get Ahead: Federal Funds for New State Strategies and Systems" by Harry J. Holzer and Karin Martinson.