Future Ready Oregon 2022: Addressing Oregon’s Workforce Demands with an Equity Lens

1. How was the Workforce Workgroup established? What led up to this being a priority?

Oregon entered the decade facing a workforce crisis. Prior to the pandemic, Oregon industries faced a shortage of 300,000 workers with post-secondary credentials (such as an apprenticeship, degree, or certificate.) The pandemic exacerbated this crisis, and exposed existing, significant disparities in how our workforce system serves Oregon’s historically underserved communities. People of color, people with low incomes, and rural Oregonians were hardest hit and barriers to job readiness, job training, and career advancement persist.

The Governor established the Racial Justice Council (RJC) and its policy committees in 2020. Workforce and labor challenges were consistently among the most significant issues in all policy areas, including Economic Opportunity, Education Recovery, Health Equity, Housing and Homelessness. Following the 2021 legislative session, workforce was identified as a RJC priority and the Governor stood up the Workforce Workgroup that included members of the Racial Justice Council, training providers, labor, business and industry, education, community-based organizations, and workforce development partners. In collaboration with Oregon’s Workforce and Talent Development Board, the Workforce Workgroup developed a Future Ready Oregon proposal for the February 2022 legislative session aimed at making Oregon’s workforce system more equitable and racially just.

2. Why now? 

In 2021, the Governor convened a Workforce Workgroup in collaboration with Oregon’s Workforce and Talent Development Board to develop a Future Ready Oregon proposal for the February 2022 legislative session aimed at making Oregon’s workforce system more equitable and racially just. Through the Workgroup’s analysis and experience, one thing is clear. Investments in our workforce system cannot wait another year. Removing barriers and expanding access to education and training that leads to employment is an urgent need to advance a diverse, skilled workforce in Oregon, meeting the needs of employers today and into the future and ensuring an equitable recovery. This one-time investment of General Fund and federal ARPA funding provides a historic opportunity to jumpstart careers and provide career advancement opportunities in key sectors – healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and construction (pre-apprenticeship programs only) – that provide short-term pathways to employment, higher earning potential, and opportunities for economic mobility in communities across Oregon. 

3. Who will have access to Future Ready Oregon funding?

Future Ready Oregon 2022 will advance opportunities for historically underserved communities, including adult learners, dislocated workers, and disconnected youth. Investments prioritize key populations disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and existing disparities, including people of color, women, people with low incomes, rural communities, veterans, and Oregonians who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated. 

Community-based organizations, education and training providers, and individuals seeking employment or career advancement opportunities in healthcare, manufacturing, or technology will have access to the resources proposed in Future Ready Oregon. Resources are focused on recruiting job seekers into these key sectors, providing resources to overcome barriers to program completion, and encouraging career advancement. 

Funding for community-based organizations and education and training providers will expand existing programs that are successfully providing career-connected learning opportunities for historically underserved communities, including direct investments to local workforce boards, community colleges, registered apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, youth reengagement and workforce readiness programs. Additionally, competitive funding will be available for community-based organizations and education and training providers to expand existing, or build new, innovative education and training programs and build organizational capacity, paying particular attention to culturally specific design and opportunities to engage historically underserved populations in seamless career-connected learning opportunities.

Lastly, Future Ready Oregon includes direct benefits to individuals aimed at removing barriers to accessing job training opportunities. Future Ready Oregon envisions a “backpack” of resources for individual participants to include stipends for tuition and fees, job readiness supplies, and resources to offset the costs of transportation, childcare, and housing, for example. Funds will be flexible, meeting the unique needs of job seekers and workforce participants to advance access to career-connected learning, high-value credentials, and career advancement.

