Wisconsin's low-income workforce was more than up for the challenge. Community Service Jobs offer subsidized education and training to develop successful work habits and job skills for future success. Trial Jobs are subsidized work placements expected to result in permanent, unsubsidized positions. No one disputes that education and training are key to developing a successful workforce. People's expectations are changing.
Employers also seek technical abilities, or the basics on which they can train in-house.
W-2's training and education programs, while currently preparing participants to succeed in that reality, are preparing to do more. The Committee involved legislators, educators, employers and community leaders to identify needs, create solutions and share best practices. It developed a series of creative recommendations to help W-2 participants not only find and retain jobs, but also move on to better jobs. The recommendations focus on building a better workforce and should also assist employers in better addressing the emerging labor shortage predicting in the near future. The Committee felt strongly that three things needed to occur.