4. How will funds be distributed statewide being mindful of geographic equity?

Future Ready Oregon includes $35 million to be distributed statewide to local workforce investment boards. There are nine workforce investment boards in Oregon that convene regional workforce system partners, using labor market data and employer input to ensure that job-seekers have the skills and training they need to fill high-wage, high-demand jobs and employers have the skilled workforce they need to be competitive and contribute to their local economies. Local workforce boards also oversee the delivery of workforce services, including one-stop WorkSource centers and the administration of Title I of the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, providing career and training services for adults, dislocated workers, and youth.

Future Ready Oregon also includes $10 million for Benefits Navigators to be employed by local workforce investment boards and located at one-stop WorkSource centers and community-based organizations across the state. All funding proposed in Future Ready Oregon, including competitive workforce readiness grants, will be subject to rigorous assessment. Key metrics will be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, geography, and other demographic characteristics.

5. How will we ensure that money is flowing to and through racial justice organizations and getting to the right people?

Competitive grants will be awarded to community-based and culturally-specific organizations, and education and training providers, with experience in providing workforce program services and benefits to individuals from priority populations. Future Ready Oregon includes one-time funding, incentivizing collaborations and coalition-building. Grant agreements will require potential grantees and coalitions to demonstrate roles and responsibilities, capacity to fulfill obligations, and future sustainability. Competitive workforce readiness grants include opportunities to apply for organizational capacity funds to ensure that coalition partners have the staffing, technical, and financial resources to be successful. Strong applications will demonstrate shared investment and outcomes. Future Ready Oregon also includes an investment in assessment, accountability, and continuous improvement to ensure funding is serving priority populations – specifically people of color, women, people with low incomes, rural communities, veterans, and Oregonians who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated.

We anticipate a variety of organizations will be eligible to apply for competitive grants, including local workforce development boards, postsecondary education institutions and other workforce training providers, community-based organizations, and potentially others. We know that many of these organizations are prepared to scale up or initiate new work if additional funding is available. We anticipate that capacity-building grants will increase the number and types of organizations that are interested in and ready to do this work. HECC’s Office of Workforce Investments will conduct significant outreach and provide technical assistance to smaller, community-based and culturally-specific organizations, and organizations with less experience in the workforce development system. 

6. How will individuals be served? How will individuals access these resources and opportunities?

Individual job-seekers will access opportunities via one-stop WorkSource Centers, community colleges, and community-based organizations. Future Ready Oregon includes funding for Workforce Benefits Navigators to be located at one-stop WorkSource Centers and community-based organizations statewide. Navigators help by providing one single point of contact to meet individuals where they’re at and efficiently help them access the resources that match their unique needs.

7. What distinguishes the YDD Workforce Readiness grants from the HECC Workforce Ready grants?

The Youth Development Division’s Youth Reengagement and Workforce Readiness grants serve young people ages 14-24 who are disengaged or disconnected from the traditional education system. YDD grants are focused on career-readiness training to prepare youth to enter the workforce or a career pathway. Training for young people is bolstered by strong wraparound supports. Key services include outreach, academic remediation and diploma/GED completion, mentoring and coaching, career exploration, and supportive services.

Competitive Workforce Ready grants to be administered by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission are much more broad and focused on adult learners and dislocated workers. Consulting with Oregon’s Workforce and Talent Development Board grants, HECC’s grants will be in three categories: 1) direct financial benefits to individuals to pay for training and wraparound services and supports, 2) development of new and innovative career pathways in high value occupations and industries, and 3) organizational capacity-building.

8. What are the costs for 2021-23 and 2023-25? 

Future Ready Oregon includes an investment of General Fund and federal ARPA funds. This one-time investment provides an opportunity to jumpstart careers and provide career advancement opportunities in key sectors that provide short-term pathways to employment, higher earning potential, and opportunities for economic mobility in communities across Oregon. General Fund investments will be spent in the balance of the 2021-23 biennium, expanding capacity in existing programs and expediting short-term outcomes. Federal ARPA funding provides a unique opportunity for state and local governments to make strategic investments. While grant funding and the positions associated with grant administration are one-time expenses, ARPA funds do not have to be committed until 2024. These expenses will continue to be reflected in the 2023-2025 and 2025-2027 biennia.

9. What do we expect to be able to accomplish in the short term?

Future Ready Oregon leverages existing administrative infrastructure to expand program successes, while making investments designed to remove barriers to accessing and engaging in Oregon’s workforce development system. Funds will immediately expand capacity at local workforce investment boards, community colleges, and registered apprenticeship programs, with funding to be available in the summer of 2022. 

Competitive grants will immediately advance coalition building and partnerships. To take advantage of the extended implementation afforded by ARPA funds, HECC anticipates a phased approach to grant-making, either through multiple rounds of grantmaking or awarding grants on a rolling basis. Initial grant funding is expected to be available in summer of 2022 in advance of the 2022-23 academic year.

10. Is this a one-time investment? What are the plans to maintain the capacity in the long-term?

Future Ready Oregon includes an investment of General Fund and federal ARPA funds. This one-time investment provides an opportunity to jumpstart careers and provide career advancement opportunities in key sectors – healthcare, manufacturing, and technology– that provide short-term pathways to employment, higher earning potential, and opportunities for economic mobility in communities across Oregon. 

We anticipate a variety of organizations will be eligible to apply for competitive grants, including local workforce development boards, postsecondary education institutions and other workforce training providers, community-based organizations, and potentially others. We know that many of these organizations are prepared to scale up or initiate new work if additional funding is available. We anticipate that capacity-building grants will increase the number and types of organizations that are interested in and ready to do this work. HECC’s Office of Workforce Investments will conduct significant outreach and provide technical assistance to smaller, community-based and culturally-specific organizations, and organizations with less experience in the workforce development system. 

11. When do you expect funding to be available?

Services to participants, students, apprentices, community-based organizations, education and training providers are expected to be available for initial implementation in summer of 2022. 

12. When and where will the grant RFP/RFA be released or advertised?

The timing of an RFP/RFA is not certain yet. If the legislature approves Future Ready Oregon investments, an initial round of grant funding is expected in summer of 2022. The Higher Education Coordinating Commission, in consultation with Oregon’s Workforce and Talent Development Board, will form a workgroup to finalize the grantmaking process, timelines and ways to maximize awareness and access to applicants.

13. Are we utilizing existing administrative infrastructure or building a new system?

Future Ready Oregon 2022 proposes a significant investment in Oregon’s workforce system that utilizes existing infrastructure to expedite short-term solutions, while making investments that aim to address inequities in the workforce system. The package aims to expand programs that are successfully providing career-connected learning opportunities for historically underserved communities, while providing individuals, organizations, and service providers resources and supports to remove barriers and improve access to the workforce system.

Future Ready Oregon investments build upon the existing administrative infrastructure at the Office of Workforce Investments, BOLI’s Apprenticeship and Training Division, and ODE’s Youth Development Division, to administer grants to organizations who will connect key populations to job training, employment, and career advancement opportunities. All too often, historically underserved communities are excluded from the traditional workforce development system, including people of color, women, people with low incomes, rural communities, veterans, and Oregonians who are incarcerated and formerly incarcerated. Future Ready Oregon leverages existing programs, processes, and partners while incentivizing coalition-building that will lead to transformational change within the traditional workforce development system.

14. Is Future Ready Oregon proposing changes to existing construction apprenticeships?

Future Ready Oregon provides funding for the expansion of existing programs and innovation in new apprenticeships in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors. Investments do not stand up new construction programs, nor subsidize them, nor add new regulations. The construction registered apprenticeship system serves as the model. Future Ready Oregon focuses on the expansion of the apprenticeship model to industries outside construction, specifically in manufacturing and healthcare. 

Funding for registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship programs utilizes the existing administrative structure. Funding for education and training providers will flow through HECC’s Office of Workforce Investments, which is how it is currently structured; and innovation in apprenticeships and the approval and regulation of apprenticeships remains with BOLI, as currently structured.

15. Why these sectors? 

Future Ready Oregon invests in recruiting participants into the healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and construction (pre-apprenticeship only) sectors. These key industry sectors are experiencing significant growth, an aging workforce, and record retirements, resulting in significant job vacancies. These sectors also provide short-term pathways to meaningful employment, offer good-paying jobs and higher earning potential, and opportunities for economic mobility in communities across Oregon, rural, suburban, and urban. Future Ready Oregon also invests in career advancement opportunities, building into career pipelines/pathways in these key sectors, providing for upward economic mobility and ensuring a skilled workforce for the future.

The Workforce Workgroup was clear that statewide investment priorities should focus on high-wage, high-skill career opportunities that include a clearly defined career ladder or pathway to advance upward economic prosperity. The inclusion of technology as a priority sector recognizes the increasingly important role that tech literacy plays across all sectors. While we do not track employment in technology in the same way we do other sectors, we do have a definition of the “high-tech” sector, which includes employment from several different industries in Oregon. Industries identified as high-tech have a high concentration of STEM occupations. Full details are in this article about Oregon’s High-Tech Employment Trends. Notably, most of the core industries in the high-tech sector are manufacturing-related.

16. What is the definition of “earn and learn” and re-career?

Earn and learn opportunities are work-based learning experiences that combine applied learning in the workplace with wages or a stipend. Registered apprenticeships, paid internships, and on-the-job training are all examples of earn and learn opportunities. 

Opportunities to “re-career” refer to opportunities that allow incumbent or dislocated workers to quickly and affordably gain the skills they need to secure a self-sufficiency wage job in another field.

17. How does this work align with efforts to increase access to childcare?

Future Ready Oregon focuses on supporting job training participants with stipends to off-set the costs of transportation, housing, and childcare. Future Ready Oregon compliments other proposals that focus on expanding access to childcare through capital investments and initiatives to grow the childcare workforce. 

18. How is Future Ready Oregon different from other workforce bills?

While other bills focus on supports for the existing workforce, Future Ready Oregon invests in Oregon’s workforce and talent development system, ensuring equitable access to education and training and career advancement. Aimed at realizing the full potential of Oregon’s workforce and meeting the needs of Oregon’s employers today and into the future, Future Ready Oregon 2022 advances Oregon’s economic competitiveness and ensures equitable opportunities for a diverse workforce. 

19. What are the metrics for accountability?

Future Ready Oregon recognizes that it is essential to integrate assessment, accountability, and continuous improvement. Assessment and evaluation of investments will ensure all activities:

• Serve Priority Populations;
• Actively engage and address the needs of employers in healthcare, manufacturing, and technology; and
• Include robust collaboration and partnerships that align employers, education providers, and workforce development organizations to ensure seamless career-connected learning opportunities.

The Workforce Workgroup identified requirements for assessment, accountability, and continuous improvement, as well as key data points with which to measure impact. Assessment will include the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, disaggregated by race, focused on identifying disparities and informing strategies to address inequities. Key data points identified by the Workforce Workgroup include:

• # of Oregonians entering/completing high value credential pathways
• Job placement rates and earnings for education/training participants
• High value credential pathways developed, including new registered apprenticeship programs
• Types and amounts of benefits provided for wraparound services and supports

Funding will increase HECC’s capacity and infrastructure to collect, integrate, analyze and report on key data. Regular reports to the Workforce and Talent Development Board, the Legislature, and the Governor’s Office will identify progress towards meeting key milestones.

Activities will include:

• supporting regular, strenuous assessment and continuous improvement activities; and
• facilitating communication of research and analysis findings to workforce partners, including job-seekers, employers, and service providers.

Future Ready Oregon funding will be used to advance data alignment. HECC will utilize existing partnerships with a number of state agencies, expanding efforts to integrate data across systems.